The Origin of Cultivation and Proto-Weeds, Long Before Neolithic Farming

Abstract

Weeds are currently present in a wide range of ecosystems worldwide. Although the beginning of their evolution is largely unknown, researchers assumed that they developed in tandem with cultivation since the appearance of agricultural habitats some 12,000 years ago. These rapidly-evolving plants invaded the human disturbed areas and thrived in the new habitat. Here we present unprecedented new findings of the presence of “proto-weeds” and small-scale trial cultivation in Ohalo II, a 23,000-year-old hunter-gatherers' sedentary camp on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Israel. We examined the plant remains retrieved from the site (ca. 150,000 specimens), placing particular emphasis on the search for evidence of plant cultivation by Ohalo II people and the presence of weed species. The archaeobotanically-rich plant assemblage demonstrates extensive human gathering of over 140 plant species and food preparation by grinding wild wheat and barley. Among these, we identified 13 well-known current weeds mixed with numerous seeds of wild emmer, barley, and oat. This collection provides the earliest evidence of a human-disturbed environment—at least 11 millennia before the onset of agriculture—that provided the conditions for the development of "proto-weeds", a prerequisite for weed evolution. Finally, we suggest that their presence indicates the earliest, small-scale attempt to cultivate wild cereals seen in the archaeological record.

A natural adaptive syndrome as a model for the origins of cereal agriculture

“…Its importance is from the quality and identification of plant remains and the presence of 'proto-weeds', claimed to indicate cultivation-the earliest record of such [49]. However, the recognition of the LAM syndrome allows an alternative explanation of the presence of 'proto-weeds' at Ohalo II: they are not weeds growing in human-made niches, as claimed, but are ruderals-that is, wild plants of naturally disturbed ground.…”

Regional diversity on the timing for the initial appearance of cereal cultivation and domestication in southwest Asia

“…In southwest Asia, the archaeobotanical evidence indicates that during the Epipaleolithic (c. 23-11.6 ka Cal BP), the plant-based subsistence focused primarily on the collection of wild plant species, including several species that are the ancestors of modern-day domesticated cereals and legumes (3)(4)(5)(6). Around 11.5 ka Cal BP, during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) in the Levant (11.6-10.7 ka Cal BP), there is evidence for the development of plant food production with the cultivation of various wild cereals such as wheat (Triticum) and barley (Hordeum) (7)(8)(9)(10).…”

Malva: Food, Medicine and Chemistry

“…214 Cd, Cu accumulation Plants irrigated with sewage water, accumulated copper and cadmium up to six folds compared with control. 215 Gold nanoparticles 70% Ethanol/water extract of the plant was used as reductant in the synthesis of AuNP's from HAuCl4 216 Anti-complementary mucilage Water extraction of fresh leaves afforded mucilage with average molecular weight of 6x10 6 . It consists L-rhamnose, D-galactose, D-galacturonic acid and D-glucurnic acid, with molar ratio of 6:3:2:2, respectively.…”

“…4 These findings were confirmed and expanded by recent two studies of the same site. 5,6 Ancient Balkan inhabitants used Malva (unspecified sp.) as food sources and the materials of the plants were found in the remains of their teeth that go back at least 8600 years ago.…”