Citrus fruit peel offers new evidence on early cultivation

Citrus fruit was being cultivated in India in the Late Neolithic period and in southern Thailand in the Iron Age, according to new findings by archaeologists at UCL and Peking University, Beijing. Citrus fruit are widespread and well known nearly everywhere today, but very little is known about how they were domesticated and diversified. Researchers now believe that a new approach involving the analysis of charred citrus fruit peel or 'charred rind' will offer a new window into understanding the origins of citrus fruit cultivation. Archaeologists came across these discoveries by chance when analysing soil samples from India (c.1400 to 100 BC) and southern Thailand (c. 400 - 1BC), for an archaeological project on agriculture and rice cultivation. "Primarily we looked at soil samples to understand agriculture and rice cultivation as it is a staple food, but people didn't just eat rice. We floated thousands of litres of soil to find remains of charred rind, and the significance is that we now have hard empirical evidence for citrus fruit being used prehistory," said Professor Dorian Fuller (UCL Institute of Archaeology).