Fuller, Dorian Q., Willcox, G. and Allaby, Robin G.. (2012) Early agricultural pathways : moving outside the 'core area' hypothesis in Southwest Asia. Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.63 (No.2). pp. 617-633. ISSN 0022-0957

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

The origins of agriculture in the Near East has been associated with a 'core area', located in south-eastern Turkey, in which all major crops were brought into domestication within the same local domestication system operated by a single cultural group. Such an origin leads to a scenario of rapid invention of agriculture by a select cultural group and typically monophyletic origins for most crops. Surprisingly, support for a core area has never been directly tested with archaeological evidence. Over the past decade a large amount of new archaeological and genetic evidence has been discovered which brings new light on the origins of agriculture. In this review, this new evidence was brought together in order to evaluate whether a core region of origin is supported. Evidence shows that origins began earlier than previously assumed, and included 'false starts' and dead ends that involved many more species than the typical eight founder crops associated with the core area. The rates at which domestication syndrome traits became fixed were generally slow, rather than rapid, and occurred over a geographically wide range that included the North and South Levant as well as the core area. Finally, a survey of the estimated ages of archaeological sites and the onset of domestication indicates that the domestication process was ongoing in parallel outside of the core area earlier than within it. Overall, evidence suggests a scenario in which crops were domesticated slowly in different locations around the Near East rather than emanating from a core area.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	Q Science > Q Science (General)
Divisions:	Faculty of Science > Life Sciences (2010- )
Journal or Publication Title:	Journal of Experimental Botany
Publisher:	OUP
ISSN:	0022-0957
Date:	January 2012
Volume:	Vol.63
Number:	No.2
Page Range:	pp. 617-633
Identification Number:	10.1093/jxb/err307
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/41925

Data sourced from Thomson Reuters' Web of Knowledge

Request changes to a record

Actions (login required)

View Item