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Archaeologist Weiwei Wang and her colleagues analyzed footed grinding slabs and other food-preparation tools excavated from Oc Eo, a Southeast Asian port city that flourished between the first and sixth centuries CE. Wang and colleagues recovered microscopic remnants of turmeric and other spices from the surfaces of the tools. Turmeric is native to South Asia, more than a thousand miles west of Oc Eo, and the researchers showed that the footed grinding slabs at Oc Eo are very similar to footed grinding slabs common throughout South Asia from around 500 BCE to 300CE. Wang and colleagues' findings therefore indicate that there must have been a trade link, whether direct or indirect, between the two regions.