Editing Founder crops (section)

== Domestication ==

All of the so-called founder crops are native to Southwest Asia and were [[Domestication|domesticated]] in the [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic]] period.{{sfn|Zohary|Hopf|Weiss|2012|loc="Current state of the art"}}{{sfn|Banning|2002}} Many other crops were domesticated in West Asia during the Neolithic, as well as elsewhere, independently, in later periods.<ref name="Purugganan Fuller 2009">{{cite journal |last1=Purugganan |first1=Michael D. |last2=Fuller |first2=Dorian Q. |title=The nature of selection during plant domestication |journal=Nature |publisher=Springer |volume=457 |issue=7231 |date=1 February 2009 |issn=0028-0836 |doi=10.1038/nature07895 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/24003450 |pages=843–848 |pmid=19212403 |bibcode=2009Natur.457..843P |access-date=19 October 2023 |archive-date=20 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231020135832/https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Dorian-Fuller/publication/24003450_Purugganan_MD_Fuller_DQ_The_nature_of_selection_during_plant_domestication_Nature_457_843-848/links/0912f508156a26ca22000000/Purugganan-MD-Fuller-DQ-The-nature-of-selection-during-plant-domestication-Nature-457-843-848.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
=== Cereals ===
The [[staple crop]]s of Neolithic agriculture were [[cereal]]s, which could be easily cultivated in open fields, have a high [[nutritional value]], and can be stored for long periods of time. The most important were two species of wheat, namely emmer (''Triticum turgidum'' subsp. ''dicoccum'') and [[Einkorn wheat|einkorn]] (''Triticum monococcum'') and barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), which were amongst the first species to be domesticated in the world. The wild progenitors of all three crops are [[Self-pollination|self-pollinating]], which made them easier to domesticate.{{sfn|Zohary|Hopf|Weiss|2012|loc="Cereals"}}

Wild einkorn wheat (''Triticum monococcum'' subsp. ''boeoticum'') grows across Southwest Asia in open [[Forest steppe|parkland]] and [[steppe]] environments.{{sfn|Zohary|Hopf|Weiss|2012|loc="Cereals"}} It comprises three distinct [[Race (biology)|races]], only one of which, native to [[Southeast Anatolia]], was domesticated.{{sfn|Kilian|Ozkan|Walther|Kohl|2007}} The main feature that distinguishes domestic einkorn from wild is that its ears will not [[Shattering (agriculture)|shatter]] without pressure, making it dependent on humans for dispersal and reproduction.{{sfn|Zohary|Hopf|Weiss|2012|loc="Cereals"}} It also tends to have wider grains.{{sfn|Zohary|Hopf|Weiss|2012|loc="Cereals"}} Wild einkorn was collected at [[Epipalaeolithic]] sites such as [[Tell Abu Hureyra]] ({{Circa|12,700–11,000 years ago}}) and [[Mureybet]] ({{Circa|11,800–11,300 years ago}}), but the earliest archaeological evidence for the domestic form comes from the early [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic B]] of southern Turkey, at [[Çayönü]], [[Cafer Höyük]], and possibly [[Nevalı Çori]].{{sfn|Zohary|Hopf|Weiss|2012|loc="Cereals"}} Genetic evidence indicates that it was domesticated in multiple places independently.{{sfn|Kilian|Ozkan|Walther|Kohl|2007}}

Wild emmer wheat (''Triticum turgidum'' subsp. ''dicoccoides'') is less widespread than einkorn, favouring the rocky [[basalt]]ic and [[limestone]] soils found in the [[Hilly Flanks|hilly flanks]] of the Fertile Crescent.{{sfn|Zohary|Hopf|Weiss|2012|loc="Cereals"}} It is also more diverse, with domesticated varieties falling into two major groups: hulled or non-shattering, in which threshing separates the whole [[spikelet]]; and free-threshing, where the individual grains are separated. Both varieties probably existed in the Neolithic, but over time free-threshing cultivars became more common.{{sfn|Zohary|Hopf|Weiss|2012|loc="Cereals"}} Genetic studies have found that, like einkorn, emmer was domesticated in southeastern Anatolia, but only once.{{sfn|Ozkan|Brandolini|Schäfer-Pregl|Salamini|2002}}{{sfn|Luo|Yang|You|Kawahara|2007}} The earliest secure archaeological evidence for domestic emmer comes from the early PPNB levels at Çayönü, {{Circa|10,250–9550 years ago}}, where distinctive scars on the spikelets indicated that they came from a hulled domestic variety.{{sfn|Zohary|Hopf|Weiss|2012|loc="Cereals"}} Slightly earlier finds have been reported from [[Tell Aswad]] in Syria, {{Circa|10,500–10,200 years ago}}, but these were identified using a less reliable method based on grain size.{{sfn|Zohary|Hopf|Weiss|2012|loc="Cereals"}}

