8.3 Archaeological Evidence for the Introduction of American Plants to India
137
The most striking facet of Sorenson and Johannessen’s study of transpacific plant
movements is that India was the destination for 50% of the plants introduced to the
Old World from the New, and that 70% of all the plants introduced to India were
food plants. These included the cashew, pineapple, three species of annona fruit,
custard apple, sweetsop, peanut, capsicum, chili pepper, Hubbard squash, butternut
squash, pumpkin, edible sedge, ribbed gourd, phasey bean, yam bean, kidney bean,
lima bean, monstera deliciosa, basil, prickly pear, jicama, ground cherry, sunflower,
arrowroot, maize and soapberry. Medicinal plants included the Mexican prickle
poppy, datura, cow-itch (whose seeds were aphrodisiac), black nightshade, common
and dwarf marigolds (which promote wound-healing) and the vegetable sponge.
Medicinal plants represent 20% of the plants introduced to India. Only five of the
food plants that went to India were also introduced to Polynesia: the pineapple, yam
bean and soapberry – with edible sedge and arrowroot introduced to Easter Island
only. We observe, however, that Eastern Polynesia lay outside the transoceanic
trade routes that we have been considering. The introduction of American plants to
Eastern Polynesia can only have occurred directly through Eastern Polynesian contact with America, probably during the Medieval Climatic Optimum, or indirectly
via Hawaii, Micronesia, Western Polynesia or Wallacea.
Three of the earliest introductions to India, clearly first-wave introductions, the
yam bean, peanut and sweetsop, were discovered in a cave in Timor occupied
between 3,500 and 1,000 years ago, suggesting that they may also have been introduced into the Spice Island region or at least been conveyed to the region by
Spice Islanders. Only six of the food plants introduced to India were also introduced to China: the peanut, Hubbard squash, butternut squash, pumpkin, the yam
bean and maize. With the exception of the peanut and possibly maize all of these
plants were late second-wave introductions, with no archaeological evidence for
their introduction before the 6th and 7th centuries AD.
Direct Indian contact with America over a long span seems unlikely: any cultural
evidence for possible Indian contact seems to be confined to the 6th and 7th centuries AD. And it seems to be generally agreed that the likelihood is that perceived
Indian influences on Mesoamerica in this period would have reached America indirectly from hinduized Java or Cambodia [8]. Contact as late as this could not explain
first-wave acquisition of American plants.
Sorenson and Johannessen offer evidence for the introduction of 40 American
plants to India over a period from 1600 BC to about AD 1000 (with a 600-year hiatus
during the global cold period). We briefly consider the archaeological evidence for
some of these introductions below. Sorenson and Johannessen suggest that a further
ten American plants may have been introduced to India in this period.
8.3.1 First-Wave Introductions of American Plants to India
In the light of our paradigm, the timings for the introduction of American food and
medicinal plants to India are interesting. The kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), the
137
The most striking facet of Sorenson and Johannessen’s study of transpacific plant
movements is that India was the destination for 50% of the plants introduced to the
Old World from the New, and that 70% of all the plants introduced to India were
food plants. These included the cashew, pineapple, three species of annona fruit,
custard apple, sweetsop, peanut, capsicum, chili pepper, Hubbard squash, butternut
squash, pumpkin, edible sedge, ribbed gourd, phasey bean, yam bean, kidney bean,
lima bean, monstera deliciosa, basil, prickly pear, jicama, ground cherry, sunflower,
arrowroot, maize and soapberry. Medicinal plants included the Mexican prickle
poppy, datura, cow-itch (whose seeds were aphrodisiac), black nightshade, common
and dwarf marigolds (which promote wound-healing) and the vegetable sponge.
Medicinal plants represent 20% of the plants introduced to India. Only five of the
food plants that went to India were also introduced to Polynesia: the pineapple, yam
bean and soapberry – with edible sedge and arrowroot introduced to Easter Island
only. We observe, however, that Eastern Polynesia lay outside the transoceanic
trade routes that we have been considering. The introduction of American plants to
Eastern Polynesia can only have occurred directly through Eastern Polynesian contact with America, probably during the Medieval Climatic Optimum, or indirectly
via Hawaii, Micronesia, Western Polynesia or Wallacea.
Three of the earliest introductions to India, clearly first-wave introductions, the
yam bean, peanut and sweetsop, were discovered in a cave in Timor occupied
between 3,500 and 1,000 years ago, suggesting that they may also have been introduced into the Spice Island region or at least been conveyed to the region by
Spice Islanders. Only six of the food plants introduced to India were also introduced to China: the peanut, Hubbard squash, butternut squash, pumpkin, the yam
bean and maize. With the exception of the peanut and possibly maize all of these
plants were late second-wave introductions, with no archaeological evidence for
their introduction before the 6th and 7th centuries AD.
Direct Indian contact with America over a long span seems unlikely: any cultural
evidence for possible Indian contact seems to be confined to the 6th and 7th centuries AD. And it seems to be generally agreed that the likelihood is that perceived
Indian influences on Mesoamerica in this period would have reached America indirectly from hinduized Java or Cambodia [8]. Contact as late as this could not explain
first-wave acquisition of American plants.
Sorenson and Johannessen offer evidence for the introduction of 40 American
plants to India over a period from 1600 BC to about AD 1000 (with a 600-year hiatus
during the global cold period). We briefly consider the archaeological evidence for
some of these introductions below. Sorenson and Johannessen suggest that a further
ten American plants may have been introduced to India in this period.
8.3.1 First-Wave Introductions of American Plants to India
In the light of our paradigm, the timings for the introduction of American food and
medicinal plants to India are interesting. The kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), the