Editing Founder crops (section)

=== 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"}}