The origin and diffusion of betel chewing:

a synthesis of evidence from South Asia,

Southeast Asia and beyond

T HOMAS J. Z UMBROICH * 1

Keywords

betel chewing – A. catechu L. – Piper betle L. – lime – biogeography –

archaeobotany – historical linguistics – āyurveda – Austronesian – South
Asia – Southeast Asia – Pacific Islands

Abstract

The preparation of a betel quid generally involves the combination of

slaked lime with two plant products: the seed of Areca catechu L. (‘areca
nut’) and the leaf of Piper betle L. (‘betel leaf’). This paper aims to pro-
vide a comprehensive perspective on how the habit of betel chewing
originated and was diffused across Southeast Asia, South Asia and the
Pacific Islands before the common era. The limited biogeographical data
available on the two plant species are consistent with a restricted natural
distribution which was followed by a wide dispersal by human agency. A
critical review of past archaeobotanical reports from South India to
Papua New Guinea challenges some of the earliest dates claimed for
betel chewing. By synthesizing evidence from the disciplines of archae-
ology, historical linguistics and textual analysis on the plants and the
material culture of betel chewing, a picture emerges that is far more
complex than had previously been suggested. Currently no single model
of dispersal, such as the migration of Austronesian speakers, fully

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∗
2409 Arpdale Street, Austin, TX 78704-3818, U.S.A., [email protected].

Electronic Journal of Indian Medicine Volume 1 (2007/2008), 63–116

64 THOMAS J. ZUMBROICH

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 The origin and diffusion of betel chewing 65

Figure 1: Map of the most important sites mentioned in the text (in order of appearance):
1. Dongan, Sepik-Ramu basin; 2. Uai Bobo and Bui Ceri Uato caves, northern East
Timor; 3. Spirit Cave, Mae Hong Son province; 4. Watgal, Raichur district, Karnataka
(off the map); 5. Duyong Cave, Palawan island; 6. Beinan, near modern day Taitung City;
7. Nui Nap, Thanh Hoa province; 8. Giong Ca Vo, Ho Chi Minh City province; 9. Angkor
Borei, Takeo province; 10. Khok Phanom Di, Chon Buri province; 11. Ban Chiang, Udon
Thani province; 12. Trang, Trang province; 13. Guam, Western Marianas; 14. Palau; 15.
St. Matthias Islands, Bismarck Archipelago; 16. Pāṭaliputra, modern day Patna, Bihar; 17.
Niya, modern day Minfeng, southwestern Xinjian Uyghur Autonomous Region in
northwest China (off the map).

explains the transmission of A. catechu L. and P. betle L. across Asia.

However, a number of biological and cultural factors can be identified
that have facilitated the dynamic expansion of betel chewing across a
wide geographic area up to the present.

1. Introduction

1.1. In his seminal work on the natural history of Southeast Asia,

Rumphius1 portrays betel chewing as a proof of human ingenuity: No
less than three components, each one unpleasant when tasted by itself,
have to be combined to complete the widely enjoyed betel quid.2 Practi-
cally unknown in the western hemisphere until the first Portuguese and
Dutch reports about India in the sixteenth century, betel chewing has
since been recognized with alcohol, tobacco and caffeine amongst the
most prevalent addictive habits in the world.3 It has been estimated that
at the beginning of the twentyfirst century, worldwide as many as 600

—————
1
Georg Eberhard Rumpf, 1627/1628-1702.
2
From his posthumously published work, Rumphius (1741): I, 32. For earlier general
accounts of betel chewing, see v. Bibra (1855); Lewin (1889); Hartwich (1911).
More recent summaries are Rooney (1993); Donkin (1999): 186-192; Gupta and
Warnakulasuria (2002); Strickland (2002); Rätsch and Müller-Ebeling (2003): 128-
133; Reichart and Philipsen (2005). No comprehensive academic monograph is
available on the topic.
3
Some of the discussion, to what degree betel chewing is addictive or harmful, has
been coloured by colonial and post-colonial attitudes towards the habit and attempts
to restrict it. See, e.g. Burton-Bradley (1979).
66 THOMAS J. ZUMBROICH

million were regularly chewing betel.4 Its geographical area of use has
historically been centered on South Asia and Southeast Asia, with a
reach from Madagascar and the fringes of East Africa (e.g. Tanzania) to
the Western Pacific as far as the Solomon Islands. But the geographical
distribution of betel chewing has always been dynamic,5 e.g. more re-
cently expanding through migratory movements of Asian populations
into Europe or beginning to retreat from traditional betel chewing coun-
tries like Vietnam.6

1.2. Betel chewing releases a complex set of biologically active compo-

nents into the blood stream which result in diverse physiological and
psychosomatic responses. Betel chewers experience a sense of well-
being, heightened alertness, a warm body sensation, improved digestion
and increased stamina. This wide range of effects has been validated by
an understanding of some of the underlying mechanisms.7 Beyond the
individual biological responses, the betel quid carries deeply symbolic
connotations and has long played a role in the social fabric of many
Asian cultures. Its significance in different circumstances of private and
public life centers around the theme of facilitating and structuring rela-
tionships.8 These aspects have previously been explored in varying
depths from an ethnographic9 and literary perspective.10

1.3. The ‘great antiquity’ of the betel habit is explicitly stressed in many
accounts,11 and claims to its origin some millenia ago have been made,
e.g. for India, Thailand or Vietnam. However, the actual treatments of its
prehistoric roots and subsequent diffusion have mostly been sketchy,
often relying on few data when presenting a narrative. The goal of this
paper is to begin developing a broad-based account of the origins and
—————
4
Gupta and Warnakulasuriya (2002): 79, while other authors present significantly
different estimates.
5
For maps of betel chewing areas, see Brownrigg (1992): 13; Rooney (1993): xii;
Donkin (1999): 187, map 13. Such maps do not reflect the dynamic changes in the
distribution of betel chewers over time.
6
See, e.g. Nguyên (2006): 514-515; Reichart and Nguyên (2008).
7
Chu (2001): 230-231; Boucher and Mannan (2002): 104; Chu (2002):111.
8
This statement necessarily oversimplifies its complex patterns of utilization since, as
Sherratt (2007): 14, points out, ‘there can be no simple equation between particular
acts of consumption and a single ideology or set of meaning’.
9
For the most significant contributions, see Ellen (1991); Conklin (2007).
10
E.g. various articles in Gode (1960a): I; see also Stöhr (1981); Rooney (1993).
11
From de Candolle (1886): 428, to Southworth (2005): 211.

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 The origin and diffusion of betel chewing 67

early spread of betel chewing with a focus on the period before the
common era.
After laying a foundation of botanical and biogeographical data for
the plant species utilized, this enquiry will proceed to evaluate previous
archaeobotanical reports. To trace the components of the betel quid
across Asia, it turns out one must primarily rely on non-plant proxies in
the archaeological record (such as dental remains and betel use para-
phernalia) as well as linguistic reconstructions and loan word patterns.
Textual material of ethnohistorical relevance, which is available suffi-
ciently early only from China and India, can provide further evidence. A
narrative of the prehistory of betel chewing provides insights into the
earliest exchanges of non-subsistence cultigens across Asia and, ulti-
mately, sheds light onto cultural aspects of its use in societies of the
wider region.

2. Ingredients of the betel quid

2.1. The ingredient common to almost all masticatory mixtures referred

to as ‘betel chew’ is the fruit of Areca catechu L. In case this palm is
difficult to obtain, the seeds of other wild growing palm species such as,
e.g. Pinanga dicksonii Blume in South India or Areca macrocalyx Zipp.
ex Blume on the Moluccas and New Guinea, can be substituted as an
inferior choice.12 The fruit of the ‘areca nut palm’ turns a yellow to scar-
let colour as it ripens and then consists of a thick fibrous pericarp, the so-
called husk, that encloses the seed, commonly, yet incorrectly called a
nut.13 This seed which is primarily made up of reddish brown endosperm
with dark waxy lines is masticated after dehusking and slicing. Depend-
ing on local preference, the fruit is harvested at different stages of matur-
ity, and the seed chewed in preparations that vary from fresh, dried,
boiled to fermented.14 Exceptional chewing practices of note, but un-
known antiquity occur in modern Taiwan where fresh, very unripe fruit
is included in the betel quid without dehusking15 and in the southern Chi-
—————
12
See Lewin (1889): 23-25, for a comprehensive list.
13
Bavappa et al. (1982): 33-34. The name ‘betel nut palm’ is doubly a misnomer. We
prefer ‘areca nut palm’, since the designation ‘areca palm’ is reserved for Chrysali-
docarpus lutescens H. Wendland (= Dypsis lutescens (H.Wendl.) Beentje & J.
Dransf.), see Dransfield and Uhl (1987): 347.
14
Jayalakshmi and Mathew (1982): 225-240.
15
Wang et al. (1997): 1185.
68 THOMAS J. ZUMBROICH

nese province of Hunan where only the husk is chewed without betel leaf
or lime.16 All parts of A. catechu L., but in particular the endosperm con-
tain as biologically active components four related pyridine alkaloids17
and a wide range of phenolic compounds.18 Besides their use as a stimu-
lant the areca nut and other parts of the palm are traditionally used in a
variety of medicinal applications, most importantly for intestinal ail-
ments and as a vermifuge.19
A. catechu L. is part of a genus of forty-eight species of understory
palms and thrives in humid tropical forests at low to medium elevations.
Unlike some other members of its genus, A. catechu L. is quite adapt-
able. It readily self-seeds and is tolerant of open conditions.20 As is the
case with other cultigens, including a number of palms such as the coco-
nut (Cocos nucifera L.), peach palm (Bactris gasipaes Kunth) or sugar
palm (Arenga pinnata (Wurmb.) Merril), the origin of A. catechu L. is
unclear. While a better understanding of the phylogeny of the Malesian
palm subtribe Arecinae is emerging,21 a molecular phylogenetical analy-
sis for the genus Areca is currently not available. Other Areca species are
widespread from India along the Sunda shelf crossing Wallace’s line to
Papua New Guinea. Speculations on the center of origin for A. catechu L.
have ranged from the Andamans to Western Malaysia and Java to the
Philippines.22 Amongst the various hypotheses, the one with relatively
the strongest support is Beccari’s, who argued that A. catechu L. speci-
ated in the Philippines. There he not only discovered the greatest mor-

—————
16
Zhang et al. (2008).
17
The German pharmacist Jahns (1891) was the first to isolate from areca nuts and
name the alkaloids arecoline, arecaidine, guvacoline and guvacine (Sanskrit guvāka
= ‘A. catechu L.’). Wang et al. (1997) demonstrated the significant differences in the
alkaloid spectrum between different parts of the plant and during different stages of
fruit development.
18
Condensed tannins, hydrolyzable tannins, non-tannin flavans, simple phenolics;
Wang and Lee (1996); Wang et al. (1997).
19
E.g., Burkill (1935): I, 226-228; Perry (1980): 302; for Indian medicine, see
Meulenbeld (1999-2002).
20
Beccari (1919): 305; Murthy and Pillai (1982): 13-17; Uhl and Dransfield (1987):
414-416; Brotonegoro et al. (2000): 52-53.
21
Loo et al. (2006).
22
De Candolle (1886): 428: ‘The country [of origin] is not proved’; Burkill (1935): I,
223: ’undoubtedly Malaysian in origin’; Raghavan and Baruha (1958): 317: ‘species
originated in Malaya’; Balakrishnan and Nair (1979); Bavappa et al. (1982): 2-3;
Brotonegoro et. al. (2001): 51.

