My source was New Scientist, which reported that the researchers...
quote:
...examined nine carbonised figs and 313 fig fragments that had been collected in the 1970s and 1980s, stored and then forgotten in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The figs had been discovered during the excavation of a house in the village of Gilgal in the lower Jordan valley, radiocarbon-dated to be about 11,400 years old (Science, vol 312, p 1372).
Crucially, the figs shared a mutation that made them unable to produce seeds, and would only have survived had people made cuttings of the plants. The finding pushes back the dawn of agriculture by 1000 years.
Very quick answer, Mozart. You're a fig Newton.
Posts: 1950 | Location: U.S. | Registered: 06-03-02
The cookies were named after the Massachusetts town of Newton, which was close to Kennedy Biscuits. Kennedy Biscuits had a tradition of naming cookies and crackers after the surrounding towns near Boston. The name changed from Newton to Fig Newton, after the original fig jam inside the cookie gained good reviews.
But is Newton, MA itself named after Sir Isaac? No, the town was settled before his birth, and came to be known as Newtown before it was Newton (Wiki).
Posts: 1950 | Location: U.S. | Registered: 06-03-02
