According to a team of archaeologists led by Dr Nicholas Conard from Tübingen University, the transition from foraging to farming took place at roughly the same time across the entire Fertile Crescent, not in a single core region as previously thought.
Location of important archaeological sites in the Fertile Crescent: 1 – Chogha Golan, 2 – Ali Kosh, 3 – Chia Sabz, 4 – Ganj Dareh Tepe, 5 – Sheikh-e Abad, 6 – Jani, 7 – Tepe Abdul Hosein, 8 – M’lefaat, 9 – Nemrik, 10 – Qermez Dere, 11 – Magzalia, 12 – Körtik Tepe, 13 – Hallan Cemi, 14 – Cayonu, 15 – Cafer Hoyuk, 16 – Asikli Hoyuk, 17 – Can Hasan III, 18 – Nevali Cori, 19 – Göbekli Tepe, 20 – Akarcay Tepe, 21 – Djade, 22 – Halula, 23 – Jerf el Ahmar, 24 – Mureybet, 25 – Abu Hureyra, 26 – El Kowm I and II, 27 – Bouqras, 28 – Abr, 29 – Qaramel, 30 – Tell Ras Shamra, 31 – Kissonerga, 32 – Parekklisha-Shillourokambos, 33 – Tell Ghoraifé, 34 – Tell Aswad, 35 – Tell Ramad, 36 – Yiftah’el, 37 – Iraq ed Dubb, 38 – Gilgal, 39 – ‘Ain Ghazal, 40 – Netiv Hagdud, 41 – Dhra, 42 – Jericho, 43 – Nahal Hemar, 44 – Wadi Fidan, 45 – Beidha, 46 – Basta, 47 – Dhuweila, 48 – Azraq 31, 49 – Wadi Jilat 7 (Simone Riehl et al)
The archaeologists have analyzed plant remains from the pre-pottery Neolithic site of Chogha Golan in the Zagros Mountains, Iran. Their results, published in the journal Science, show that early inhabitants of the region began cultivating cereal grains between 12,000 and 9,800 years ago – at the same time as their counterparts to the west.
“During the last few decades, numerous archaeological excavations were conducted in the Near East that led researchers to consider the possibility that multiple regions in the Fertile Crescent began cultivating cereal grains roughly at the same time, rather than just a single core area,” said study first author Dr Simone Riehl, also from Tübingen University.
The finds show that Chogha Golan’s early inhabitants cultivated wild barley, wheat, lentil and grass peas – and eventually domesticated emmer wheat – during their occupation.
“Plentiful findings of chaff remains of the cereals indicate that people processed their harvest within the sites they were living in. Mortars and grinding stones may have been used for turning the grain into some kind of bulgur or flour, which may have been further processed either by cooking or roasting,” Dr Riehl said.
Wild barley Hordeum spontaneum from Chogha Golan, Iran (TISARP / University of Tübingen)
Taken together, these new insights suggest that the eastern region of the Fertile Crescent likewise made significant contributions to the development of Neolithic culture. The findings indicate that essentially simultaneous processes led to the management of wild plants and the domestication of cereal grains across most of the Fertile Crescent.
But, how such strategies were disseminated over the entire Fertile Crescent – whether by the communication of ideas, the spread of crops or the migration of people – remains to be seen.
“For some time, the emergence of agriculture in Iran was considered as part of a cultural transfer from the west. This opinion was, however, mostly based on the lack of information from Iranian sites,” Dr Riehl said.
“We meanwhile assume that key areas for emerging domestication existed over the whole Fertile Crescent, and that there were several locations where domesticated species evolved as a result of cultivation by local human groups. This does not, of course, exclude the possibility of some kind of transfer of ideas and materials between the different groups populating the Fertile Crescent.”
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Bibliographic information: Simone Riehl et al. 2013. Emergence of Agriculture in the Foothills of the Zagros Mountains of Iran. Science, vol. 341, no. 6141, pp. 65-67; doi: 10.1126/science.1236743
