SC - yogurt Cheese 101?

[sjk3@cornell.edu]

> I think Bear's main point was that until the creation of faster
> transportation (steamship?), bananas just didn't last long enough to
> get from their point of origin to England in an edible condition.
> 
> Stefan li Rous

I am of the opinion the banana peel is a period anomaly unless it can be
reasonably demonstrated that it is an intrusive artifact.  It was originally
reported that the peel was encapsulated in the midden leading the excavating
archeologists to believe it was not intrusive.  The peel is anomalous
because it is the only one discovered and there are no references to bananas
being imported into England before the 19th Century.

>From Oviedo, we know that the Canary Islands had bananas in 1517 and that
the priest who would later become the Bishop of Panama was the first person
known to import banana shoots into the New World.  The Canaries are within
10 days sail of England for a fast ship, so bananas could be imported from
the Canaries (or Madeira, which is closer and probably also had bananas
under cultivation).  

Bananas were known and eaten in the 16th Century.  However, the idea that
they could be a regular import into Europe is not very likely given the
unreliablity of sea travel and the perishability of the fruit, especially
when one considers the difficulties of getting the fruit to market even
after the developement of steamships.

Bear