Archeobotany of Citrus in the Ancient Mediterranean

Today citrus fruits are a major component of the Mediterranean landscape and one of the most important cultivated fruits in the region; however they are not native to the Mediterranean Basin. In this study the route of citrus’s spread and its diversification is revealed by the use of botanical remains and historical information. Citrus primo-domestication area is southwestern China and northeastern India. Citrus medica (citron) was the first Citrus to spread west, apparently through Persia and the Southern Levant (remains were found in a Persian royal garden dated to the 5^th-4^th centuries BCE) and then to Egypt and western Mediterranean (Early Roman period, since ca. 3rd century BCE). In the latter region seeds and pollen remains of both citron and lemon were found in gardens owned by the affluent in Pompeii and Rome. It therefore seems that lemon was the second citrus species cultivated in the Mediterranean. The contexts of the botanical remains in relation to important gardens show that citrus in antiquity were products representing high social status. The lime and the pummelo reached the Mediterranean during the Muslim conquest (starting during the 7th century AD); sour orange in the 11th century; sweet orange in the 15th century; and mandarin in the early 19th century. The archaeobotanical remains used in this study include pollen grains, seeds and molecular analysis and were taken only from secure archaeological contexts (in terms of stratigraphy and chronology). Historical information comes from ancient texts, art artifacts (such as wall paintings, mosaics and appearance on coins) and philology. The latter also suggests that the citron made its way to the Mediterranean from India via Persia.