As all things pumpkin spice arrive in grocery store aisles and on restaurant menus, a new study published in the journal describes the earliest-known use of nutmeg as a food ingredient.

Found at an archaeological site on Pulau Ay, a small island in the Banda Islands, central Maluku, Indonesia, the nutmeg was found as residue on ceramic potsherds and is estimated to be 3,500 years old — about 2,000 years older than the previously known use of the spice.

The study and two excavations in 2007 and 2009 were led by , professor of anthropology at the 91Ě˝»¨ and curator of archaeology at the Burke Museum, in collaboration with colleagues from Universitas Gadjah Mada in Indonesia, the University of New South Wales in Australia and others.

The Pulau Ay archaeological site was occupied from 2,300 to 3,500 years ago, with animal bones, earthenware pottery, stone tools, and post molds of possible housing structures found. The variety of artifacts discovered provides evidence of changes in how people utilized marine food resources, pottery and domestic animals over time.

Over  the  first  500  years  at  the  site,  people  shifted  from  a  predominately  fish-based  diet  to  primarily  eating  domesticated  pigs. In addition, pottery was initially thin-walled vessels adapted for storage of liquids that may have allowed people to survive on this water-poor island. A few hundred years later, thicker-walled pottery better adapted for cooking appears along with pig bones.

“This site shows us how people adapted to living on these small tropical islands in stages, from occasional use as fishing camps to permanent occupation,” Lape said. “It’s also fascinating to see such early use of nutmeg, a spice that changed the world a few thousand years later.”

It was on the pottery where Lape’s co-authors Judith Field and Adelle Coster found not only the nutmeg, but also residue from six other plants including sago and purple yam. These plants could have been collected from wild plants, or possibly cultivated through farming.

Pulau Ay is a small island lacking both indigenous land mammals and surface water. It likely would not have supported a permanent human population that did not have the technological advantages of domestic animals and water storage.
However, by surveying additional archaeological sites, the study’s authors suggest that the island was regularly visited by people targeting its rich marine reef resources for several thousand years before more permanent populations were established in the early Neolithic, the later part of the Stone Age. The most likely homeland for these visitors is the nearest large island of Seram, 100 kilometers to the east. People who possessed sufficient knowledge of Pulau Ay and the seafaring skills to make regular return trips there would seem to be likely candidates for the first Neolithic settlers as well.

Sometime around 2,300 years ago, the site was largely or totally abandoned, and no other sites in the Banda Islands have so far been found that date to the period between 2,300 and 1,500 years ago. Future work aims to answer why these remote islands, which attracted the settlement of people who were quite connected to other places before and after this period, would have been abandoned for 800 years.

Studies of sites like this one can help illuminate the complex cultural processes at work during the Neolithic period, which saw the introduction of many new plants, animals and technologies to the islands of Southeast Asia. The results from this site show that these changes did not happen all at once, but rather were gradually adopted and adapted to allow people to utilize these tropical island seascapes in new ways.

As for the nutmeg, understanding its earliest origins of human use helps connect the dots to later international trades. By the 14^th century (and possibly earlier), long-distance traders were traveling to Banda to obtain nutmeg; this valuable spice brought the Banda Islands international renown during the early modern era.

The find provides a new perspective on a key ingredient that is still a valuable commodity today—especially in a multi-billion dollar industry of fall-themed foods and beverages.

The fieldwork was supported by the residents and government officials of Pulau Ay and Banda Naira. The 2007 fieldwork was conducted with the support of the National Geographic Society, with permission from Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia, as well as Maluku provincial and local governments, and was a collaborative effort between the Universitas Gadjah Mada, the 91Ě˝»¨ and Balai Arkeologi Ambon. The 2009 fieldwork included the same partners and was conducted with support of the Henry Luce Foundation, with permission from Kementarian Riset dan Teknologi.

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For more information and high-resolution images, contact burkepr@uw.edu.

“You just composted 2.31 ounces,” the screen reads. “If everyone on campus composted this amount today, 91Ě˝»¨would save $1,181.00.”

An interactive recycling and composting station installed this spring at PACCAR Hall is showing the 91Ě˝»¨ community exactly how much money can be saved by composting and recycling correctly. And it seems to be doing its job well.

Installed in early April in , the interactive system was dreamed up by an interdisciplinary research group led by and , professor and associate professor, respectively, of the in the .

Their system consists of three receptacles, each fitted with a weight sensor, microcomputer and digital screen. When people toss items into the receptacles, the screen shows how much money is saved by proper composting and recycling, as well as the hypothetical savings campuswide if everyone did the same.

When the bins aren’t being used, their screens remind people which items belong in each category, including items such as bottle caps and foil lids.

Several student and alumni talents went into the project. Four graduate students from the  program proposed the initial concept in a course co-taught by Cheng and , who directs the program. Cheng and Matthews collaborated with 91Ě˝»¨design students and alumni to create the on-screen animations and photography.

Cheng and Matthews collaborated with anthropology professor and doctoral candidate to study the installation’s impact. They found that incorrect sorting of items went down from 48 percent to 40 percent, and that waste correctly diverted to the landfill container rose by 10 percent since the installation opened.

This project was supported by the Royalty Research Fund at the 91Ě˝»¨. The project is open to the public, and located at  in PACCAR Hall.

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View and other of the installation’s setup and use. To learn more, contact Cheng at 206-685-2773 or kcheng@uw.edu. Video below by Carly Lynch.