Avocados and Ancient Farmers: How Early Humans Shaped a Favorite Fruit

Long before avocados were mashed into guacamole or spread onto toast, they were a staple for ancient communities in Central and South America. A recent study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences¹, provides some of the earliest direct evidence that humans were actively managing and domesticating avocados as far back as 7,500 years ago.

The El Gigante rockshelter in western Honduras was found to contain preserved avocado remains as old as 11,000 years before present. Credit: Kennith Gale

Archaeologists analyzing plant remains from the El Gigante rock shelter in Honduras identified thousands of avocado fossils, including pits and rind fragments. By carefully tracking changes in their size and structure over time, researchers reconstructed a detailed picture of how humans shaped the fruit long before large-scale farming existed.

“This is really the best evidence we have for human-directed avocado evolution,” said Dolores Piperno, an archaeobotanist at the Smithsonian National Museum. “It fills a big hole in our knowledge.”

The findings suggest that early farmers didn’t just stumble upon wild avocados and eat them. They cultivated specific traits, selecting for larger fruit and thicker rinds, setting the stage for the buttery, nutrient-rich avocado we know today.