New Archaeobotanical Information on Plant Domestication from Macro-Remains: Tracking the Evolution of Domestication Syndrome Traits

doi:10.1017/CBO9781139019514.008

5 - New Archaeobotanical Information on Plant Domestication from Macro-Remains: Tracking the Evolution of Domestication Syndrome Traits

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012

Dorian Q. Fuller

Edited by

Paul Gepts ,

Thomas R. Famula ,

Robert L. Bettinger ,

Stephen B. Brush ,

Ardeshir B. Damania ,

Patrick E. McGuire and

Calvin O. Qualset

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Paul Gepts: Affiliation:
University of California, Davis
Thomas R. Famula: Affiliation:
University of California, Davis
Robert L. Bettinger: Affiliation:
University of California, Davis
Stephen B. Brush: Affiliation:
University of California, Davis
Ardeshir B. Damania: Affiliation:
University of California, Davis
Patrick E. McGuire: Affiliation:
University of California, Davis
Calvin O. Qualset: Affiliation:
University of California, Davis

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Summary

The growth of archaeobotany

Archaeobotany is the specialist study at the frontier of archaeology and plant evolution. By the study of preserved plant remains from ancient human sites, archaeobotany provides evidence for use of plant resources by past cultures but also provides a record of datable ancient remains from which to document trends in the morphological evolution of crop species. As the available archaeobotanical data grow (Figure 5.1) it becomes increasingly possible to look comparatively at the trends in crop evolution, although we are still at an early stage in such research. The paper will explore some preliminary syntheses of such data, organized around a few traits of the “domestication syndrome” that are best documented in archaeobotanical macro-remains. In this exploration we focus on domestication as morphological adaptation on the part of plants, which results from the impact of human behaviors, represented by the term cultivation.

An adaptive syndrome of recurrent traits associated with cereal domestication was laid out by Jack Harlan, with his colleagues De Wet and Price, in 1973. Drawing mainly on comparative field observations of crops, their weedy races, and wild progenitors, this paper proposed both the morphological adaptations of crops and the selective pressures of human cultivators that were expected to select for them. These features were later incorporated into the taxonomically broader “domestication syndrome” of Hammer (1984). It is usually inferred that conscious intent on the part of cultivators was not necessary to explain the evolution of these traits, but rather these represented adaptation via natural selection to the anthropogenic environment of the cultivated field. As such, most domestication traits have been assumed to evolve by unconscious selection (e.g., Heiser 1988, Zohary 2004, Purugganan and Fuller 2009). Later in this chapter, through a consideration of melon domestication, I will suggest that some cases of conscious, intentional selection may differ from typical domestication processes by being faster.

Type: Chapter
Information: Biodiversity in Agriculture
Domestication, Evolution, and Sustainability
, pp. 110 - 135

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139019514.008 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2012

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