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cient introductions resulted in the banana subgroup now known as the "true" plantains, which include the East African Highland bananas and the Pacific plantains (the Iholena and Maoli-Popo'ulu subgroups). Genetic evidence show that East African Highland bananas (AAA) originated from banana populations introduced to Africa from the region between Java, Borneo, and New Guinea. Pacific plantains (AAB), on the other hand, were introduced to the Pacific Islands from banana populations originating from either eastern New Guinea or the Bismarck Archipelago. Another wave of introductions later spread domesticated polyploid bananas to other parts of tropical Asia, particularly Indochina and the Indian subcontinent. Southeast Asia remains the region of primary diversity of the banana. Areas of secondary diversity are found in Africa, indicating a long history of banana cultivation there. Other hypotheses 21st century discoveries of alleged banana phytoliths in Uganda and Cameroon dating to the first millennium BC and earlier triggered a debate about the date of the first introduction of bananas to East Africa. However, the identification of the remains in Uganda as phytoliths, much less banana phytoliths, is now considered dubious. The Cameroon phytoliths, on the other hand, are confirmed as Musa, despite early doubts that they may be from Ensete. However, the incongruous early date (all other archaeobotanical remains of bananas in Africa being from at earliest the first millennium AD) remains questionable due to the low number of phytoliths recovered (25), the absence of additional phytoliths in more recent sediments, and the possibility that the apparent date was the result of stratigraphic mixing. An introduction date of 2000 to 1000 BC is also unlikely as this was long before there were any evidence of agriculture in East Africa. Polyploid banana cultivars are sterile and do not spread without human cultivation. Similarly, phytoliths recovered from the Kot Diji archaeological site in Pakistan were interpreted as evidence that bananas were known to the Indus Valley civilisation. This may indicate very early dispersal of bananas by Austronesian traders by sea from as early as 2000 BCE. But this is still putative, as they may have come from local wild Musa species used for fiber or as ornamentals, not food; and banana phyto
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