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Can a functional ecological model reliably reveal the nature of early plant management in southwest Asia?

Nature Plants volume 9, pages 1962–1963 (2023)Cite this article

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Matters Arising to this article was published on 05 December 2023

The Original Article was published on 02 June 2022

arising from A. Weide et al. Nature Plants https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-022-01161-7 (2022)

A recent publication in Nature Plants presents a new approach to elucidate the origins of agriculture in southwest Asia. This approach uses a functional ecological model that attempts to measure soil disturbance on the basis of charred remains of crop-processing by-products1. This approach was developed to recognize the period when humans cultivated wild cereals before selection led to the evolutionary adaptation of the non-shattering ear2,3,4,5. To identify this period, referred to as pre-domestic cultivation, research has focused on identifications of charred plant remains that may correspond to arable weeds. However, these potential arable weeds also grow among wild cereals in their natural habitat. To test whether crop-processing by-products were derived from tilled cultivation or from harvests in wild habitats, Weide et al.1 attempted to estimate levels of soil disturbance by comparing flowering durations of selected taxa from seven late Pleistocene/early Holocene sites. The following is a discussion of the reliability of this study with particular reference to two archaeological sites, Jerf el Ahmar and Dja’de.

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References

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  1. CNRS Archéorient, Lyon, France

    George Willcox

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  1. George Willcox
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Correspondence to George Willcox.

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Nature Plants thanks Anna Maria Mercuri for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Willcox, G. Can a functional ecological model reliably reveal the nature of early plant management in southwest Asia?. Nat. Plants 9, 1962–1963 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-023-01573-z

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