When humans colonised the last uninhabited area of the planet 3,000 years ago, they brought and cultivated bananas, new research reveals.
Vanuatu is a remote Pacific island country more than a thousand miles east of northern Australia and was first populated by people who originated in southeast Asia and sailed into the Pacific on canoes.
It was previously unknown how travellers on these epic pre-historic voyages sustained themselves in the lands they had discovered, but research into a cache of ancient skeletons has shed light on their diets for the first time.
The 3,000-year-old bones studied were originally found in 2004-5 at the Teouma cemetery on the island of Efate in Vanuatu.
Dr Monica Tromp, of the University of Otago’s southern Pacific archaeological research group, discovered the traces of banana while examining jawbones.
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More than half of Britain’s tea is grown in Kenya, with 62,000 tons imported to the UK in 2017
Jonathan Gregson
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Yorkshire Tea has pledged to plant a million trees by the end of the year, half in the UK, and half in Kenya. The project encourages smallholder tea farmers to plant trees that provide benefits such as additional crops, protection from wind and food for their livestock
Jonathan Gregson
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Thanks to the benefits he has seen from planting trees, Patrick Kimathi, 52, a farmer from Kianjogu, has been able to install a chaff cutter, a mechanical device for cutting napier grass he grows as fodder for his livestock, as well as a mini biogas plant that converts cow dung into fuel for a cooking stove
Jonathan Gregson
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Kimathi’s house, where he lives with his wife, Priscilla, daughter, Nancy, 23, a qualified teacher, and two sons, 15 and 19. He’s been farming here for 30 years
Jonathan Gregson
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Avocado trees are popular in Meru because they reach maturity within two to three years, provide shade for crops and don’t require chemicals
Jonathan Gregson
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Local buyers come to the farm to cut down and collect the avocados they want to sell
Jonathan Gregson
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Grevillea trees, originally from southeastern Australia, are used as a windbreak to protect the tea bushes from wind and dust
Jonathan Gregson
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Grevillea on Kimathi’s farm: the lower branches can be cut down, dried and used to feed livestock during a drought. Some farmers also plant the trees to keep out wild elephants
Jonathan Gregson
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Festus Mugambi Mimuga’s tea farm is the best in Imenti because his bushes are so flat
Jonathan Gregson
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Mimuga starts work at 3am and works through to 4pm six days a week
Jonathan Gregson
11/35
Hand-picking a bud with two leaves is best for high-quality tea
Jonathan Gregson
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Kenyan tea is widely considered as some of the best in the world
Jonathan Gregson
13/35
A tea picker empties her basket at a buying centre, ready to sell to the local factory
Jonathan Gregson
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Bags of tea leaves ready to start the drying process at Imenti factory
Jonathan Gregson
15/35
Workers begin sorting the day’s haul
Jonathan Gregson
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The leaves are emptied into long, heated troughs and tossed by hand to ensure they are evenly dried
Jonathan Gregson
17/35
After the tea has been packed, it is either shipped directly to buyers or sent to the Mombasa Tea Auction
Jonathan Gregson
18/35
Developing the seedlings in a nursery produces higher yields, reduces the length of the growing season and uses the land more efficiently
Jonathan Gregson
19/35
A student planting an avocado seedling at Baitigitu Primary School, one of several around Meru participating in Yorkshire Tea’s tree-planting project
Jonathan Gregson
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Once planted, each student is responsible for taking care of the tree
Jonathan Gregson
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Ukuu cluster gathers for its monthly meeting, during which farmers can discuss the latest cultivation advice and receive payment for their trees
Jonathan Gregson
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Dorothy Naitore addresses farmers at Ukuu cluster. Through the Tist programme, she has been able to buy land under her own name. Despite the fact women in Africa contribute 70 per cent of food production, they often lack rights to land
Jonathan Gregson
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Members of the Tegemeo group celebrate receiving their first prepayment for the carbon sequestered in their trees. They have planted 3,148 trees, the highest number out of all the groups in Ukuu cluster
Jonathan Gregson
