Domestication of plants
Introduction: What is domestication?
Domestication is a sustained multi-generational relationship between . In this, tir c%minant species
controls the reproduction and care of p to secure a more predictable supply of resources from that
second group
To be considered domesticated, a population of plants must ha th •behaviour, life cycle, or
appea rance significantly altered as a result of being , control for multiple
Plant and animal domestication is the most important t in the past 13,000 o us,
years Of human history. It is crucially important f scientists and nonalso the
scientists alike. because it provides most of our f prerequisite to
the rise of civilization, and it transformed global
Beginning of plant domestication
The earliest human attempts at plant Aion occurred in South-Western Asia. There is early evidence
for conscious culti and trait selection of plants by preNeolithic groups in Syria: grains rye domestic
traits have been recovered from Epi—palaeolithic (c. 11,050 BCE) Hureyra in Syria.
By 10,000 BCE the bottle gourd (Lage siæraria) plant, used as a container before the advent of
ceramic techn to have been domesticated.
Cereal crops were ted around 9000 BCE in the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East. The crops
were generally annuals with large seeds or fruits. These incl such as peas and grains such as
wheat. The Middle East was especially '%pecies: the dry -summer climate was conducive to
suited
the evolution Of large-plants, and the variety of elevations led to a great variety of
species.
domaca took place humans began to move from a hunter-gatherer society to a ltural
society. This change eventually led to the first City States and t"ålly the rise of civilization
itself.
