Banana Cultivation in South Asia and East Asia: A review of the evidence from archaeology and linguistics

Abstract

the present and what can be suggested for the early and mid Holocene from palaeoecological reconstructions. Archaeological evidence for bananas in these regions remains very limited. Our purpose in this contribution is to situate those few data points of prehistoric banana phytoliths and seeds within the history of appropriate sampling (e.g., for phytoliths) that might have provided evidence for bananas, thus highlighting the potential for more intensive future efforts. We also review some evidence from historical linguistics and textual historical sources on the early history of bananas in India and China. Cultivated and Wild Bananas in South AsiaThere is hardly a cottage in India that has not its grove of plantains. The natives live almost upon them; and the stems of the plantain, laden with their branches of fruit, are invariably placed at the entrance of their houses during their marriage or other festivals, appropriate emblems of plenty and fertility. (Drury 1873:301) Banana Cultivation in South Asia and East Asia: A review of the evidence from archaeology and linguistics Dorian Q. Fuller and Marco Madella Research AbstractSouth Asia provides evidence for introduced banana cultivars that are surprisingly early in the Indus Valley but late elsewhere in India. Although phytolith data are still limited, systematic samples from fourteen sites in six regions suggest an absence of bananas from most of Neolithic/Chalcolithic South Asia, but presence in part of the Indus valley. Evidence from textual sources and historical linguistics from South Asia and from China suggest the major diffusion of banana cultivars was in the later Iron Age or early historic period, c. 2000 years ago. Nevertheless Harappan period phytolith evidence from Kot Diji, suggests some cultivation by the late third or early second millennium B.C., and the environmental context implies hybridization with Musa balbisiana Colla had already occurred. Evidence of wild banana seeds from an early Holocene site in Sri Lanka probably attests to traditions of utilisation of M. balbisiana, a plausible area for hybridization with cultivated Musa acuminata Colla bananas, perhaps already being moved by the later third millennium B.C. Hybridization here, and/or in the New Guinea area now seems more plausible than hybridization in northern Southeast Asia (from Burma through Eastern India) as Simmonds had hypothesized.

Relevance of Banana Seeds in Archaeology

“…In an exhaustive examination of the literature about wild and edible bananas in India, Fuller and Madella (2009) conclude that the natural distribution of M. balbisiana is confined to mountainous northeastern India and the hilly landscapes of Orissa, as well as to the island of Sri Lanka. They suppose that wild bananas were more common under wetter conditions during the Terminal Pleistocene/early Holocene and suggest that "the disjunct distributions of M. balbisiana and M. acuminata in southern India and Sri Lanka presumably attest to migration and separation of populations from the northeast, and ultimately Southeast Asia through the processes of interglacial wetting and glacial drying" (Fuller & Madella 2009:336).…”

“…Today, the cultivation of M. balbisiana for various purposes is common in the northeastern Indian states of Assam and Manipur (Fuller & Madella 2009, Simmonds 1956), despite the presence of edible (ABB) banana varieties. Such tenacious tradition points to a deep past.…”

Why Bananas Matter: An introduction to the history of banana domestication

“…There are competing hypotheses that the plants had dispersed naturally across southern India during more humid periods (Fuller & Madella 2009) The plants of M. balbisiana are vigorous, even at low altitudes, and they can thrive in various natural environments. They are readily crossable with several other Musa species, including M. acuminata, but the hybrids are generally sterile (Simmonds, 1962).…”

“…The movement of these plantains from Southeast Asia to Africa, which is necessarily due to human intervention, remains a matter of much speculation. Southern India is probably another region of secondary and tertiary diversification, judging from the variety in edible AB diploids which have not been recorded elsewhere, and the typical AAB triploids of Indian origin, with somaclonal variants (Fuller & Madella 2009). …”

Combining Biological Approaches to Shed Light on the Evolution of Edible Bananas

“…Second, new biological tools have been developed, which give an insight into the genome itself and on relationships between genomes. Finally, findings in archaeology, linguistics, ethnobotany and other social sciences have added to our understanding (Denham et al 2003, Fuller & Madella 2009, Mbida et al 2001, Neumann & Hildebrandt 2009). …”