Archaeologists have made an exciting discovery in Toda Cave, located in southern Uzbekistan. They found evidence that people were cutting and gathering wild barley there around 9,200 years ago. This pushes back the timeline for the earliest barley harvesting, showing it took place far from the well-known Fertile Crescent.
Along with barley, researchers uncovered pistachio shells and wild apple seeds, painting a picture of a community that regularly collected grains, nuts, and fruits in a climate that was likely wetter than today.
A Step Back in Time
The excavation revealed stone blades, grinding tools, and plant remains that date back to about 9,200 to 8,000 years ago. The barley found was still in its wild form, and the tools showed the damage consistent with cutting grasses. This suggests that early humans were skilled foragers, processing these plants to form a diverse diet.
Leading the research was Xinying Zhou, a paleoarchaeologist from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing. Her work focuses on how humans began using plants, emphasizing that transitioning to farming was a gradual process rather than a sudden change.
The Evolution of Farming
Many scientists now believe that agriculture developed slowly alongside human interaction with plants, rather than being a single event. For example, a site in Jordan, called Shubayqa 1, suggests that people were making bread-like foods about 4,000 years before agriculture fully developed. Findings from Toda Cave add another piece to this puzzle, illustrating how people in Eurasia were gathering and processing wild grains long before settled farming began.
Interestingly, domesticated barley likely came to this region from the Iranian Plateau around 8,000 years ago. This idea supports the notion that harvesting came first, with true cultivation following later.
Nuts and Fruits in the Mix
The discoveries in Toda Cave also highlight the use of pistachios and a wild relative of apples, known as Malus sieversii. Genetic research indicates that these wild apples contributed significantly to the apples we eat today. The findings suggest that early humans not only focused on grasses but also foraged for a variety of foods that thrived in local ecosystems.
Why Does This Matter?
The discoveries at Toda Cave change our understanding of early plant use. They expand the known area of early cereal foraging and emphasize that harvesting and handling these crops likely played a role in domestication, even without formal farming practices.
Historically, humans lived as hunter-gatherers for most of their existence, only adopting settled agriculture about 12,000 years ago. The tools and grains found in this cave provide clarity on that transformative journey.
Confirming the Timeline
To establish a timeline for these findings, researchers conducted radiocarbon dating across different layers of sediment. They also studied past vegetation through palynology, which helped identify the types of plants that thrived in that area at the time. This research paints a complete picture of the cave’s ancient environment.
Future excavations aim to uncover more barley remains and tools to better understand when humans shifted from foraging to cultivation. Researchers are particularly interested in discovering if people were beginning to manage wild barley stands, a key sign of domestication.
This work was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and adds significant depth to our understanding of early human agriculture and foraging practices.
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