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Julia Nkatha owns the largest farm in the Tegemeo group, and has planted 2,109 trees eligible for carbon quantification. ‘We started this group because we realised we were watering out trees wrong,’ she tells the cluster meeting
Jonathan Gregson
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Tea pickers return from the fields with baskets of leaves
Jonathan Gregson
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Julis Gituma Kiugu, 60, grows hybrid trees that grow faster and use less water. The challenge, he says, is adapting the species to keep pace with climate change
Jonathan Gregson
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Kiugu grows lots of bananas on his farm because they can survive a long time without rain
Jonathan Gregson
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Alphaxard Mwangi Kimani is a farmer, quantifier and seminar facilitator with Tist. He has planted an arboretum on his five acres, and has 76 species of indigenous trees, and nine fruit species. ‘We’ve been able to see the tree cover of this country grow,’ he says. ‘Everybody feels proud’
Jonathan Gregson
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Mary Gitionga, a farmer and quantifier with Ukuu cluster. Gitionga is responsible for auditing small groups’ tree groves so the amount of carbon sequestered can be calculated
Jonathan Gregson
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The late rains mean the ground is too hard to plant anything, so some of the tea factories around Imenti have established seedling nurseries to help their farmers
Jonathan Gregson
31/35
On his farm, Joshua Gichuge Miugania has planted around 800 trees in 12 years, and has 200 more in a seedling nursery
Jonathan Gregson
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Miugania has also installed around 280 beehives in some of the trees he has planted on the steep slopes of his farm
Jonathan Gregson
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Miugania also keeps goats, for milk, and chickens, for eggs, on his farm
Jonathan Gregson
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Agnes Kingia, 75, has lived in this area since 1967 and was one of the first Tist members in 2009. Her nine children are now all grown-up, but she still does most of the work on the farm. In her house, she has built a fuel-efficient stove for cooking
Jonathan Gregson
35/35
With long, sunny days, fertile soil and stable rainfall, Kenya used to provide the ideal conditions for growing tea. But climate change is putting the future of the crop at great risk
Jonathan Gregson
1/35
More than half of Britain’s tea is grown in Kenya, with 62,000 tons imported to the UK in 2017
Jonathan Gregson
2/35
Yorkshire Tea has pledged to plant a million trees by the end of the year, half in the UK, and half in Kenya. The project encourages smallholder tea farmers to plant trees that provide benefits such as additional crops, protection from wind and food for their livestock
Jonathan Gregson
3/35
Thanks to the benefits he has seen from planting trees, Patrick Kimathi, 52, a farmer from Kianjogu, has been able to install a chaff cutter, a mechanical device for cutting napier grass he grows as fodder for his livestock, as well as a mini biogas plant that converts cow dung into fuel for a cooking stove
Jonathan Gregson
4/35
Kimathi’s house, where he lives with his wife, Priscilla, daughter, Nancy, 23, a qualified teacher, and two sons, 15 and 19. He’s been farming here for 30 years
Jonathan Gregson
5/35
Avocado trees are popular in Meru because they reach maturity within two to three years, provide shade for crops and don’t require chemicals
Jonathan Gregson
6/35
Local buyers come to the farm to cut down and collect the avocados they want to sell
Jonathan Gregson
7/35
Grevillea trees, originally from southeastern Australia, are used as a windbreak to protect the tea bushes from wind and dust
Jonathan Gregson
8/35
Grevillea on Kimathi’s farm: the lower branches can be cut down, dried and used to feed livestock during a drought. Some farmers also plant the trees to keep out wild elephants
Jonathan Gregson
9/35
Festus Mugambi Mimuga’s tea farm is the best in Imenti because his bushes are so flat
Jonathan Gregson
10/35
Mimuga starts work at 3am and works through to 4pm six days a week
Jonathan Gregson
11/35
Hand-picking a bud with two leaves is best for high-quality tea
Jonathan Gregson
12/35
Kenyan tea is widely considered as some of the best in the world
Jonathan Gregson
13/35
A tea picker empties her basket at a buying centre, ready to sell to the local factory
Jonathan Gregson
14/35
Bags of tea leaves ready to start the drying process at Imenti factory
Jonathan Gregson
15/35
Workers begin sorting the day’s haul
Jonathan Gregson
16/35
The leaves are emptied into long, heated troughs and tossed by hand to ensure they are evenly dried
Jonathan Gregson
17/35
After the tea has been packed, it is either shipped directly to buyers or sent to the Mombasa Tea Auction
Jonathan Gregson
18/35
