<P> Archaeologists recently discovered the remains of the avocado plant in what is now Peru, carbon dated from 8,000 to 15,000 years ago in the Mesolithic period . This evidence was found in an earth mound intended to be a ceremonial structure called Huaca Prieta, 600 kilometers north of Lima, Peru . The earliest residents were living in temporary camps in an ancient wetland eating avocados, chilies, mollusks, sharks, birds, and sea lions . The oldest discovery of an avocado pit comes from Coxcatlan Cave, dating from around 9,000 to 10,000 years ago . Other caves in the Tehuacan Valley from around the same time period also show early evidence for the presence of avocado . There is evidence for avocado use at Norte Chico civilization sites in Peru by at least 3,200 years ago and at Caballo Muerto in Peru from around 3,800 to 4,500 years ago . </P> <P> The native, undomesticated variety is known as a criollo, and is small, with dark black skin, and contains a large seed . It probably coevolved with extinct megafauna . The avocado tree also has a long history of cultivation in Central and South America, likely beginning as early as 5,000 BC . A water jar shaped like an avocado, dating to AD 900, was discovered in the pre-Incan city of Chan Chan . </P> <P> The earliest known written account of the avocado in Europe is that of Martín Fernández de Enciso (circa 1470--1528) in 1519 in his book, Suma De Geographia Que Trata De Todas Las Partidas Y Provincias Del Mundo . The first detailed account that unequivocally describes the avocado was given by Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés in his work Sumario de la natural historia de las Indias (es) in 1526 . The first written record in English of the use of the word' avocado' was by Hans Sloane, who coined the term in 1669, in a 1696 index of Jamaican plants . The plant was introduced to Spain in 1601, Indonesia around 1750, Mauritius in 1780, Brazil in 1809, the United States mainland in 1825, South Africa and Australia in the late 19th century, and Israel in 1908 . In the United States, the avocado was introduced to Florida and Hawaii in 1833 and in California in 1856 . </P> <P> Before 1915, the avocado was commonly referred to in California as ahuacate and in Florida as alligator pear . In 1915, the California Avocado Association introduced the then - innovative term avocado to refer to the plant . </P>

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