SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND—Scientists from the University of Sheffield studied crops grown by early farmers in the Fertile Crescent to see if they could determine why some plants were chosen for domestication and not others. Catherine Preece and her colleagues grew wild versions of staple foods in a greenhouse, and found that the types of plants that are less bushy as adults, and have bigger seeds on fewer stems, are ideal for agriculture. “Our results surprised us because numerous other grasses that our ancestors ate, but we do not, can produce just as much seed as wild wheat and barley. It is only when these plants are grown at high densities, similar to what we would find in fields, that the advantage of wild wheat and barley is revealed,” Preece said. The next step in the research is to plant experimental fields in Turkey, the heart of the Fertile Crescent. “Cereal breeders are taking an increasing interest in modern crops’ wild relatives as a source of useful traits that may help to increase yields or increase resilience to climate change, and our work should help this process,” she added. To read about domestication of crops in the New World, see "New Thoughts on Corn Domestication."
The Origins of Staple Foods Studied
News December 12, 2014
Recommended Articles
Digs & Discoveries September/October 2019
Home on the Plains
Features November/December 2024
Let the Games Begin
How gladiators in ancient Anatolia lived to entertain the masses
Features November/December 2024
The Many Faces of the Kingdom of Shu
Thousands of fantastical bronzes are beginning to reveal the secrets of a legendary Chinese dynasty
Digs & Discoveries November/December 2024
Egyptian Crocodile Hunt
-
Features November/December 2014
The Neolithic Toolkit
How experimental archaeology is showing that Europe's first farmers were also its first carpenters
(Courtesy Rengert Elburg, Landesamt für Archäologie Sachsen) -
Features November/December 2014
The Ongoing Saga of Sutton Hoo
A region long known as a burial place for Anglo-Saxon kings is now yielding a new look at the world they lived in
(© The Trustees of the British Museum/Art Resource) -
Letter From Montana November/December 2014
The Buffalo Chasers
Vast expanses of grassland near the Rocky Mountains bear evidence of an extraordinary ancient buffalo hunting culture
(Maria Nieves Zedeño) -
Artifacts November/December 2014
Ancient Egyptian Ostracon
(Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, UCL, UC15946)