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 The origin and diffusion of betel chewing 69

phological diversity for A. catechu L., but also a number of closely allied
endemic species.23
Equally a subject of discussion is the full extent of the areca nut
palm’s geographical distribution before human intervention. It was re-
cently claimed that its range included the island of Guam in Western
Micronesia based on a very small number of pollen from geological core
samples with radiocarbon dates prior to the presumed human occupation
of the island.24 Given the lack of corroborating evidence, this claim can-
not readily be accepted.25 Whether Taiwan was within its natural range,
is equally doubtful due to the island’s location at the extreme northern
edge of the current distribution of the genus and the lack of other Areca
species. However, it is generally agreed that towards its western limit in
Asia A. catechu L. was introduced by humans to India.
By comparison, Areca triandra Roxb. ex Buch.-Ham. (‘wild Areca
palm’), whose seeds are chewed as a substitute for those of A. catechu L.,
is naturally widely distributed from India to Indochina, Thailand, Penin-
sular Malaysia and the Indo-Malaysian archipelago. Specimens of the
‘wild Areca palm’, as its name indicates, can be found throughout its
range in primary forests.26 As trees typically show little phenotypic dis-
tinction between domesticated and wild growing populations and retain
their ability to thrive uncultivatedly after natural or human induced dis-
persal,27 the identification of truly wild growing tree specimens is chal-
lenging. Consequently, reports of seemingly ‘wild’ growing Areca cat-
echu L. palms in different locales have always turned out to be
unconvincing due to a high likelihood of human interference from
nearby habitations, native trails and so on.28 Based on the lack of un-
equivocally natural stands of A. catechu L. in closed forests anywhere in
its current range,29 one may hypothesize that it had a rather restricted
natural distribution followed by a wide dispersal by human agency.

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23
E.g., A. ipot Becc., A. camarinensis Becc.; Beccari (1919): 301, 308-310.
24
Athens and Ward (1999a): 129, table 11; 151; Athens et al. (2004): 24, table 1.
Athens and Ward (1995), is quoted as evidence for A. catechu L., but shows no data
on it. A possible explanation of these results for Guam is a confusion with pollen of
Pinanga insignis Becc. that is native to Guam.
25
Others do, e.g. Fitzpatrick et al. (2003): 60.
26
Sosef (2000): 123.
27
Fairbairn (2005): 490.
28
See Beccari (1919): 305, for a specific example.
29
Explicitly stated by Corner (1966): 282.
70 THOMAS J. ZUMBROICH

2.2. Slaked lime (calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2) is the second essential

ingredient of the betel chew. Its addition increases the intraoral alkalinity
which in turn reduces the astringency of the tannins of areca nut, releases
its alkaloids, especially arecoline, and aids the overall freshening effect
on the mouth.30 Hence, lime makes the betel quid both more palatable
and physiologically effective. Quicklime (Calciumoxide, CaO) is tradi-
tionally prepared in coastal areas by heating the shells of marine mol-
luscs or coral to high temperature. Freshwater shellfish or terrestrial
molluscs and, rarely, pearls are alternative raw materials.31 If actual
limestone is available, such as, e.g. in Thailand or Vietnam, it is pre-
ferred by connoiseurs for its superior taste.32 At some point before con-
sumption the quicklime is slaked by adding a sufficient amount to water
so that a thick paste results. Frequently, coloured and aromatic plant
products, such as catechu (heartwood extract from Acacia catechu (L. f.)
Willd.) or turmeric (root of Curcuma longa L.), are added to the lime
resulting in an improved flavour, while a specific colour is sometimes
considered auspicious for a certain occasion.33 The lime is then smeared
onto a leaf of Piper betle L., the third essential component of the betel
quid.

2.3. Many members of the complex genus Piper L. with over a thou-
sand species contain volatile aromatic oils,34 and their leaves are used for
a variety of medicinal or culinary purposes.35 Piper betle L. (‘betel pep-
per’) is a climbing plant typically propagated asexually from stem cut-
tings rather than from seeds.36 The leaves of P. betle L. have a relative
high content of phenolic compounds which not only taste refreshingly
but also exert a range of pharmacological activities.37 The broad heart
shape of the leaf makes it ideally suited for assembling areca nut and
lime paste on its surface and to be folded into a ‘betel quid’. If need be,
—————
30
Nieschulz and Schmersahl (1968); Wang et al. (2001).
31
Illustrated by Chinnery (1922): 24; also see Stöhr (1981): 553; Brownrigg (1992):
20.
32
Xuan Hien Nguyên (2008): pers. communication.
33
Chu (2001): 230; Wang (2001): 1980; Nguyên (2006): 508; Xuan Hien Nguyên
(2008): pers. communication.
34
Utami and Jansen (1999): 184-185.
35
Burkill (1935): II, 1736-1754; Perry (1980): 312-313.
36
Balasubrahmanyam (1990); Balasubrahmanyam et al. (1994); Teo and Banka
(2000): 102-104.
37
E.g., hydroxychavicol, eugenol, methyl eugenol, isoeugenol, flavone, quercetin; Chu
(2001); Guha (2006): 90-91.

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 The origin and diffusion of betel chewing 71

the leaves of other Piper species are substituted in betel chewing,38 but P.
betle L. is the only one that has been domesticated specifically for use
with mastication.39 Primarily in the Moluccas and Papua New Guinea the
young inflorescences of P. betle L. are preferred to the leaves.40 After
taking a small piece of areca nut into the mouth, a fruit spear is dipped
into lime and the part to which the lime has adhered is bitten off.
Rumphius accordingly distinguished Sirii folium ‘betel leaf plant41 and
Siriboa ‘betel fruit plant’ (< Malay sirih buah),42 though this distinction
is no longer maintained at the species level.43
The traditional view on the origin of P. betle L. has been that its na-
tive range was centered around Java, where allegedly wild plants had
been found.44 Contemporary reviews have added little to this picture.45
However, already Rumphius (1627-1702) explicitly stated that to his
knowledge the plant is nowhere to be found in the wild, but exclusively
under cultivation:

‘The betel leaf grows in all of East India and Old India, on the Islands
as well as in Quantung, the southernmost province of China, yet no-
where by itself in the forests, but always in gardens.’46

The absence of wild P. betle L. plants from Java has been confirmed
more recently.47 By comparison, some similar species like P. caninum
Blume are widely distributed across Malesia and beyond New Guinea.48

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38
Lewin (1889): 25-26.
39
Burkill (1935): II, 1738-1740.
40
Rumphius (1742): V, 341; Jacobs (1971): 57; Ellen (1991):106.
41
Rumphius (1742): V, 336-340.
42
Rumphius (1742): V, 340-342.
43
Siriboa = P. siriboa L. = P. betle L. var. siriboa (L.) C. DC.; de Wit (1959): 397;
Jansen (2002).
44
Crawfurd (1869): 89, mistakenly quotes Rumphius’s authority; Drury (1873): 129,
‘The plant has been found wild in Java which is probably its native country’; Watt
(1889-1896): VI, pt. 2, 248, ‘a native of Java’; Burkill (1935): II, 1738: ‘apparently a
native of central and eastern Malaysia’.
45
E.g., Teo and Banka (2000): 103; Guha (2006): 87.
46
‘…nullibi sponte in silvis, sed ubique in hortis.’ Rumphius (1742): V, 337.
47
Chibber (1912): 357, writes ‘Mr. J. C. Konigsberger, Director of the Botanical Gar-
dens, Buitenzorg [Java], informs me by letter that this species has not yet been found
in the wild state in any part of Java, and adds that is is, however, growing wild in
Celebes and, probably, also in the Moluccas.’ There is no independent confirmation
of the latter observations which appear to be second-hand.
48
Jansen (1999): 261.
72 THOMAS J. ZUMBROICH

Other closely related species are known from locations of the mainland
such as Vietnam or South China.49 In conclusion, we have found little
support for the orthodox view that P. betle L. originated in or around
Java, and its natural distribution in island Southeast Asia or the mainland
remains uncharted. However, the apparent lack of verifiable collections
of P. betle L. from the wild that are phenotypically differentiated from
known cultivars, raises again the possibility of an initially restricted dis-
tribution from where the domesticated plant was spread.
In light of the biogeographical data presented, one cannot assume that
the natural range of areca nut and betel pepper overlapped originally. It
is therefore possible that either plant product was used as a masticatory
(or otherwise) without the other for an unknown length of time and the
presence of areca nut plus lime need not necessarily imply the use of
betel leaf.50

3. Archaeobotanical record

3.1. For the origins of the betel habit and arboriculture of the areca nut
palm in Southeast Asia and beyond, surprisingly early dates as far back
as 13000 B.P. have been presented.51 Those claims are based on ar-
chaeobotanical evidence reported over the last forty years from sites in
New Guinea to southern India.
Probably the most spectacular find had been the remains of the fi-
brous husk of a fruit, identified as A. catechu L., which was discovered at
Dongan on the Sepik coastline of northern New Guinea [1 in Fig. 1]. Its
radiocarbon date of 5800 B.P. based on associated wood charcoal chal-
lenged conventional chronologies of the dispersal of tree-crops from
South-east Asia to New Guinea.52 However, recent radiocarbon dating of
the actual husk proved it to be a modern contaminant which, despite its
excellent preservation status, was not identifiable to the species level.53
Excavations in caves in eastern Timor [2] were reported to have
yielded different remains of Areca sp. and seeds of Piper sp. in the layers
—————
49
Jaramillo and Manos (2001): 712, Fig. 3.
50
As appears to be assumed frequently, e.g. by Fitzpatrick et al. (2003): 61; Bellwood
(2004): 29.
51
E.g., recently Latinis (2000): 52; Fitzpatrick et al. (2003): 59; Blench (2004): 34, 43.
52
Swadling et al. (1991): 102-103, 111; Swadling (1996): 51; Spriggs (1998): 56-60;
Denham (2004): 614.
53
Fairbairn and Swadling (2005): 378-379; Fairbairn (2005): 492.

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 The origin and diffusion of betel chewing 73

dated before 3000 B.C.E., representing ‘the two ingredients of betel

chewing’.54 However, a later publication shows the identification of Ar-
eca sp. seeds merely as ‘possible’ or ‘fair’, and only so in layers dated
2500 B.P. or more recent, which contradicts the earlier report.55 A recent
reassessment of the archaeobotanical evidence from these caves no
longer mentions A. catechu L., but curiously notes ‘Piper betel [sic!] …
occurring in some of the deepest excavated layers’.56 In our view, the
data shed little light, if any, on betel chewing in Timor before the com-
mon era.
Similarly equivocal is the earliest evidence from the South-East Asian
mainland. During excavations of the Spirit Cave in northwestern Thailand
[3] at levels corresponding to about 9000 to 7600 B.P. uncarbonized and
carbonized fruit fragments were identified as belonging to Areca sp. Tak-
ing into account five uncarbonized Piper sp. seeds from that same time
horizon the conclusion was drawn that betel chewing could have been
part of the repertoire of the Hoabinhian culture.57 Gorman also raised the
issue of possible domesticity of the presumed areca nut palms at Spirit
Cave. Not only must questions be raised about the antiquity of the un-
charred botanical remains,58 but given the uncertainty about the actual
species of the remnants, it would be difficult to infer betel chewing, let
alone cultivation of A. catechu L. from these findings.59
Finally, there is a find from Karnataka in southern India [4] that has
found its way into the secondary literature.60 At the neolithic site of Wat-
gal with occupation from about 2700 B.C.E. two carbonized A. catechu
L. seeds were reported in the most basal layer.61 It was published without
further documentation or detailed botanical examination and can there-
fore, pending future confirmation, be viewed as questionable.62

—————
54
Glover (1979): 18-19; Bellwood (1997): 186-187. The basal date of these sites is
around 13000 B.P. which explains the incorrect early dates for betel chewing found
in the literature.
55
Areca sp. remnants in Horizon VII at Bui Ceri Uato, 0 – 2500 B.P., Uai Bobo 1, 700
– 1000 B.P., cited in Glover (1986): 97, 132, 229-230. See similar criticism in Fair-
bairn and Swadling (2005): 381.
56
Oliveira (2006): 94.
57
Gorman (1963); Gorman (1971); Yen (1977): 570-572; Glover (1979): 11-17.
58
Fairbairn and Swadling (2005): 381.
59
For further criticism of Gorman’s archaeobotanical identifications, see Harlan and de
Wet (1973): 52.
60
E.g., Bellwood (2005): 93; Southworth (2005): 246.
61
Deavaraj et al. (1995): 61; Fuller (2002): 253.
62
Dorian Fuller (2004): pers. communication.
74 THOMAS J. ZUMBROICH

3.2. For the period discussed, the archaeobotanical record supporting

betel chewing remains, at best, poor for a number of reasons. Archaeo-
logically based models of distribution and exchange are typically based
on inventories of non-organic artefacts, such as ceramics, beads or metal
objects. In contrast, botanical findings from archaeological contexts are
often less well documented and identified than accompanying remains.
An exception are the numerous enquiries into the development of agri-
culture that focus on plants fulfilling subsistence needs.63 However, their
bias towards cereals and tubers has resulted in comparatively short shrift
being given to ‘minor crops’64 or plants used primarily in a social context
as are the main constituents of the betel quid.
More specifically, taking into account closely related species in the
Areca genus, e.g. A. triandra Roxb. Ex Buch.-Ham. broadly occuring
across Southeast Asia, or the presence of other local palm species, a
positive identification of A. catechu L. is essential to specifically imply
its utilization in betel chewing and its arboriculture around human habi-
tations. But taphonomic issues complicate the identification of A. catechu
L. Phytoliths cannot be adduced for differentiation from other palms nor
is there a hard husk to be preserved. Charring will only preserve the
seeds which, however, are prone to collapse after carbonization.65 Even
more challenging is Piper betle L. for which identification has been
based on the presence of Piper sp. seeds.66 However, in the vast genus
Piper for which leaves and seeds have numerous known medicinal and
culinary uses in indigenous societies,67 no conclusions on betel chewing
can be drawn from isolated Piper sp. seeds in archaeological contexts.

