| Popis: |
Presently, only meta-information is available about the spread of the coconut. Paleobotanical and archeological studies have shown that the coconut was present as a component of the natural vegetation when present-day humans set foot in Oceania. They indicate also that the coconut was present in South and Southeast Asia from very early times. Nevertheless, it could not be determined if the coconut was a component of the natural vegetation, when the first present-day humans arrived c.40,000 ya. In Africa and the Atlantic coasts of North and South America, the coconut has a history of only more than 500 years. This happened with the landing of Vasco da Gama on the Malabar–Konkan coast in CE 1498 and Christopher Columbus in the West Indies in CE 1492. There are good indications that the coconut was present in two or three locations of the Pacific coast of the Americas even before the landing of Columbus in the West Indies. They are believed to have originated by drift coconut and/or accidental landfall from the central Pacific. Details about further spread in the Americas are sparse. However, it is accepted that the Cape Verde Islands off the west coast of northern Africa had served as a major landing place for nearly 100 years from the movement of both slaves and also material, including the coconuts, to the Americas. |
