15 July 2008

The site where archaeologists found the oldest remains of cultivated bananas has been added to the UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites during its July 7 meeting held in Quebec City.

The Kuk Early Agricultural Site in the highlands of Papua New Guinea consists of 116 hectares of swamps at an altitude of 1,500 metres. Archaeological excavation has revealed the landscape to be one of wetland reclamation worked almost continuously for 7,000, and possibly for 10,000 years.

The evidence for banana cultivation comes from phytoliths found in sediments estimated to be 7,000 years old. Phytoliths form when silica from groundwater accumulates in the cells of plants, where they acquire their species-specific shape. Since domesticated banana plants produce no seeds and no pollen, phytoliths are used by archaeologists to look for them. The main difference between the phytoliths of a domesticated variety and those of its wild relative is that the former are bigger.

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