Evidence for Banana Cultivation and Animal Husbandry During the First Millennium bc in the Forest of Southern Cameroon

Mbida, Christophe; Neer, Wim Van; Doutrelepont, Hugues; Vrydaghs, Luc

doi:10.1006/jasc.1999.0447

Cited by 130 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Evidence from phytoliths has been obtained from Cameroun (Mbida et al 2000(Mbida et al , 2001 and Uganda (Lejju et al 2006) that appears to attest to the antiquity of cultivated Musaceae in Africa. There has been controversy over the Cameroun date (see Mbida et al 2005, Vansina 2004) but it is very much in line with conclusions drawn since the 1930s by researchers, especially linguists, using other lines of evidence.…”

Section: 'Austronesian' Staple Food Crops In Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Bananas and Plantains in Africa: Re-interpreting the linguistic evidence

Blench

2009

Ethnobot. Res. App.

103

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Section: 'Austronesian' Staple Food Crops In Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Bananas and Plantains in Africa: Re-interpreting the linguistic evidence

Blench

2009

Ethnobot. Res. App.

103

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“…While phytoliths provide a firmer basis for tracking cultivated bananas (Mbida et al 2000, Wilson 1985, phytolith analyses in South Asia are still few and far between. In Table 1, we have collected studies of phytoliths from South Asia ( Figure 4).…”

Section: The Archaeobotany Of South Asia and The Limited Evidence Of mentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Fuller

Madella

2009

Ethnobot. Res. App.

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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.

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“…The study of Vrydaghs et al (2009) shows that the shape of the volcaniform cone is not a reliable differentiation criterion, as convex and concave cones are present both in Ensete and Musa. The three other differentiating morphological characteristics used by Mbida et al (2000Mbida et al ( , 2001 are not considered in Vrydaghs et al (2009). Vrydaghs et al (2009) propose the mean crater width on top of the cone to be a differentiating characteristic, which is significantly smaller in Ensete than in Musa.…”

Section: Musa's Sister Taxon: Ensetementioning

confidence: 99%

“…During the past 10 years, at least two claims have been made for discovery of banana phytoliths in middle to late Holocene African contexts (Lejju et al 2005, 2006, Mbida et al 2000, 2006. These finds have not met with universal acceptance (cf.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%