140
8 Transoceanic Trading in Two Oceans
Route and east Africa or through trade with India is unclear. It could have been a
late first-wave or very early second-wave introduction to India.
Sorenson and Johannessen tell us that the cashew (Anacardium occidentale) and
sweetsop (Annona reticulata) are shown on a bas-relief at Bharhut Stupa in India
dated to the 2nd century BC. The datura (Datura stramonium), a medicinal, aphrodisiac, hallucinogenic drug, and the black nightshade (Solanum nigrum) were both
found in an excavation site at Sanghol, dated to the 1st to 3rd century AD. The
sunflower (Helianthus annus) is depicted on sacred sculptures in India dating to
the beginning of the Christian era. Portulaca oleracea, which was introduced to
India, has been dated to the time of Pliny in Rome, 1st century AD. Cow-itch
(Mucuna pruriens), an aphrodisiac, is mentioned in an Indian text dated to before
the rise of Buddha. Guava (Psidium Guajava) is mentioned in a Karaka Samhita
text dated to between 900 BC and the 4th century AD. Chili peppers (Capsicum
spp.) are mentioned in Indian sacred texts dated to the 6th to 8th centuries AD. The
Hubbard squash (Cucurbita maxima) is mentioned in an Indian medical text of the
7th century AD, the pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo) in a 9th century Indian medical text,
the marigold (Tagetes erecta), a wound-healer, in an Indian text dated to the 13th
century AD.
All but the pumpkin and the marigold arrived in India before AD 800, a suggested
end limit for the appearance of plank-built boats in southern California. As for all
the plants above which are mentioned in Indian texts, the dates for the Indian texts in
which pumpkin and marigold are mentioned may be well after the time of the plants’
first introductions. Similarly the appearance of plants on stone sculptures may also
considerably post-date their arrivals in India. Yet it is possible that the sequence in
which the American plants that reached India are recorded may nevertheless reflect
the sequence of their arrival. The distinction between first-wave and second-wave
introductions is clear. That plant introductions to India were suspended during the
cold period is equally clear.
Although some will see Spice Island responsibility for the trading of American
plants to India as entirely conjectural, there is some evidence supporting the possibility. Given how robust the botanical and associated archaeological data is, the
voyaging implications are significant. If Spice Island traders were responsible or
partly responsible for this horticultural trade, the timings for the introductions of
these American plants to India support the soundness of the prediction inherent in
our paradigm that both first- and second-wave Spice Island explorers and traders
followed the Kuro Shio Current to its continental limit on the southern Californian
coast of America. More radically, however, the timings for these plant introductions document a frequency of voyaging to America very much greater than that
implicit in the Californian archaeological evidence for just one first-wave voyage
and between one and two second-wave voyages.
8.4 Estimating the Frequency of Transpacific Voyages
An advantage in trading spices, plants and drugs, we have suggested, is their compactness, their low volume in relation to the carrying capacity of the watercraft being
8 Transoceanic Trading in Two Oceans
Route and east Africa or through trade with India is unclear. It could have been a
late first-wave or very early second-wave introduction to India.
Sorenson and Johannessen tell us that the cashew (Anacardium occidentale) and
sweetsop (Annona reticulata) are shown on a bas-relief at Bharhut Stupa in India
dated to the 2nd century BC. The datura (Datura stramonium), a medicinal, aphrodisiac, hallucinogenic drug, and the black nightshade (Solanum nigrum) were both
found in an excavation site at Sanghol, dated to the 1st to 3rd century AD. The
sunflower (Helianthus annus) is depicted on sacred sculptures in India dating to
the beginning of the Christian era. Portulaca oleracea, which was introduced to
India, has been dated to the time of Pliny in Rome, 1st century AD. Cow-itch
(Mucuna pruriens), an aphrodisiac, is mentioned in an Indian text dated to before
the rise of Buddha. Guava (Psidium Guajava) is mentioned in a Karaka Samhita
text dated to between 900 BC and the 4th century AD. Chili peppers (Capsicum
spp.) are mentioned in Indian sacred texts dated to the 6th to 8th centuries AD. The
Hubbard squash (Cucurbita maxima) is mentioned in an Indian medical text of the
7th century AD, the pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo) in a 9th century Indian medical text,
the marigold (Tagetes erecta), a wound-healer, in an Indian text dated to the 13th
century AD.
All but the pumpkin and the marigold arrived in India before AD 800, a suggested
end limit for the appearance of plank-built boats in southern California. As for all
the plants above which are mentioned in Indian texts, the dates for the Indian texts in
which pumpkin and marigold are mentioned may be well after the time of the plants’
first introductions. Similarly the appearance of plants on stone sculptures may also
considerably post-date their arrivals in India. Yet it is possible that the sequence in
which the American plants that reached India are recorded may nevertheless reflect
the sequence of their arrival. The distinction between first-wave and second-wave
introductions is clear. That plant introductions to India were suspended during the
cold period is equally clear.
Although some will see Spice Island responsibility for the trading of American
plants to India as entirely conjectural, there is some evidence supporting the possibility. Given how robust the botanical and associated archaeological data is, the
voyaging implications are significant. If Spice Island traders were responsible or
partly responsible for this horticultural trade, the timings for the introductions of
these American plants to India support the soundness of the prediction inherent in
our paradigm that both first- and second-wave Spice Island explorers and traders
followed the Kuro Shio Current to its continental limit on the southern Californian
coast of America. More radically, however, the timings for these plant introductions document a frequency of voyaging to America very much greater than that
implicit in the Californian archaeological evidence for just one first-wave voyage
and between one and two second-wave voyages.
8.4 Estimating the Frequency of Transpacific Voyages
An advantage in trading spices, plants and drugs, we have suggested, is their compactness, their low volume in relation to the carrying capacity of the watercraft being