Sandia researcher Ted Borek used gas chromatography and mass spectrometry to analyze vapors produced by mild heating of pot sherd samples. Chromatography is a method used by chemists to separate often-complex mixtures. Mass spectrometry is a technique that is used to analyze the composition of a chemical sample or molecule. This helps scientists identify various compounds. This procedure applied to ancient and modern pot sherds collected by New Mexico state archeologist Glenna Dean open the possibility that food or beverages made from fermenting corn were consumed by native inhabitants centuries before the Spanish arrived.