Developing the seedlings in a nursery produces higher yields, reduces the length of the growing season and uses the land more efficiently
Jonathan Gregson
19/35
A student planting an avocado seedling at Baitigitu Primary School, one of several around Meru participating in Yorkshire Tea’s tree-planting project
Jonathan Gregson
20/35
Once planted, each student is responsible for taking care of the tree
Jonathan Gregson
21/35
Ukuu cluster gathers for its monthly meeting, during which farmers can discuss the latest cultivation advice and receive payment for their trees
Jonathan Gregson
22/35
Dorothy Naitore addresses farmers at Ukuu cluster. Through the Tist programme, she has been able to buy land under her own name. Despite the fact women in Africa contribute 70 per cent of food production, they often lack rights to land
Jonathan Gregson
23/35
Members of the Tegemeo group celebrate receiving their first prepayment for the carbon sequestered in their trees. They have planted 3,148 trees, the highest number out of all the groups in Ukuu cluster
Jonathan Gregson
24/35
Julia Nkatha owns the largest farm in the Tegemeo group, and has planted 2,109 trees eligible for carbon quantification. ‘We started this group because we realised we were watering out trees wrong,’ she tells the cluster meeting
Jonathan Gregson
25/35
Tea pickers return from the fields with baskets of leaves
Jonathan Gregson
26/35
Julis Gituma Kiugu, 60, grows hybrid trees that grow faster and use less water. The challenge, he says, is adapting the species to keep pace with climate change
Jonathan Gregson
27/35
Kiugu grows lots of bananas on his farm because they can survive a long time without rain
Jonathan Gregson
28/35
Alphaxard Mwangi Kimani is a farmer, quantifier and seminar facilitator with Tist. He has planted an arboretum on his five acres, and has 76 species of indigenous trees, and nine fruit species. ‘We’ve been able to see the tree cover of this country grow,’ he says. ‘Everybody feels proud’
Jonathan Gregson
29/35
Mary Gitionga, a farmer and quantifier with Ukuu cluster. Gitionga is responsible for auditing small groups’ tree groves so the amount of carbon sequestered can be calculated
Jonathan Gregson
30/35
The late rains mean the ground is too hard to plant anything, so some of the tea factories around Imenti have established seedling nurseries to help their farmers
Jonathan Gregson
31/35
On his farm, Joshua Gichuge Miugania has planted around 800 trees in 12 years, and has 200 more in a seedling nursery
Jonathan Gregson
32/35
Miugania has also installed around 280 beehives in some of the trees he has planted on the steep slopes of his farm
Jonathan Gregson
33/35
Miugania also keeps goats, for milk, and chickens, for eggs, on his farm
Jonathan Gregson
34/35
Agnes Kingia, 75, has lived in this area since 1967 and was one of the first Tist members in 2009. Her nine children are now all grown-up, but she still does most of the work on the farm. In her house, she has built a fuel-efficient stove for cooking
Jonathan Gregson
35/35
With long, sunny days, fertile soil and stable rainfall, Kenya used to provide the ideal conditions for growing tea. But climate change is putting the future of the crop at great risk
Jonathan Gregson
Using microscopes to look for tiny particles in calcified dental plaque, also known as dental calculus, which was scraped from the teeth of the skeletons, Dr Tromp found minescule fragments of banana and other plants.
The discoveries indicate which plants people were eating and using to make materials like fabric and rope in the region when it was first colonised.
While it was thought people had transported domesticated animals and crops with them on canoes, the banana fragments are the first hard evidence to support this theory.
“One of the big advantages of studying calcified plaque or dental calculus is that you can find out a lot about otherwise invisible parts of people’s lives,” said Dr Tromp.
“Plaque calcifies very quickly and can trap just about anything you put inside of your mouth – much like the infamous Jurassic Park mosquito in amber – but they are incredibly small things that you can only see with a microscope.”
The study began as part of Dr Tromp’s PhD research in the Department of Anatomy and involved collaboration with the Vanuatu Cultural Centre, Vanuatu National Herbarium and the community of Eratap village – the traditional landowners of the Teouma site.
Dr Tromp spent hundreds of hours in front of a microscope finding and identifying microparticles extracted from 32 of the Teouma individuals. The positive identification of banana (Musa sp.) is direct proof it was brought with the earliest Lapita populations to Vanuatu.
Palm species (Arecaceae) and non-diagnostic tree and shrub microparticles were also identified, indicating these plants were also important to the lives of this early population, possibly for use as food or food wrapping, fabric and rope making, or for medicinal purposes, Dr Tromp said.
“The wide, and often unexpected range of things you can find in calcified plaque makes what I do both incredibly exciting and frustrating at the same time.”
The research is published in the journal Nature.