4. Island South-East Asia

4.1. Dental remains from archaeological contexts are important indica-

tors of life style and diet of prehistoric populations.68 Reddish-brown, so-
called ‘betel stains’ on dentitions have been adduced as evidence for the
use of the areca nut with lime if other dietary components69 or post-
—————
63
E.g., Bellwood (2005).
64
Noted by Blench (2004): 31; Fuller (2007): 431-432.
65
Andrew Fairbairn (2008): pers. communication.
66
Yen (1977): 572; Glover (1979): 18.
67
Burkill (1935): 1736-1754.
68
Reviewed in Oxenham and Tayles (2002); Douglas and Pietrusewsky (2007).
69
E.g., berries, see Pietrusewsky and Toomay Douglas (2002): 76.

.
 The origin and diffusion of betel chewing 75

mortem conditions70 were unlikely causes. Confounding this type of evi-

dence is a practice called ‘teeth blackening’ that involves the purposeful
staining of the visible surfaces of previously etched permanent teeth with
a variety of agents. Teeth dyeing can be performed for aesthetic reasons
and as a rite of passage, such as puberty or marriage. The custom is
documented ethnohistorically in many betel chewing cultures of South-
east Asia and the Pacific Islands.71 Therefore, depending on the type of
stain observed on teeth, different causes have been implied. Relatively
indiscriminant discolouration is thought to be caused by incidental stain-
ing from casually chewing a mixture of areca nut with lime, whereas
staining focussed on the facial aspect of anterior teeth might be due to
deliberate staining.72
The oldest evidence from dentitions comes from a burial site in the
Duyong Cave on Palawan island in the southern Philippines [5] that con-
tained skeletal remains with visible stains on teeth compatible with those
observed after betel chewing. The skeletons were accompanied by six
Anadara shells that appeared to be lime containers as one was still filled
with lime. This burial pit was dated to about 2660 B.C.E. (4630 B.P. +/-
250) with evidence pointing to the occupation of the cave by an indige-
nous community of hunter-gatherers at least one thousand years prior.
Stained teeth and containers for lime were also found in other caves in
the area corroborating the suggestion that betel chewing was practiced.73
Other evidence for the Philippines dates from the considerably later
Metal Age (first millennium C.E.). Teeth from a burial site on the island
of Bohol (Central Visayas region of the Philippines) were found to have
the characteristic reddish stain associated with betel chewing.74
At the expansive neolithic site of Beinan on the East Coast of Taiwan
[6] numerous skeletal remains in the over fifteen hundred excavated bur-
ial sites had dentitions with stained teeth This was adduced as evidence
that betel chewing was practised amongst the inhabitants of Beinan
around 1500 to 800 B.C.E. A more detailed description of dentitions

—————
70
E.g., soil contact, see Hocart and Fankhauser (1996): 284.
71
Bailit (1968): 348, Linh (1998).
72
Oxenham et al. (2002): 912.
73
Fox (1970): 60-65; Bellwood (1997): 221-222; Barretto-Tesoro (2003): 304. No
further testing was performed on any of the dentitions.
74
Yankowski (2005): 101.
76 THOMAS J. ZUMBROICH

from archaeological sites in Taiwan for which betel chewing has been
claimed might allow to refine this chronology in the future.75

4.2. To integrate these isolated pieces of material evidence into a

broader framework, historical linguistics provides correlative arguments.
By applying the comparative method to attested languages, words of
hypothetical ‘proto-languages’ can be reconstructed as abstract forms.76
Based on the relationships of forms within a language tree and loan pat-
tern between language families, inferences about material culture and
chronology become possible.77 However, successful reconstructions re-
main hypothetical forms that may require reinterpretation, e.g., in the
case of a plant name, if they are in conflict with known biogeographical
data.78 By the same token there are other potential reasons to explain the
lack of a reconstructible term for a cultigen short of its actual absence in
the reconstructed ‘proto-culture’.
With these caveats in mind, lexical data from the Austronesian phy-
lum provide support for the prehistoric presence of some aspects of the
betel habit in the Philippines’ region. According to a widely accepted
hypothesis, the homeland of Austronesian speaking migrants was Taiwan
from where colonizing proceeded southward.79 In the northernmost is-
lands of the Philippines, the Batanes, the establishment of Neolithic cul-
tures that are linked to Taiwan have been archaeologically dated to be-
tween 4500 and 4000 B.P.80 The Proto-Austronesian form *buaq is
reflected in the meaning ‘fruit’ thoughout the whole Austronesian lan-
guage tree, i.e. in Formosan and Malayo-Polynesian languages. How-
ever, only from the Batanes Islands in the northernmost Philippines
through Sulawesi and the Lesser Sunda to the Solomon Islands, reflexes
of *buaq (or a very similar Proto-Malayo-Polynesian form) are also

—————
75
Radiocarbon dates for the Beinan culture have clustered between 5300 B.P. and 2300
B.P. We are following Bellwood’s suggestion for the chronology. Lien (1991): 343-
345; Bellwood (1997): 217. Much of the work on Taiwanese sites has been published
in relatively inaccessible excavation reports.
76
Conventionally marked by a star (*). For all linguistic material we have retained the
spelling of the source, except for Chinese forms which are romanized according to
the Pinyin system.
77
Southworth (2005): 2-35; Mahdi (1998).
78
For examples, see Blench (2004): 32.
79
For recent reviews see Pawley (2002); Adelaar (2005). For a criticism of this model,
see, e.g. Oppenheimer (2006).
80
Bellwood and Dizon (2005): 27.

.
 The origin and diffusion of betel chewing 77

found with the meaning ‘areca nut’.81 This would imply that only from
the arrival of the settlers in the Philippines, areca nut came to be consid-
ered the ‘fruit par excellence’ attesting to the emerging importance of its
use in these Austronesian speaking societies.82
The reconstruction *qápur ‘lime’ as it is employed with areca nuts,
but also for other purposes, is reflected in a Formosan language and can
thus be assigned to the Proto-Austronesian level.83 It is possible to make
the argument that Austronesian speakers were already familiar with the
areca nut in Taiwan before reaching the Philippines. Certainly betel
chewing is deeply rooted amongst some Taiwanese indigenous groups,
like the Amis or Puyuma.84 A possible explanantion for the absence of
the meaning ‘areca nut’ for *buaq in Proto-Austronesian can be based on
an earlier, but different Proto-Austronesian form *Sawiki ‘areca nut’ that
existed in Formosan languages, but was subsequently lost.85 However,
there is no other evidence to support the latter hypothesis, and bio-
geographical arguments do not favour Taiwan as a center for the diffu-
sion of A. catechu L.
The available linguistic data referencing ‘betel pepper’ are more
complex and difficult to interpret than those for ‘areca nut’ and ‘lime’.
There is no broadly supported reconstruction for an etymon at the Proto-
Austronesian or Proto-Malyao-Polynesian level.86 In fact, the greater
linguistic diversity of indigenous terms for betel pepper across the Indo-
Malaysian archipelago has frequently been adduced to argue for its
longer use there than elsewhere.87

4.3. It appears that the chewing of areca nut with lime was incorporated
into the cultural repertoire of Austronesian speakers in the Philippines
more than 4000 years ago. The question of how long indigenous groups
of the region had used it previously cannot be answered with any accu-
racy on the basis of the scarce archaeological evidence available. As

—————
81
Wolff (1994): 515; Blust (1995): 473; Zorc and Ross (1995): I, 1152; Mahdi (1998):
406-407.
82
Wolff (1994): 515.
83
Blust (1976): 21-22, table 1; Zorc (1994): 565.
84
E.g., see Chen (1968): 73-74.
85
Blust (1995): 473; Robert Blust (2004): pers. communication.
86
Zorc and Ross (1995): I, 1152; Lichtenberk (1998): 344-345; Mahdi (1998): 404-
405.
87
Crawfurd (1869): 89; Reid (1985): 529; Strickland (2002): 85. This broad-brush
argument appears of questionable value in determining the home of P. betle. L.
78 THOMAS J. ZUMBROICH

areca nuts accompanied the migration of Austronesian speakers further

into the Indo-Malaysian archipelago, the areca nut palm could have been
dispersed into these regions. The interaction between pre-Austronesian
indigenes and Austronesian speaking migrants88 would therefore, de-
pending on the region, have involved the diffusion of areca nut between
the two populations in either direction. Where and at what point betel
pepper was added to complete a betel quid remains undocumented.

5. Mainland South-East Asia

5.1. In Vietnam a rich tradition of folktales about betel chewing has

been preserved across different ethnic groups. The folktale, Tân lang
truyện, ‘The Story of Tan [and] Lang’ or ‘The Story of the Areca Palm
Tree’, is the most widely known among the ethnic Viet.89 This tale about
the origin of the betel quid has been integrated into the legendary dynas-
tic histories of the eighteen Hung Kings which, according to one chro-
nology, ruled northern Vietnam between 2879 and 258 B.C.E.90 Around
2000 B.C.E. a romantic tragedy involving the love of a young women for
one of twin brothers is said to have transformed the two brothers into the
first areca nut tree and a limestone. These were subsequently both encir-
cled by the mourning woman which had turned into a vine of betel pep-
per. Upon hearing about these events the ruler, King Hung-Vuong IV,
decreed that forthwith the combination of areca nut, lime and betel leaf
be chewed in his kingdom as a symbol of filial and conjugal affection.91
This contextualization gave betel as an important part of the Vietnamese
cultural inventory an ancient origin and a mythological, quasi-historical
etiology.

—————
88
Bulbeck (2006): 398, 408-409, documents such exchange for the To Ala’ of the
Lamoncong Highland, South Sulawesi. However, the introduction of areca nut to the
To Ala’ by Bugis can only be inferred for the early historic period.
89
Nguyên and Reichart (2008): 26.
90
This chronology with a precise beginning in the early third millennium B.C.E. in
order to predate the mythical emperors of China, was codified in a text from the fif-
teenth century; Taylor (1983): 309; Wheatley (1983): 366. In an apparent anachro-
nism, the form tân lang ‘areca palm’ is a partial loan from Chinese of a much later
date than the time period in which the story has been set, see note 132.
91
We are retelling a version of the story according to Lebrun (1950): 166-167; Gode
(1960b): I, 165-167. Nguyên (2006): 510-512, analyzes different types of the tale
and presents a translation of the oldest extant manuscript version from 1695.

