A Passion for Fruit

Features May/June 2025 By The Editors

探索关于浆果、甜瓜……以及更多水果的、令人惊讶地丰富的考古记录。

© BnF, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY

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一幅15世纪的手稿展示了结满果实的树木,从左上角顺时针方向分别是:甜苹果、枣、柠檬、樱桃、海枣和酸苹果。 © BnF, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY

早在7000年前,新几内亚的人们就开始种植香蕉。大约在同一时期,近东的无花果和中美洲的牛油果也正朝着我们今天享用的水果发展。“我们现在吃的水果是人们数千年广泛实验的结果,” Royal Holloway 的考古植物学家 Erica Rowan 说道。

对于考古学家来说,古代水果的证据为理解过去开辟了意想不到的途径。“水果的种子或果核非常坚硬,在考古记录中保存得很好,”Rowan 说。研究水果可以让学者们一窥古代人民的智慧——例如,有些人将蜂蜜浸泡保存的无花果作为严冬时期珍贵的卡路里来源。似乎所有时代的人们都渴望水果,将它作为一种受欢迎的、不同于普通食物的美味。“水果是糖、营养、风味和各种不同质地的来源,”Rowan 说。“水果无处不在,无时无刻不在。它对人们来说一直非常重要。”

Royal Fruit

Palenque, Mexico and Pusilha, Belize

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HIP/Art Resource, NY

Ancient Comfort Food

Drumanagh, Ireland

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Courtesy Fingal County Council

Original Georgia Peaches

American Southeast

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Allen Creative/Steve Allen/Alamy

The Strawberry Cure

Northern France and England

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Minneapolis Institute of Art/The Minnich Collection, The Ethel Morrison Van Derlip Fund, 1966

Funeral Fruit

Vlasac, Serbia

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Courtesy Dragana Filipović

Poisonous Picnic

Africa

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Courtesy Susanne Renner

Java’s Mystic Mangoes

Central Java, Indonesia

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Photo by Kassian Céphas, courtesy Universiteitsbibliotheek Leiden / Public Domain

Sneaking a Snack

Sydney, Australia

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Photograph by Jamie North, courtesy Hyde Park Barracks Collection, Museums of History NSW

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