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Science 31 March 2006:
Vol. 311. no. 5769, p. 1886
DOI: 10.1126/science.1124635
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Brevia

How Fast Was Wild Wheat Domesticated?

Ken-ichi Tanno1 and George Willcox2*

Prehistoric cultivation of wild wheat in the Fertile Crescent led to the selection of mutants with indehiscent (nonshattering) ears, which evolved into modern domestic wheat. Previous estimates suggested that this transformation was rapid, but our analyses of archaeological plant remains demonstrate that indehiscent domesticates were slow to appear, emerging ~9500 years before the present, and that dehiscent (shattering) forms were still common in cultivated fields ~7500 years before the present. Slow domestication implies that after cultivation began, wild cereals may have remained unchanged for a long period, supporting claims that agriculture originated in the Near East ~10,500 years before the present.

1 Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Takashima 335, Kamigyo, 602-0878 Kyoto, Japan.
2 National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), Unité Mixte de Recherche 5133, Jalès, Berrias 07460, France.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: george.willcox{at}mom.fr

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