.
 The origin and diffusion of betel chewing 79

5.2. Irrespective of the specific time depth implied by this version of the
legend, evidence for the earliest use of areca nut in mainland Southeast
Asia in fact points to two different cultural complexes with different
linguistic affiliations in Vietnam. One of them is the Dong Son culture
centered on the Red River delta in northern Vietnam. It reached its clas-
sical phase around the middle of the last millennium B.C.E. with the
manufacturing of elaborately decorated (so-called Heger I) bronze drums
which over time became widely distributed via the exchange networks of
the Indo-Malaysian archipelago.92
Dentitions ranging in age from 3000 to 1700 B.P. from a Dong Son
site in Nui Nap [7] have been subjected to further analyses.93 Three quar-
ters of the assessed individuals displayed some dark-reddish stains on
their teeth. One maxillary incisor dated 2400 to 2000 B.P. was examined
with scanning electron microscopy which showed changes in surface
morphology consistent with deliberate etching. Mass spectrometrical
analysis of the actual stain material on the same tooth showed some iden-
tical mass fragments between the stain and areca nut extract, but no alka-
loids specific to A. catechu L. were detectable in the stain.94 This study
tentatively supports that areca nut was known to the inhabitants of Nui
Nap and was used in the context of teeth dyeing (after a process of etch-
ing) and hence probably was also chewed casually.95 Betel chewing in
pre-Dong Son Metal cultures of North Vietnam (Phung Nguyen and
Dong Dau cultures), with dates as early as the first half of the second
millennnium B.C.E., has been proposed but the validity of these claims
cannot be assessed for lack of documentation.96
There are other indications for the cultural importance of betel chew-
ing in the early Metal age of northern Vietnam. Amongst the most or-
nately decorated Dong Son bronze objects are tho, wide-mouthed flared

—————
92
Bellwood (1997): 269-271, 277-279; Higham (2004): 57-59.
93
Oxenham et al. (2002). The great majority of remains were from the common era.
No specific information was provided on the two oldest individuals dated to 3000 to
2500 B.P.
94
Methodological issues, in particular the lack of controls, make the data as presented
difficult to interpret
95
The documented use of areca nut for teeth dyeing has always been found to be asso-
ciated with betel chewing as well.
96
Nguyên (2006): 500, notes these findings, including blackened teeth and areca nut
remains, though the sources are either unpublished or possibly published in inacces-
sible Vietnamese excavation reports. See Glover and Bellwood (2004): 205-208, for
a bibliography.
80 THOMAS J. ZUMBROICH

vessels, thought to be spittoons.97 If we correctly associate these bronze

spittoons with betel chewing, their inclusion as sumptuous grave goods
of the Dong Son elite is a a sign that emerging social hierarchies98 are
reflected in the material culture associated with the betel habit.
The most explicit association of the native inhabitants of the Red
River Delta with betel chewing comes from the exploration of early Chi-
nese texts. Based on information gathered in the course of the Chinese
attack of northern Vietnam during the Qin dynasty (221 to 207 B.C.E.)
the people of the kingdom of Van-Lang were known to habitually chew
betel and to exchange areca nut and betel leaf as part of wedding rituals.
Chinese sources noticed their black teeth and assumed they were a natu-
ral consequence of betel chewing.99 The society described here for the
period of the Hung kings and the Dong Son archaeological context was
likely of Mon-Khmer linguistic affilitation.100 This can be based on the
linguistic analysis of some of the terms closely associated with the dy-
nasty of Hung kings and the association that Viet and other languages
later attested in the area have with the Mon-Khmer family.101
In 111 B.C.E. the Han empire’s conquest of the region ‘South of the
mountains’ (Ling-nan) absorbed the areas of roughly Northern Vietnam
as well as Guangdong and Guangxi provinces formally into the Han em-
pire.102 Subsequently emperor Han Wudi had rare plants representative
of southern surroundings imported to the imperial Fu Li (Lychee) palace
of his capital Chang’an. Included in this predictably unsuccessful attempt

—————
97
Higham (1996): 113, Fig. 4.23c, shows a tho from Viet Khe in the Red River Delta,
500 to 300 B.C.E. Huyen (2004): 200, identifies these vessels as spittoons.
98
Higham (1996): 327-328.
99
‘L’habitude de chiquer le bétel était déjà répandue, ainsi que celle se noircir les
dents, que les Chinois considéraient comme un effe naturel de l’usage du bétel.’
Maspéro (1918): 10. The precise source of these descriptions is not entirely clear
from Maspéro’s references, but appears to be the Ho Han Shu, History of the Later
Han Dynasty (25 to 220 C.E.). Maspéro is misquoted on ‘tooth blackening’ by Co-
edès (1966): 41; Hickey (1982): 60; Oxenham et al. (2002): 910.
100
Mon-Khmer together with the Munda languages found in India form the Austroasi-
atic family, one of the primary linguistic substrates of mainland Southeast Asia;
Blench (1999): 67; Fuller (2007): 416.
101
Taylor (1983): 8; Higham (1996): 109. The overall interpretation of historic events
presented here reflects a Vietnamese (as opposed to a Chinese) perspective.
102
Taylor (1983). Higham (1996): 108-109.

.
 The origin and diffusion of betel chewing 81

to create an exotic ‘lychee garden’ were over a hundred areca nut

palms.103
The northeasterly continuation of the Vietnamese coast towards the
mouth of the Zhujiang River (today’s Hongkong) and the island of
Hainan104 have a climate suited for the cultivation of the areca nut palm
and betel pepper, but we have no information when these plants were
first cultivated there. Trade contacts along this whole coastline intensi-
fied from the middle of the first millennium B.C.E. and would have
sooner or later introduced betel chewing further northeast.105

5.3. The other Vietnamese archaeological complex which can be

associated with betel chewing is the Sa Huynh culture. It is known for its
jar burials with characteristic earrings as grave goods.106 Coming from
Island Southeast Asia, possibly Borneo, sometime between 1000 to 500
B.C.E. Austronesian speakers are thought to have settled the coastline of
South-central Vietnam, ultimately developing a series of kingdoms
known as Champa during the first millennium C.E.107 With great likeli-
hood the arrival of Austronesian speakers would have soon initiated con-
tact with Mon-Khmer speakers.108 The original settlers are often associ-
ated with the Sa Huynh culture in coastal Vietnam, though the time-
depth and reach of the Sa Huynh culture and its precise association with
Austronesian speaking settlers is subject to discussion.109
At Giong Ca Vo, the southernmost site associated with the Sa Huynh
culture on the estuary of the Dong Nai river [8], dentitions were found to
have what appeared to be areca nut staining. Their approximate date was
2500 B.P.110 Other material evidence confirms the presence of areca nut
palms in the wider region before the common era. The most tangible
piece, even though not reported in much detail, comes from the archaeo-
logical site of Phu Chanh that is located along a tributary of the Dong
—————
103
Li (1979): 113-114; Needham et al. (1986): 453, based on quotes from the San Fu
Huang Tu, Illustrated Description of the Three Cities of the Metropolitan Area, of
the late third century C.E.
104
Schafer (1970): 45-46.
105
Higham (2004): 58-59; Southworth (2004): 212-213. Anderson (2007) disscusses
Hainan, though is overall unreliable on historical and linguistic details.
106
Higham (1996): 304-308; Bellwood (1997): 275-279.
107
Thurgood (1999): 15-23; Higham (2004): 60; Southworth (2004): 209-213.
108
Bellwood (1997): 271-275; Thurgood (1999): 17-19.
109
Glover et al. (1996): 166.; O’Connor (2006): 77, point out the possibility of an incep-
tion of the Sa Huynh culture as early as 4000 B.P.
110
Oxenham et al. (2002): 914, with no further details.
82 THOMAS J. ZUMBROICH

Nai river and about 50 miles northwest of Giong Ca Vo. Inside a Heger I
drum, as part of an assembly thought to be a rare example of a drum
burial, an areca nut was discovered together with, amongst other items, a
mirror from the late Western Han period (202 B.C.E. to 9 C.E.).111 Be-
sides providing firmly datable evidence for the presence of areca nut
(assuming the identification is correct), this finding also highlights the
cultural importance of areca nut, as it was included as a grave good to-
gether with other imported high value items. In relative proximity, at
Angkor Borei in southern Cambodia [9] the majority of dental remains
from a pre-Angkorian burial site showed evidence of incidental tooth
staining thought to be derived from chewing betel. The date for this early
historic site falls between 200 B.C.E. and 400 C.E.112
From the Chinese perspective, the areca nut palm was firmly
associated with Linyi, southern Vietnam or Champa. The Linyi Ji
(Records of the Champa Kingdom) which was probably in parts authored
by Dongfang Shuo around 100 B.C.E.113 contains the following
description of the ubiquitous groves of areca nut palms:

‘Everywhere the areca trees form forests of thousands and ten

thousands of plants, dense, vigorous, without branches, … Every
family possesses several hundred trees, which seem as high as
clouds, with the fruiting branches like cords hanging down.’114

The corresponding passage from Ji Han’s Nanfang Cao Mu Zhuang

(Plants of the Southern Region, traditionally dated to 304 C.E.)115 lists
the three ingredients of the betel quid. It also adds more details about the
social significance of the areca nut:

‘It grows in Linyi, where the people consider it valuable. Visiting

relatives and guests of the family must first be presented with this. If
by chance the presentation is overlooked or forgotten, it will induce
enmity.’116

—————
111
Yamagata et al. (2001): 103.
112
Pietrusewsky and Ikehara-Quebral (2006): 89.
113
Though remodelled well into the fifth century C.E., Needham et al. (1986): 445-446.
114
Needham et al. (1986): 446, translating Aurousseau (1914): 15-16.
115
Li (1979): 8-13; Needham et al. (1986): 447-451.
116
Li (1979): 111.

.
 The origin and diffusion of betel chewing 83

Well beyond the Tang dynasty (618 to 906 C.E.) much of the coastline of
Vietnam maintained its reputation as a producer of areca nuts which re-
portedly even found their way into alcoholic beverages.117

5.4. Complicating the linguistic analysis of betel chewing terminology

in mainland Southeast Asia is the relatively greater scarcity of lexical
data from the language families involved compared to Austronesian lan-
guages.118 For the Chamic speaking settlers in coastal Vietnam and their
descendants, direct contact with Mon-Khmer speakers for over two thou-
sand years has also resulted in extensive mutual borrowings but at least
one term associated with betel chewing shows a continuity between
Proto-Austronesian and Chamic. The Acehnese119 form gapu ‘lime in
betel quid’ was transmitted from its Proto-Austronesian root through
Proto-Chamic to Acehnese.120 For the Proto-Chamic reconstruction
*pina:ŋ ‘areca palm, areca nut’ cognate forms are widely distributed
within the Western Malayo-Polynesian language group (e.g. pinaŋ in
Malay, Javanese and the languages of Kalimantan)121 suggesting a com-
mon ancestry in Proto-Malayo-Chamic *pinaŋ. This evidence supports
that Austronesian speakers reaching Vietnam were already familiar with
areca nut and lime as were their Austronesian speaking ancestors.
A broadly attested etymon *ml[əw] has been reconstructed for Proto-
Mon-Khmer,122 and based on its reflexes we can assign as its gloss ‘betel
leaf’.123 A similarly well documented Proto-Mon-Khmer reconstruction
referencing ‘areca nut’ has not been described. By some estimates Proto-
Mon-Khmer broke up into subgroups some time before 3000 B.C.E.,124
—————
117
E.g., Schafer (1963): 141, 142; Schafer (1967): 72, 175.
118
Another general limitation in the use of lexical and reconstructed linguistic data for
the terminology of betel chewing is the occasionally observed lack of differentiation
between ‘betel’ – ‘betel leaf’ - ’betel quid’ and ‘lime’ - ’lime in betel quid’ - ’betel
quid’.
119
Future Acehnese speakers migrated to northern Sumatra after the decline of the
Cham empire in Vietnam, hence Acehnese is a Chamic language; Thurgood (1999):
23.
120
Thurgood (1999): 354; Graham Thurgood (2008): pers. communication.
121
Mahdi (1998): 405; Thurgood (1999): 300.
122
Shorto (2006): 478, #1860. Mahdi (1994): 477; Mahdi (1998): 404-405, has *blu[ʔ].
123
As opposed to ‘betel quid’ which would imply the use of areca nut and lime as well
See data in Mahdi (1998): 404; Sidwell and Jacq (2003): 151. In Aslian languages of
Peninsular Malaysia the form blök ‘areca nut’ (!) can be found (Skeat and Blagden
(1916): II, 515, #125), though its genetic relationship to related forms in other Mon-
Khmer languages is uncertain; Shorto (2006): 478, see also Blench (2006): 3-4.
124
Pejros and Shnirelman (1998): 380; Higham (2002): 225-226; Blench (2006): 3.
84 THOMAS J. ZUMBROICH

and this would imply a remarkable time-depth for a knowledge of the

betel leaf. However, one must stress the uncertainty about the phyletic
structure of the Mon-Khmer family and, in particular, any dates assigned
to its evolution.
Equally unresolved is the relation of the Proto-Mon-Khmer *ml[əw]
to attested Austronesian forms referencing ‘betel leaf’. The suggestion
that this ‘culture-word’ was borrowed from an Austronesian reconstruc-
tion *buyuq can be rejected on phonological grounds alone.125 Con-
versely, multiple loans of a reflex of *ml[əw] into Autronesian languages
as far as Western Micronesia starting at a ‘very early date’ have been
proposed ,126 though would require a significant revision of the known
pattern of contact between the populations involved. There is, however,
agreement that it was the source of later loans into the Daic languages
Thai and Shan of Thailand.127 The Proto-Mon-Khmer reconstruction
*slaʔ ‘leaf’128 is reflected in some Mon-Khmer languages as ‘leaf par
excellence = betel leaf’129, yet in others, like Old Khmer slā, metonymi-
cally referencing ‘areca palm’.130 A reflex of proto-Mon-Khmer *slaʔ
was also the source of Proto-Chamic *sula with the meaning ‘leaf/betel
leaf’.131
The etymology of the Chinese terms for betel chewing ingredients
substantiates their introduction from ‘South of the mountains’. A reflex
of Proto-Malayo-Chamic *pinaŋ was likely borrowed from Chamic
speakers (or conceivably Malayic speakers on one of the islands) to be-
come Chinese bin lang ‘areca nut’.132 This phonetic transcription, liter-
ally meaning ‘honoured guest’, was accomplished with the characters bin