[[Wild barley]] (''Hordeum spontaneum'') is more widely distributed than either wheat species, growing across the Eastern Mediterranean, Southwest Asia, and as far east as Tibet, but is most common in the Fertile Crescent.{{sfn|Zohary|Hopf|Weiss|2012|loc="Cereals"}} Its tolerance for dry conditions and poor soils allows it to thrive in arid steppe and desert environments.{{sfn|Zohary|Hopf|Weiss|2012|loc="Cereals"}} Wild barley has two rows of spikelets, [[Husk|hulled]] grains, and a brittle [[rachis]]; domestication produced, successively, non-brittle, naked (hulless), and then six-rowed forms.{{sfn|Zohary|Hopf|Weiss|2012|loc="Cereals"}} Genetic evidence indicates that it was first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent, probably in the Levant, though there may have been independent domestication events elsewhere.{{Sfn|Haas|Schreiber|Mascher|2018}} Wild barley was harvested in Southwest Asia as long as 50,000 years ago at [[Kebara Cave]], and 23,000 years ago at [[Ohalo II]].{{sfn|Zohary|Hopf|Weiss|2012|loc="Cereals"}} At [[Gilgal I]], a [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic A]] site in Israel dated to {{Circa|11,700–10,550 years ago}}, archaeologists discovered a large granary containing thousands of wild barley grains, providing direct evidence for the cultivation of a cereal before it was domesticated.{{Sfn|Weiss|Kislev|Hartmann|2006}} The earliest known remains of domesticated two-row barley come from Tell Aswad and are {{Circa|10,200–9,550 years old}}.{{sfn|Zohary|Hopf|Weiss|2012|loc="Cereals"}} Six-rowed barley is first seen at [[Çatalhöyük]], {{Circa|9350–8950 years ago}}, and naked varieties at [[Hacilar]], {{Circa|9350–8950 years ago}}.{{sfn|Zohary|Hopf|Weiss|2012|loc="Cereals"}}

=== Pulses ===
* [[Lentil]] (''Lens culinaris'')
* [[Pea]] (''Pisum sativum'')
* [[Chickpea]] (''Cicer arietinum'')
* [[Vicia ervilia|Bitter vetch]] (''Vicia ervilia'')

=== Flax ===
[[Flax]] (''Linum usitatissimum'') was the first species to be domesticated for oil and fibres rather than food.{{sfn|Zohary|Hopf|Weiss|2012|loc="Oil- and fibre- producing plants"}} Its wild progenitor was ''[[Linum bienne]]'', which can be found from western Europe to the Caucasus.{{sfn|Zohary|Hopf|Weiss|2012|loc="Oil- and fibre- producing plants"}} Wild flax fibres were used by humans as early as 30,000 years ago, at [[Dzudzuana cave]] in Georgia,{{sfn|Kvavadze|Bar-Yosef|Belfer-Cohen|Boaretto|2009}} but genetic evidence indicates that domestic flax was initially selected for [[Linseed oil|its oil]].{{sfn|Allaby|Peterson|Merriwether|Fu|2005}}{{sfn|Zohary|Hopf|Weiss|2012|loc="Oil- and fibre- producing plants"}} In Southwest Asia, the oldest known wild linseed comes from [[Tell Mureibit]] and is {{Circa|11,800–11,300 years old}}; thereafter, it is commonly found at [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic B]] sites across the region.{{sfn|Zohary|Hopf|Weiss|2012|loc="Oil- and fibre- producing plants"}} These remains are thought to represent the collection of seeds for pressing or consumption, since flax fibres are usually harvested before the seeds mature.{{sfn|Zohary|Hopf|Weiss|2012|loc="Oil- and fibre- producing plants"}} Domestic flax is distinguished by its non-splitting capsules, larger seeds, higher oil yield, and longer fibres compared to wild varieties.{{sfn|Zohary|Hopf|Weiss|2012|loc="Oil- and fibre- producing plants"}} It does not appear in the archaeological record until relatively late, at [[Tell es-Sultan]] (Jericho), {{Circa|9900–9550 years ago}}.{{sfn|Zohary|Hopf|Weiss|2012|loc="Oil- and fibre- producing plants"}}