Well, actually, they figured out something different, as the Peruvians of that time frame (the Cuzco? Incans?) used the Andean cold to freeze-dry cure the meat. Their word for the result was churkos (IIRC), which was corrupted into "jerky." Thank you, Raph Richert and your Pre-Columbian Art History class.

I need an AB icon for this one. :-)