—————
125
Robert Blust (2008): pers. communication.
126
Mahdi (1994): 477; Mahdi (1998): 404-405.
127
Pzyluski (1929): 16; Diffloth (1984): 88; Mahdi (1998) 404; Shorto (2006): 478.
128
In all documented Munda languages cognate forms of likely a common Austroasiatic
root are attested (e.g. Kharia ulaʔ ‘leaf’), though they never reference ‘betel leaf’.
Instead the terminology for betel ingredients in Munda languages reflects loans from
Indo-Aryan languages, e.g. Kharia pān ‘betel leaf’ (< *parṇá; Turner (1966): 446,
#7918), supari ‘betel nut (< *suppāra; Turner (1966): 778, # 13482). See Bodding
(1929-1936); Donegan and Stampe (2008). Consequently, linguistic arguments
would indicate that betel chewing reached Munda speaking tribes relatively late by
way of contact with Indo-Aryan speakers.
129
Compare *buaq ’fruit/areca nut’ in Malayo-Polynesian languages.
130
Shorto (2006): 119, #230.
131
Thurgood (1999): 331; Graham Thurgood (2008): pers. communication.
132
It is found in Sino-Vietnamese as binh lang or tân lang ‘areca’; Davidson (1975):
604. See also note 90.

.
 The origin and diffusion of betel chewing 85

‘guest’133 and lang ‘Sir’134 while the addition of the wood radical mu to
both bin and lang indicated its association with a tree.135 The synonym
bin men yao jian used in the Nanfang Cao Mu Zhuang translates as ‘guest
[at the] door medicinal sweetmeat’.136 In both cases the primary
reference is to areca nut as a symbol of hospitality.
The early Han term ju jiang (ju berry sauce)137 initially referred to the
product of P. nigrum L. and only after the fifth century C.E. it also
references by mistaken identification P. betle. L.138 Of an earlier date is
fu liu (with a number of variations)139 ‘betel leaf’ which is attested in the
Nanfang Cao Mu Zhuang. It appears to be a phonetic transcription from a
Mon-Khmer language.140

5.5. The evidence to address the prehistory of betel chewing further

west in mainland Southeast Asia primarily consists of dentitions. On the
coast of the Gulf of Siam the cemetery of Khok Phanom Di [10] be-
longed to a hunter-gatherer community from about 2000 to 1500 B.C.E.
Based on the ample dental remains there was no indication that during
any phase of the occupation areca nut was chewed.141 The extensive
skeletal series of Ban Chiang in northeast Thailand [11] stretching from
about 2100 B.C.E. to 200 C.E. documents the difficulty of interpreting
tooth stains in this population transitioning to wet rice agriculture. Even
though there was some staining of teeth at Ban Chiang, it was not the
tell-tale dark red-brown typically accompanying betel chewing. Other
indicators, such as greater tooth wear and greater than expected calculus
(mineralized plaque) formation that significantly increased during the
later phases of the occupation, could have been caused by a newly ac-
quired cultural activity such as betel chewing. However, a change in diet
like greater intake of protein or carbohydrates are equally likely causes
—————
133
Giles (1912): 1123, # 9247.
134
Giles (1912): 854, # 6779.
135
bin lang shu ‘areca nut tree’ in the Linyi Ji; Needham et al. (1986): 445; explained by
Imbault-Huart (1894): 817-818; Mayr (1983): 276; see also Bretschneider (1895):
430.
136
Li (1979): 111.
137
Watson (1991): II, 291-292, attesting ju jiang in 135 B.C.E. Needham et al. (1986):
384, incorrectly identify betel pepper in this passage.
138
Li (1979): 46-53, discusses in detail the conflation surrounding ju jiang. See also
Dalby (2000b): 74-75.
139
Imbault-Huart (1894): 313.
140
Mahdi (1998): 406.
141
Tayles (1999): 277; Highham (2004): 44- 46.
86 THOMAS J. ZUMBROICH

for increased calculus.142 The dental remains from the mortuary series of
Non Nok Tha, located about 70 miles southwest of Ban Chiang and dated
to about 3000 to 500 B.C.E. showed no sign of betel chewing except a
high frequency of dental calculus.143 Equally inconclusive is the evidence
from the skeletal series of nearby Non Pa Kluay of roughly the late sec-
ond millennium B.C.E. where only a small percentage of teeth had ‘betel
stains’.144
In a palynological study of three archaeologically relevant sites
across Thailand only the core samples from a lake near Trang in South-
ern Peninsular Thailand [12] indicated a presence of the areca nut palm.
There were merely traces of Areca sp. pollen for the time period between
6600 to 4000 B.P., but after 1500 B.P. there was an indication that A.
catechu L. had been cultivated systematically with additional evidence
for the presence of Piper sp.145 To summarize, no site from Thailand has
provided conclusive evidence for betel chewing before the common era
as of yet. Unless this reflects gaps in the record or taphonomic issues, it
would indicates a relatively late diffusion of the betel chewing habit into
this region which runs contrary to what is commonly believed.146

5.6. Based on linguistic evidence alone it appears that on the eastern rim
of the Southeast Asian mainland betel pepper was known very early, and
long before we have any evidence for the presence of the areca nut. If
correct, this implies that either the natural distribution of P. betle L. in-
cluded this part of the mainland or that an earlier transfer by humans
occurred. The Austronesian speaking settlers ancestral to the Chamic
people arriving early in the first millennium B.C.E. seem to have brought
with them a notion of the use of the areca nut, but linguistic loan patterns
do not suggest that Mon-Khmer speaker owed their knowledge of betel
chewing to those Austronesian speakers. Material remains indicate that
by the middle of the first millennium B.C.E. betel chewing was practised
from the Mekong Valley along the coastline of Vietnam to the Red River
Delta from where it diffused into South China. Its further westerly

—————
142
Pietrusewsky and Toomay Douglas (2002): 59, 76; Toomay Douglas and
Pietrusewsky (2007): 311-314.
143
Toomay Douglas and Pietrusewsky (2007): 311.
144
Pietrusewsky (1988): 5.
145
Maloney (1999): 136; White et al. (2004): 115; 116, fig. 3; dating based on uncali-
brated radiocarbon data.
146
E.g. Rooney (1992): 20.

.
 The origin and diffusion of betel chewing 87

movement deeper into mainland Southeast Asia might have occurred

closer to the common era based on the limited evidence at hand.

6. Pacific Islands

6.1. For Western Micronesia, historical accounts from the time of first
European contact described that on the Mariana Islands [13]147 indige-
nous Chamorro ‘continously’ chewed a betel quid148 and that the women
commonly stained their visible teeth black. Detailed chemical analysis of
a tooth of a female from the Latte period (1000 to 1521 C.E.) presumed
to have been ‘blackened’ proved that the brown residue indeed contained
areca nut alkaloids, though the authors’ other conclusion that on the
Marianas ‘women did not chew areca nut on a regular basis’ is clearly
wrong.149 Further evidence from the Marianas dated to the pre-Latte (first
millennium) to Latte periods, including staining as well as patterns of
dental pathology, indicates that betel chewing was widely practised.150
On Guam, the southernmost of the Mariana Islands, archaeological find-
ings of shell containers filled with slaked lime point in the same direc-
tion.151 An even earlier, well-documented date is provided by the investi-
gation of 3000 year old burial sites at Chelechol ra Orrak on the island of
Palau [14] where reddish stains on teeth, and, so it is presumed, the use
of betel, were very common amongst adults.152 Whether the observed
concentration of stains on antemolar teeth was primarily due to deliber-
ate staining or betel chewing cannot be resolved based on the evidence
presented.153 The early use of areca nut appears to be supported by mi-
crofossil pollen records for Palau that indicate a presence of A. catechu

—————
147
The Northern Mariana Islands together with Guam to the south constitute the
Mariana Islands.
148
Lévesque (1993): 465.
149
Hocart and Fankhauser (1996): 284-285.
150
See the well documented study by Leigh (1929), but also Hanson and Butler (1997):
280; Pietrusewsky et al. (1997): 331.
151
Carucci and Mitchell (1990): 47.
152
Fitzpatrick (2003): 60-61; Fitzpatrick et al. (2003): 722.
153
This view presented differs from that of the authors of the study who believe to have
proven betel chewing.
88 THOMAS J. ZUMBROICH

L. at roughly compatible dates, though no concomitant evidence for the

presence of a Piper species was found.154
Reflexes of Proto-Austronesian *buaq ‘areca nut’ in Chamorro and
Palauan confirm the notion that the areca nut palm was introduced to the
Marianas and Palau with the settlement by Austronesian speakers from
the Philippines and/or eastern Indonesia.155 The areca nut tradition would
therefore date to about 1500 B.C.E. in the Marianas and 1000 B.C.E. for
Palau,156 though earlier dates for the occupation by Austronesian speak-
ers have been proposed.157 The linguistic data for ‘betel pepper’ on the
other hand have been subject to divergent interpretations and, given the
lack of other evidence, the date of its introduction in Western Micronesia
remains unresolved.158
There is a scarcity of findings from Melanesia except for untested
dental staining reported from the St. Matthias (Mussau) Islands of the
Bismarck archipelago [15] with a date of 1600 to 500 B.C.E.159 These
dental remains are connected with the earliest sites of the distinctive
‘Lapita cultural complex’ for which the use of lime as infill material for
pottery has been noted as one of its innovations.160 A broad set of lexical
items related to betel chewing, such as for ingredients and implements,
have been reconstructed to Proto-Oceanic, an Austronesian subgroup
whose homeland is sought in the Bismarck Archipelago.161 If we tenta-
tively accept the connection between the Lapita culture and the Oceanic
language group,162 the conclusion would be that Austronesian speaking
settlers introduced betel chewing and maybe with it the use of lime in
decorating pottery to the Bismarck islands. After about 1500 B.C.E. betel
chewing spread from there as part of the Lapita diaspora across the
Southwest Pacific into the Solomon Islands and the Santa Cruz area.

—————
154
Athens and Ward (1999b): 170. In a study from Guam there was actuallly a decrease
in the Piper sp. signal synchronous with the appearance of A. catechu L. pollen; Ath-
ens and Ward (1999a): 146.
155
Chamorro and Palauan do not belong to the Oceanic subgroup of the Austronesian
language family, but are unclassified members of the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup;
Pawley (2002): 255.
156
Lichtenberk (1998): 353; Pawley (2002): 256.
157
Athens and Ward (2004): 26-27.
158
Lichtenberk (1998): 345; Mahdi (1998): 404-405.
159
Kirch et al. (1989): 73.
160
Kirch (1987): 172; Lichtenberk (1998): 352-353.
161
Tryon (1994): 486; Lichtenberk (1998): 343-351.
162
Pawley (2002): 259.

