Where were avocado seeds first found around 9,000 to 10,000 years ago?

Avocado seeds dating to around 9,000–10,000 years ago were first found in Mexico’s Tehuacan Valley. The finds place the avocado within the long agricultural history of Mesoamerica.

The seeds date to roughly 7000–8000 BCE, making them evidence of very early human use of the fruit. They do not by themselves prove that fully domesticated avocados were already being cultivated at that exact moment; archaeological evidence often reflects gathering, use, and gradual domestication across many generations.

By about 5000 BCE, various Mesoamerican groups had domesticated avocados. The fruit later became important in regional foodways, while related cultivation also spread beyond Mexico. Avocados may have been grown in Peru’s Supe Valley as early as 3100 BCE.

The Tehuacan Valley is sometimes confused with other famous archaeological regions, such as the Indus Valley or Nile Valley. Those alternatives are associated with major ancient civilizations, but the early avocado evidence in this question specifically comes from the Tehuacan Valley in present-day Mexico.