.
 The origin and diffusion of betel chewing 89

6.2. On the Pacific Islands, betel chewing is only one of the two addic-
tive habits based on a Piper species. The other is kava, a psychoactive
drink prepared from the root and basal stem of Piper methysticum G.
Forster.163 The discussion about the relationship betwen betel chewing
and kava consumption in the Pacific region was initiated when different
migration patterns for so-called ‘kava-people’, followed by a wave of
‘betel-people’ were postulated.164 This theory has since been dis-
proven.165 Cytogenetic analysis of cultivars of P. methysticum G. Forster
has pinpointed the origin of kava in northern Vanuatu and mapped its
easterly diffusion across the Pacific islands.166 Comparable data to help
trace the movements.of P. betle L., which has received far less attention
in the Oceanic area than kava, have unfortunately not been produced. A
plausible hypothesis is that with the domestication of P. methysticum G.
Forster in northern Vanuatu kava drinking replaced betel chewing in the
subsequent migrations of Austronesian speakers further into Polynesia.
In effect this helped to create the complementary pattern of betel chew-
ing and kava drinking observed in the Pacific Islands.167

7. South Asia

7.1. On the Indian subcontinent significant archaeological evidence to

trace the introduction of betel chewing is absent, and lexical data as well
as textual material become the most important resources to address the
origins of betel chewing. Dravidian speakers are likely to have been a
dominant force in the development of the Neolithic of the southern In-
dian peninsula, the so-called Southern Neolithic, from about the middle
of the third millennium B.C.E. In the Dravidian language family, three
major subgroupings are distinguished: North, Central and South Dravid-
ian with the latter represented by the well-recorded literary languages of
Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada amongst less documented lan-
guages.168 A term for the areca nut *aṭ-ay-kkāy can be reconstructed with

—————
163
Onwueme (2000): 106; Rätsch and Müller-Ebeling (2003): 395-397.
164
Codrington (1891): 1-2; Rivers (1914): II, 252-255; Seyfarth (1981): 560.
165
Lebot et al. (1992): 51-56.
166
Refuting the updated version of Rivers’s argument in Brunton (1989): 83-87.
167
Lichtenberk (1998): 354-357.
168
Southworth (2005): 48-51; Fuller (2007): 413-415.
90 THOMAS J. ZUMBROICH

strong support to Proto-South Dravidian.169 The evidence for a recon-

struction of a separate form *pōka ‘areca nut/palm’ to the higher level
and hence older Proto-Dravidian170 is comparatively weak. Besides the
South Dravidian Tamil, Malayalam, Tulu, Telugu and Kuwi, a reflex is
attested in only one Central Dravidian language, Kolami, in the general
meaning ‘betel’, possibly as a result of later borrowing from Telegu.171
The etymon *vett-ilai ‘betel leaf’ securely reconstructs to a subgroup of
Proto-South Dravidian,172 but if we accept the existence of a Telugu cog-
nate betré/betlé ‘betel leaf’,173 *vett-ilai can be reconstructed to Proto-
South Dravidian as well.174
In summary, linguistic analysis confirms that neither areca nut nor
betel leaf were native to southern India. They were probably introduced
in the time period before the breakup of Proto-South Dravidian which is
estimated to have occurred around 1500 B.C.E.175 Two other tree crops
adopted in India from Southeast Asia, Cocos nucifera L. and Santalum
album L. (sandalwood), are also reconstructable to Proto-South Dravid-
ian. For sandalwood charcoal evidence dates its presence in South India
to 1400 to 1300 B.C.E., i.e. the latest phase of the Southern Neolithic.176
Thus the betel ingredients may have been part of a larger influx of new
plant species from the Indonesian archipelago sometime around the mid-
dle of second millennium B.C.E. The use of sandalwood and the practice
of betel chewing are examples of significant changes in aesthetic ideals,

—————
169
Burrow and Emeneau (1984): 11, #88; Southworth (2005): 211; Fuller (2007): 427.
Krishnamurty (2003): 9, reconstructs to Proto-Dravidian and considers the areca nut
palm a native species, but based on biogeographical arguments and specific criticism
in Fuller (2007): 421, this can be rejected. A reflex of *aṭ-ay-kkāy through Portu-
guese was the source of English ‘areca’; Furtado (1960).
170
Southworth (2005): 83, based on Burrow and Emeneau (1984): 361, #4048. In the
same volume Southworth (2005): 222, also presents a slightly different reconstruc-
tion *pōkku. Krishnamurty (2003): 9, has *pānkk-.
171
Southworth (2005): 237, points out the high likelihood of borrowing in particular
from Telugu into Central Dravidian languages.
172
According to Southworth (2005): 50, 211; based on Burrow and Emeneau (1984):
502, #5515, it reconstructs to the subgroup Proto-South Dravidian 1. A reflex of
*vett-ilai through Portuguese was the source of English ‘betel’.
173
Crawfurd (1869): 89.
174
Aiyar (1931) discusses possible Austroasiatic roots of the Dravidian form with no
firm conclusion.
175
Southworth (2005): 327.
176
Fuller (2007): 426-427.

.
 The origin and diffusion of betel chewing 91

medicine and ritual practice that accompanied the transformation of

Southern Neolithic society in response to outside contact.177

7.2. Turning to the linguistic history of betel chewing terminology in

Indo-Aryan languages, the most widely represented language family in
South Asia,178 the Old-Indo-Aryan form pūga ‘areca nut’ is thought to be
derived from the Dravidian *pānkk.179 The form tāmbūla ‘betel leaf’ on
the other hand appears to be a loan from an Austroasiatic source reflect-
ing *ml[əw] (or *bl[əw]),180 even though the initial tām- remains so far
unexplained.181 In support of the Austroasiatic origin of tāmbūla one can
also adduce Indo-Aryan *bār ‘betel’ that is reflected in Sanskrit and
Bengali, e.g. in bārui ‘caste of the betel leaf growers’.182 On phonological
grounds it has been argued that tāmbūla reached Sanskrit by way of one
of the Munda languages spoken by hill tribes in Eastern and parts of
Central India,183 but in light of the absence of any cognate Munda
forms,184 a Mon-Khmer language must be considered the most likely
source.

7.3. While these linguistic data point towards the source of the introduc-
tion of betel chewing among Indo-Aryan speakers, other questions can
be addressed through textual references. The deep literary tradition of the
Indo-Aryan languages stretches back beyond the middle of the second
millennium B.C.E. and allows us to explore when and where betel chew-
ing first became a noteworthy practice.

—————
177
Boivin et al. (in press).
178
See, e.g., Southworth (2005): 40-42.
179
Burrow (1947): 386; Turner (1966): 471, #8313; Mayrhofer (1998): III, 332.
180
Przyluski (1929): 15-19; Kuiper (1938): 305; Turner (1966): 329, #5776; Mayrhofer
(1998): 242.
181
Przyluski (1929): 17, notes the prefix ta- that precedes the names of plants in some
Mon-Khmer languages, though it is not detectable in any of the known reflexes of
*ml[əw].
182
Przyluski (1929): 18; Turner (1966): 520, #9213; Penzer (1927): 270-275, for vari-
ous reflexes of *bār in Bengali.
183
Kuiper (1948a): 70-71; Kuiper (1948b): 383. A local, ’Indic’ origin as suggested by
Mahdi (1998): 405, seems equally unlikely.
184
See note 128.
92 THOMAS J. ZUMBROICH

7.3.1. Despite claims to the contrary,185 none of the works of the Vedic
period which ended around 700 B.C.E. contain any convincing refer-
ences to the betel habit. Such references are also absent from the later
and rather encyclopedic epic Mahābhārata. Only in a single edition of a
subrecension of the Rāmāyaṇa is the term tāmbūlika ‘betel seller’ pre-
sent,186 but this variant reading is of a relatively late date.187 In its arche-
typal form the Rāmāyaṇa reflects the time period between 750 and 500
B.C.E. before the rise of Buddhism and the imperial dynasty of Magadha
in their capital Pāṭaliputra [16].188 Notions of southern peninsular India
or Sri Lanka are vague in the epos189 which might explain why betel
chewing is omitted in any descriptions of southern scenes or characters.
We may also speculate that at the time of the composition of the
Rāmāyaṇa betel chewing had not made its way to the Ganges watershed
where some of the events in the older parts of the epic take place, even
though it is impossible to attach any specific date to this hypothesis.

7.3.2. The Sri Lankan Chronicles Dipavaṃsa (Chronicle of the Island,

after third century C.E.)190 and Mahāvaṃsa (Great Chronicle, ca. fifth
century C.E.)191 provide the first textual evidence on betel ingredients in
northern India. These chronicles make reference to Ashoka of Pāṭaliputra
since he sent the first Buddhist missionaries to the island. The following
passage of the Dipavaṃsa details the legendary events surrounding
Ashoka’s consecration around 270 B.C.E.:192

—————
185
See Bhat and Rao (1962): 14; McDonell and Keith (1967); Agrawala (1977) for
unconvincing arguments.
186
Turner (1966): 329, # 5776.
187
It appears as a variant of prāvārika ‘maker of upper garments’ in Rāmāyaṇa 2.90.23
of Gorresio’s (1843-1858) edition of the Bengal sub-recension of the northern recen-
sion of the Rāmāyaṇa; Goldman (1986); Robert Goldman (2008): personal commu-
nication. For the material culture represented in the Rāmāyaṇa see, e.g. Guruge
(1960); Vyas (1967).
188
Goldman (1984): I, 14-23.
189
Goldman (1984): I, 27-28.
190
Law (1959).
191
Turnour (1909); Geiger (1960); Guruge (1989); Bullis (2001). See Guruge (1989):
175-192, for a detailed discussion of the Chronicles’ textual history.
192
Guruge (1989): 162.

.
 The origin and diffusion of betel chewing 93

‘At that time the gods always brought the celestial tooth-sticks193 and
the betel leaves,194 fragrant, grown on the mountain, soft, glossy,
sweet, full of juice and pleasing ... [and] the celestial sugar-cane, a
quantity of areca nut195 and a yellow cloth.’196

This description is echoed by another one, set four years after Ashoka’s
coronation on the occasion of his conversion to Buddhism when he is
said to have distributed large amounts of ‘tooth-sticks and betel leaves’197
to the monastic community. These passages, mainly intended to illustrate
Ashoka’s wealth and generosity, imply that a supply of the ingredients of
the betel quid was available in Pāṭaliputra at the time.
For Sri Lanka, too, the Mahāvaṃsa,198 which chronicles events on the
island beginning with the legendary arrival of the Indo-Aryan prince
Vijaya on the day of the demise of the Buddha,199 provides the first refer-
ence to betel chewing.200 During the construction of the Mahāthūpa
(Great Stupa) in Anurādhapura, king Duṭṭhagāmaṇī rewarded the work-
—————
193
dantakaṭṭha.
194
nāgalatā.
195
pūga.
196
Dipavaṃsa 6.4, 6.10. Law (1959): 170, renders nāgalatādanthakaṭṭha as ‘tooth-stick
of the nāga-creeper’ and, according to Rhys Davids and Stede (1921-1925): 349,
580, nāga in this composite stands for ‘ironwood tree’ (Mesua ferrea L.). This large,
buttressed tree with tasteless and inodiferous wood, evidently does not fit the de-
scription here. The correct identification for Pāli nāgalatā is Piper betle L., compare
Sanskrit nagālatā ‘betel vine’ (nāga ‘snake’ since the betel leaf resembles the hood
of the cobra, latā ‘creeper’) and Sinhalese nāgalatā, nagā ‘betel’ (Clough (1892):
282-283). Since the stem of P. betle L. was not used as a tooth-stick, the term can be
divided into two items ‘betel (leaves) and tooth-sticks’. Guruge (1989): 510, 749,
suggests the same solution for the corresponding passage Mahāvaṃsa 5.25, in which
areca nut is not mentioned.
197
Mahāvaṃsa 5.75., Guruge (1989): 513, 753, nāgalatādanthakaṭṭha.
198
Different references from the Mahāvaṃsa that Lewin (1880): 8, gives for the earliest
accounts of betel chewing have been frequently quoted, e.g. Hartwich (1911): 586,
Burton-Bradley (1979): 481; Rooney (1983): 14. However, the story of a gift of betel
leaves by a princess to her lover as part of the legend of Paṇḍukābhaya ‘from around
the year 504 B.C.E’, in reference to Mahāvaṃsa 9.16. cannot be considered authen-
tic for either date or details of the event (Compare the translations by Turnour
(1909): 37 and Geiger (1964): 66). Lewin also relates an episode from Duṭṭhagāmaṇī
fight against the Tamils ‘in 161 B.C.E.’, during which his enemies noticed
Duṭṭhagāmaṇī’s ‘blood-red’, betel-stained lips and spread the rumour that he was
wounded. We have been unable to find the source of this story.
199
Depending on the tradition 544/543 B.C.E. or, more likely, around 485 B.C.E.; Gu-
ruge (1989): 277-280.
200
See Carpentier (1977) for a general review of betel chewing in Sri Lanka.
94 THOMAS J. ZUMBROICH

ers not just with money, clothing, food and drink, fragrant flowers and
sugar, but also with mukhavāsakapañcaka, the five perfumes for the
mouth.201 These are explained in a commentary as betel with additional
aromatic ingredients such as camphor.202 If this event in the middle of the
second century B.C.E. is indeed relayed authentically,203 it constitutes the
earliest reference anywhere to betel chewing in conjunction with other
flavourants.

7.3.3. In northern India areca nut and betel leaf were integrated into the
emerging medical system of āyurveda as far back as transmitted sources
reach. The older layer of the Carakasaṃhitā from around the first cen-
tury C.E.204 describes a betel quid without lime, but with a number of
added aromatics to be used as part of mātrāshitīya, the daily regimen for
well-being:

‘One desiring clarity, taste and good smell should keep in his mouth
the fruits of nutmeg,205 musk seed,206 areca nut,207 cubeb,208 small-
cardamom209 and clove,210 fresh betel leaf211 and exudate of cam-
phor212.’ 213

By the beginning of the common era, regular chewing of a betel quid

was apparently recognized as integral part of oral hygiene, and this no-
tion stretched as far as Kashmir, the putative region of origin of the

—————
201
Mahāvaṃsa 30.18-19; Geiger (1958): 235; Guruge (1989): 932.
202
The commentary is the ṭikā of the eigth or ninth century C.E.; Guruge (1989): 298-
304. See Penzer (1924-1928): VIII, 246-248, for some introductory remarks on the
‘five aromatics’. We avoid the term ‘spices’ with its culinary connotation in lieu of
‘aromatics’.
203
Geiger (1960): XXII, considers this a time period for which the Mahāvaṃsa is gen-
erally historically reliable.
204
For a discussion of the date, see Meulenbeld (1999): IA, 105-115.
205
jātīiphala, Myristica fragrans Houtt., Abdul Kareem (1997): 97.
206
kaṭuka, Abelmoschus moscatus Medicus; Abdul Kareem (1997): 1.
207
pūga.
208
kakkola, Piper cubeba L.f.; Abdul Kareem (1997): 109.
209
sūkṣmailā, Elettaria cardamomum (L.) Maton var. cardamomum; Abdul Kareem
(1997): 58.
210
lavaṅga, Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merr. et Perry; Abdul Kareem (1997): 133.
211
tāmbūla.
212
karpūra, derived from different sources, see Donkin (1999).
213
Carakasaṃhitā, Sūtrasthāna 5.76cd-77; translation after Sharma (1981): I, 39. See
also Meulenbeld (1999): IA, 13-14.

.
 The origin and diffusion of betel chewing 95

Carakasaṃhitā.214 The somewhat later Suśrutasaṃhitā 215 enumerates in

detail the properties and actions of areca nut and betel leaf in the termi-
nology of āyurveda,216 thus developing a theoretical basis for specific
health benefits of frequent chewing of betel:

‘Chewing betel leaves with powder of camphor, nutmeg, cubebs,

clove, musk seed, lime and areca nut […] mitigates excess salivation,
is good for the heart, and cures diseases of the throat; it is beneficial
soon after getting up from sleep, partaking meals, bathing and vomit-
ing.’217

In summary, by constructing a medicinal rationale for frequent betel

chewing these early medical works added an important dimension to the
enduring adoption of the habit in India. The incorporation of aromatic
plant products into the betel quid can be documented after the beginning
of the common era across South Asia. Whether this practice actually
originated in South Asia is unresolved but its absence in other areas like
Vietnam is of note.218 Some of the flavourants utilized, like nutmeg and
clove had to be imported from as far away as the Moluccas, and a con-
nection between increasingly aromatized betel quids and the emerging
trade in aromatics seems probable.

7.4. Betel chewing in northern India can be dated to some time after 500
B.C.E., i.e. around a millennium later than linguistic data suggest for
South India. By this time local trade networks across the Indian subcon-
tinent219 and long-distance trade within the ‘Bay of Bengal interaction
sphere’220 were active and must have brought Indo-Aryan speakers in-
creasingly in contact with different betel chewing populations. This
could explain why the earliest documented Indo-Aryan reference to are-
—————
214
Jan Meulenbeld (2004): pers. communication, on the geographical origin of the
Carakasaṃhitā.
215
See Meulenbeld (1999); IA, 333-352, on the date.
216
Suśrutasaṃhitā, Sūtrasthāna 46.201, 279-280; Murthy (2000): I, 224, 235. Discussed
by Strickland (2000): 89-91.
217
Suśrutasaṃhitā, Cikitsāsthāna 24.21-23; translation after Murthy (2000): III, 224;
Meulenbeld (1999): IA, 276. See also Suśrutasaṃhitā, Sūtrasthāna 46.495; Murthy
(2000): I, 448.
218
For an early third century C.E. example from South India, see Maturaikkañci 436-
438; Cheliah (1962): 253. On Vietnam, see Nguyên (2006): 501.
219
Smith (2002).
220
Gupta (2005).
96 THOMAS J. ZUMBROICH

ca nut was derived from a Dravidian source whereas the term for betel
leaf is related to forms from Mon-Khmer languages of mainland South-
east Asia. Betel chewing is documented in the early Buddhist culture of
Sri Lanka in the last centuries before the common era. This might sig-
nificantly underestimate the arrival of areca nut and betel pepper on the
island if the betel quid reached South India via Sri Lanka.

8. Beyond South Asia

At the beginning of the common era Buddhist culture expanded north

into Central Asia, and with it travelled apparently a demand for betel
ingredients. The Kharoṣṭhī documents of the third century C.E. discov-
ered in Niya in Chinese Turkestan [17]221 give glimpses of life along the
southern branch of the emerging Silk Road. From two of these tablets we
learn that driṃpura ‘betel’ had been ‘sent’.222 In a climate more suited for
growing pomegranates,223 neither betel leaves nor areca nuts could be
produced locally. But the presence of black pepper, small cardamon and
cinnamon bark224 confirms that imports from as far as South India
reached this remote location north of the Tibetan plateau.
The further northwesterly path of tāmbūl into Persia225 followed the
increasingly frequented trade routes from India either overland or by sea.
Ibn Baṭṭūṭa (ca. 1330) described plants of P. betle L. in Dhofar on the
southern coast of the Arabian pensinsula (today’s Oman)226 at a time
when the chewing of qāt (Catha edulis Forssk.) had probably not yet
been introduced to the region from Ethiopia.227 It is unknown when betel
chewing made its entrance to the coastal regions of Northeast Africa,228
but quite certainly it approached the occidental fringes of its expansion

—————
221
These documents, dated 235 to 325 C.E. were discovered by Sir Aurel Stein. They
are written in a Prakrit and named for the Kharoṣṭhī script used.
222
Burrow (1940): 16, # 77; 144, #721. See also Agrawala (1970): 280; Atwood (1991).
223
Burrow (1940): 129, #612 and passim.
224
Burrow (1940): 141, #702: marica, suṣmala, tvaca; the latter not identified by Bur-
rows.
225
Steingass (1957): 277.
226
Ibn Baṭṭūṭa (1929): 114.
227
For the history of qāt, see Weir (1980): 71-76 and the excellent review by Varisco
(2007). The relationship between betel and qāt chewing in this region is unexplored.
228
Ibn Baṭṭūṭa (1929): 111.

.
 The origin and diffusion of betel chewing 97

with Austronesian speakers as they migrated from Borneo to Madagascar

sometime around the seventh century C.E.229
Archaeological evidence230 and references to yavanas, Graeco-
Roman merchants, in early Tamil poetry231 indicate the presence of for-
eigners as part of a trading colony, e.g. in Arikamedu, on the East Coast
of southern peninsular India by about the second century B.C.E. Al-
though these merchants must have witnessed betel chewing, the classical
world of the Mediterranean, which was otherwise so open to the con-
sumption of exotic pleasures, took no note of the habit or at least left no
detectable mention of it.232 It would take another fifteen hundred years
till Marco Polo (ca. 1295) described the use of tembul in India for the
first time to a European audience.233

9. Discussion

9.1. Reconstructing the prehistory of betel chewing presents a signifi-

cant challenge since the betel quid combines products from two now
widely distributed plants with the relatively ubiquitous inorganic lime.
To develop a comprehensive synthesis of the diffusion of betel chewing
across Asia, we have sought to mesh complimentary evidence from dif-
ferent disciplines. However, the lack of well-provenanced archaeo-
botanical findings in conjunction with limited biogeographical data pre-
sents a significant obstacle to a better understanding of the origins of the
betel quid. For other domesticated plants, such as the edible banana in
the genus Musa, DNA-based phylogenetic studies have greatly contrib-
uted to the understanding of their dispersal.234 Such biomolecular work is
under way for the relatively confined genus Areca235 and promises to
improve our understanding of its biogeography in the forseeable future.
The complexity of the pantropical genus Piper will present a more for-
midable obstacle to rapid advances in its biogeography.

—————
229
This theory is based on linguistic affinities between Maanyan spoken in South Bor-
neo and Malagasy. See Rasoloson and Rubino (2005): 456.
230
Begley (1983); Begley (1991); Coningham (2002).
231
De Romanis (1997): 116-117; Karttunen (1997): 316.
232
Betel leaf is not the equivalent of malobathrum, see Karttunen (1997): 157-160;
Dalby (2000a): 198-199; Schoff (2001): 216.
233
Marco Polo (1938): I, 413.
234
Kennedy (2008).
235
Charlie Heatubun, Bogor (Indonesia) and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
98 THOMAS J. ZUMBROICH

9.2. Betel staining of dentitions has been adduced as a means of identi-

fying and contextually dating prehistoric populations of areca nut chew-
ers. Yet, the exact source of archaeologically identified so-called ‘betel
stains’ has eluded proof in all but one study where areca nut alkaloids
were directly shown to be present in the residue removed from stained
teeth.236 Since the parameters determining the patterns of stains caused
by casual betel chewing and, more importantly, their taphonomy are
insufficiently understood,237 assessing further markers correlated with
betel chewing, such as calculus formation and attrition of teeth, is bound
to produce more convincing results.238 Another issue is the conflation
between the effects of betel chewing versus deliberate dyeing of denti-
tions in ethnohistorical descriptions that apparently began with the Han
dynasty’s account of the inhabitants of the Red River Delta.239 Deliberate
teeth blackening is a custom shared by many cultures, betel chewing or
not, and usually does not involve areca nut as the main colourant.240 The
two staining patterns will overlap when betel chewers had their teeth
blackened in adolescence and continue to chew betel throughout their
lifes.241 As the relationship between these two cultural practices becomes
better understood from a historical and anthropological perspective, ar-
guments about betel chewing that are based on dental remains might
require reevaluation. Insights into the origins of teeth blackening would
also shine light onto the evolution of aesthetical concepts in the respec-
tive cultural contexts. For example, teeth dyeing is largely absent from
the Indian subcontinent as opposed to many betel chewing cultures fur-
ther east.242 This is reflected in Tamil and Sanskrit poetry which fre-
quently praise beautiful white teeth in a culture of betel chewers.243

9.3. The usage of identical plant species for the betel quid across all
betel chewing cultures is most parsimoniously explained with a diffu-
sionist argument, i.e. the spread of the complete betel quid from a single

—————
236
Hocart and Fankhauser (1996): 281.
237
See Leigh (1929): 267; Gowda (1951): 184, Reichart et al. (2006) for data underlin-
ing this issue.
238
See, e.g. Reichart et al. (2006).
239
See above and Maspéro (1918): 10
240
See, e.g. Huard (1951): 201.
241
Leigh’s data (1929): 273 illustrate this point.
242
Bailit (1968): 348.
243
E.g. in the Tamil epic Maṇimekhalai (ca. second century C.E.) canto 3, 6; Daniélou
(1989): 11, 27.

.
 The origin and diffusion of betel chewing 99

region. As the deliberate mastication of the seed of A. catechu L. initiated

the evolution of the betel quid, this choice of palm species, one may hy-
pothesize, reflected a strategy to maximize the ingestion of its alka-
loids.244 The allied ingredient lime is used in a broad range of other ap-
plications in indigenous cultures, e.g. as body and face decoration, as
bleach for hair or as a pigment.245 Any serendipitous ingestion of lime
with areca nut would have created an enhanced sensory impression on
the chewer, because lime amplifies the physiological effects of the areca
nut and reduces its astringency while at the same time turning the saliva
bright red.246 The functional combination of an alkaloid containing plant
with lime in a plant quid is not unique to betel chewing. It was developed
a number of times with different plants in geographically disparate cul-
tures , e.g. with coca (Erythroxylon spp.) in South America, with pituri
(Duboisia hopwoodii (F. Muell.) F. Muell.) in Australia and with tobacco
(Nicotiana spp.) as well as other species in the Americas.247
To explain the addition of the betel leaf, it has been proposed that a
natural association of areca nut palm and betel pepper ‘prompted ex-
periments by man’.248 But when seventh century Sanskrit story-teller
Bāṇabhaṭṭa had ‘betel-nut trees entwined by creepers of betel’ in the
forests of Central India,249 he did not describe a natural plant community.
Rather, it either reflected a metaphoric nexus or, quite litterally, already
the practice of cultivating betel vine on supports of areca nut palms as
documented later from various regions.250 The shape of P. betle L.
leaves, their taste and content of physiologically active components make
them a preferred choice over closely related species.251 The common use
of the leaves of P. betel L. contrasts with the geographically limited em-
ployment of its inflorescence to scoop up lime. Galvão’s ‘História das
Molucas’ of about 1544 notes that the locals prefered the ‘ear’ (inflores-
cence) over the ‘Javanese leaf’.252 There is no indication that the use of
—————
244
No data are available on the alkaloid content of closely related palm species or
known substitutes to shed light on this hypothesis.
245
Stone (1876): 44, 57; Lichtenberk (1998): 337, 352-353.
246
Responsible for the colouring are non-tannin phenolics, i.e. flavans, like catechin and
epicatechin; Bavappa et al. (1982): 241.
247
McLeod (1930): 574; Dixon (1933): 150; Miner (1939); Rätsch and Müller-Ebeling
(2003): 175, 190.
248
Donkin (1999): 186.
249
Verse 39 of Bāṇabhaṭṭa’s Kādambarī.; Ridding (1974): 16; Layne (1991): 20.
250
See, e.g. Volkens (1902): 437; Balasubrahmanyam et al. (1994): 37.
251
Ellen (1991): 100-101; Conklin (2007): 269-270, for other Piper sp. leaves used.
252
Jacobs (1971): 57.
100 THOMAS J. ZUMBROICH

the flower stalk preceeded the preparation of an actual quid, and more
likely this practice represents a later regional specialization.

9.4. Given the gaps in the evidence, a cohesive narrative of the spread
of betel chewing across Asia remains beyond reach, but a number of
salient points emerge. There seem to be no specific data to corroborate
the often voiced view that betel chewing originated in Malaysia or Java
which lie centrally in the overall geographical area of betel use. ‘Aus-
tronesianists’ see it as established that from the Proto-Malayo-Polynesian
phase in the northern Philippines about 4000 years ago betel chewing
ingredients accompanied Austronesian speakers on their migrations,253
and at least as far as areca nut plus lime are concerned, the evidence sup-
ports this notion. Should future research find the home of the the areca
nut palm elsewhere in the Indo-Malaysian archipelago, its pre-
Austronesian transmission eastward to the Philippines will require eluci-
dation. The northerly expansion of betel chewing from the Philippines
into Taiwan, if this was the sequence of events, is readily explained by
documented continued trade contacts for several millennia after the ini-
tial southward move of Austronesian speakers.254
Very tenously dated lingusitic evidence indicates a knowledge of
betel pepper on the Southeast Asian mainland amongst Mon-Khmer
speakers before Austronesian speaker familiar with betel chewing made
contact with the Vietnamese coastline around the beginning of the first
millennium B.C.E. Much further east betel pepper must have been avail-
able to Austronesian speakers by about 1500 B.C.E to accompany their
migration across the Pacific. Such widespread distribution of betel pep-
per across South East Asia by the second millennium B.C.E cannot eas-
ily be explained within the orthodox framework of the Austronesian mi-
gration alone.
During the second millennium B.C.E., betel chewing was introduced
into southern peninsular India together with or somewhat after other tree
species of Southeast Asian origin. Long-range Indian Ocean exchange
networks whose products reached as far as the neolithic groups of the
south Deccan plateau were apparently functioning earlier than is usually
stressed for this region.255 The role of Sri Lanka as an initial point of
connection between the eastern archipelago and the Indian subcontinent

—————
253
E.g., Bellwood (2004): 29.
254
Hung et al. (2007): 19746.
255
E.g. by Glover (1996); Gupta (2002): 5.

.
 The origin and diffusion of betel chewing 101

is unclear at this point. For North India betel chewing can only be docu-
mented after 500 B.C.E. when contacts with different trade partners al-
ready familiar with betel chewing were in place.
The pre-Austronesian domestication of betel pepper and arboricul-
ture of the areca nut palm cannot yet be conclusively demonstrated.
However, the movement of numerous plants across Island South-East
Asia, independent of and sometimes against the direction of the Aus-
tronesian expansion has been noted before.256 As new models of mari-
time migration and colonization in the Indo-Pacific region become avail-
able,257 the understanding of the movement of A. catechu L. and P. betle
L. across Asia is bound to improve.

9.5. The remarkably ‘success’ of the betel quid over such a wide geo-
graphic area raises the question whether underlying factors can be identi-
fied. One can address this issue on different levels, namely that of homi-
nid evolution, the specific botanical properties of A. catechu L. and P.
betle L., the physiological effects of betel chewing and, finally, the cul-
tural practices associated with the custom.

9.5.1. In an attempt to understand the significance of psychotropic sub-

stance use from prehistoric to modern times, an evolutionary model has
been put forward.258 This perspective asserts an adaptive human propen-
sity for the use of plant-derived secondary metabolites such as those
from areca nut, qāt, coca and tobacco, acting as neurotoxins. Indeed,
there are significant parallels between the employment of these different
stimulants in humans, extending to the terms of delivery via the buccal
mucosa and the pharmacological mechanisms of action as well as detoxi-
fication. However, if human substance seeking (‘pharmacophagy’) did
evolve to provide pharmacological benefits to our hominid ancestors,
exposure to such phytochemicals needed to have occurred broadly and
on an evolutionary time scale. At least for the plants noted above the
attested time-depth of usage is too limited to support such a model.259
Rather than being a specific evolutionary adaptation of our hominid an-
—————
256
Mahdi (1998): 405; Blench (2004): 46; Kennedy (2008): 76.
257
See Anderson and O’Connor (2008), for a recent brief review.
258
Sullivan and Hager (2002), recently updated in Sullivan et al. (2008).
259
Sulivan and Hager (2002): 399, appear to overstate the time depth of known use for
stimulants, e.g. qāt, for the sake of their argument. Sullivan et al. (2008) consider it
plausible that the combination of plants with lime was consumed as early as 100000
years ago.
102 THOMAS J. ZUMBROICH

cestors, the commonalities in substance use for now appear to represent a

exploitation of independently evolved biological mechanisms.

9.5.2. Some aspects of the botany of A. catechu L. and P. betle L. can

help account for the dynamic expansion of betel chewing across Asia and
the Pacific Islands. Since these two plants are adaptable and readily
propagated, a local supply of the ingredients was accomplished in many
subtropical and tropical locations within limits of sufficiently high tem-
peratures and rainfall. A cluster of areca nut palms became a typical
sight in the home and village gardens of betel chewing communities.260
This contrasts with other desirable plant products of the eastern archipel-
ago, like nutmeg (Myristica fragrans Houtt.) and clove (Syzygium aro-
maticum (L.) Merr. et Perry) whose demanding requirements have al-
ways limited the dispersal of the actual plants. The ability to preserve,
transport and trade areca nut and, to a lesser degree, betel leaf over long
distances differs, e.g. from the highly perishable qāt leaf that must be
consumed within two days of picking for full flavour and efficacy.261 In
the case of betel chewing this has allowed its expansion into areas un-
suitable for growing the ingredients, e.g. from coastal or low-lying re-
gions to montane areas,262 and the shipment from places of high produc-
tion to those of high demand.263

9.5.3. Similarly, the physiological responses betel chewing evokes

could have been of importance in its diffusion. The ability of areca nut to
suppress appetite264 and to combat fatigue has remained an incentive to
this date to take a supply on long-distance travel as is shown by current
use amongst the Nuaulu of South-central Ceram (Maluku).265 This prac-
tise could have played a particular role for the dispersal via trans-oceanic
—————
260
So in an early third century C.E. description of a morning scence in the town of
Maturai (present day Madurai) capital of the southern Indian Pāṇṭiya kingdom: ‘The
sweep the sand-strewn courtyards where the bees and beetles hum, and green are-
canuts fall.’ Maturaikañci, 753-754; Cheliah (1962): 269.
261
Weir (1980): 28.
262
E.g., Pommaret (2003), documents the expansion of betel chewing from India into
Butan in the 19th century.
263
Coningham (2002): 104, gives an example of areca nut cargo found in a 1659 ship-
wreck headed from Sri Lanka to the Indian mainland. Borooah (2000): 381, illus-
trates for Northeast India how improved modes of transportation for betel leaf have
expanded its usage.
264
Strickland et al. (2003).
265
Ellen (1991): 109.

.
 The origin and diffusion of betel chewing 103

voyages in the Indo-Malaysian archipelago and across the Pacific. An

early recognition of the pharmacological qualities of A. catechu L. and P.
betle L. is also demonstrated independently by their integration into the
corpus of āyurveda in North India.

9.5.4. Very little is known about how betel chewing was integrated into
cultural practices by its earliest users, but some general themes can be
derived from ethnohistorical sources.266 The availability and straightfor-
ward preparation of a basic betel quid from the raw ingredients allowed
access beyond an elite or those with expert knowledge in contrast to, e.g.
the difficult to obtain and process pitchuri of Australian aborigines. Nor
was betel chewing typically subject to ritual rationing as is the case with
kava.267 Betel is most often consumed informally and, even though it is
an essential part of many rituals, is not their sole focus. Chewing a
simple betel quid thus became primarily an inclusive activity across so-
cial, religious, age or gender barriers rather than an instrument of differ-
entiation. However, depending on the exact manner and circumstances in
which a betel quid is presented, it also has the potential to be a medium
of establishing rather than crossing barriers.268 Similarly, many aspects of
the wider material culture of betel chewing emphasize social stratifica-
tion as reflected in the addition of expensive aromatic ingredient to the
quid,269 the presentation of prestigious paraphernalia sets270 or the devel-
opment of special skills in rolling a betel quid.271 Thus, the nuanced use
of the betel quid and its complex material culture provided a sophisti-
cated tool of social interaction in the diverse cultures which adopted the
custom.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Jan Meulenbeld for his support during various stages of
this project. John Dransfield (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew) made valuable
comments on the biogeography of the genus Areca. Xuan Hien Nguyên
(Center for Vietnamese Studies, Amsterdam) contributed details on betel
—————
266
For a general discussion of this aspect of stimulants, see, e.g. Sherratt (2007).
267
Rudgley (1994): 154, 163-164.
268
See, e.g. Upadhyaya (1964): 216; Brownrigg (1992): 26; Conklin (2007): 293-294.
269
Concisely reviewed by Brownrigg (1992): 21.
270
Brownrigg (1992): 36-132; Rooney (1993): 40-65.
271
Nguyên (2006): 504.
104 THOMAS J. ZUMBROICH

chewing in Vietnam. Peter Reichart (Charité, Virchow Klinikum, Berlin)

provided preprints of manuscripts. Robert Goldman (University of Califor-
nia, Berkeley) offered his expertise on the Rāmāyaṇa. Ron Ranson (Univer-
sity of California, San Diego) and Srujana Doddi (University of Texas, Aus-
tin) greatly aided in accessing literature.

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