Geometric Morphometrics sheds new light on the identification and domestication status of ‘new glume wheat’ at Neolithic Çatalhöyük

<p>&lsquo;New glume wheat&rsquo; (NGW) is an archaeobotanical type increasingly recognised at Neolithic&ndash;Bronze Age sites across Europe and Western Asia. NGW has been recognised via aDNA and morphological analyses of chaff remains as a member of the&nbsp;<em>Triticu...

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Main Authors: Roushannafas, T, Bogaard, A, Charles, M
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2022
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author Roushannafas, T
Bogaard, A
Charles, M
author_facet Roushannafas, T
Bogaard, A
Charles, M
author_sort Roushannafas, T
collection OXFORD
description <p>&lsquo;New glume wheat&rsquo; (NGW) is an archaeobotanical type increasingly recognised at Neolithic&ndash;Bronze Age sites across Europe and Western Asia. NGW has been recognised via aDNA and morphological analyses of chaff remains as a member of the&nbsp;<em>Triticum timopheevii</em>&nbsp;wheat group, recent cultivation of which is known only from western Georgia. This study combines geometric morphometric (GMM) analysis of NGW grains with updated results from a parallel study of chaff dehiscence, to assess the taxonomic classification and domestication status of NGW from the Neolithic East Mound at &Ccedil;atalh&ouml;y&uuml;k (central Anatolia).</p> <p id="abspara0015">Results confirm close comparability of NGW with modern wheats from the group&nbsp;<em>T. timopheevii</em>, in a form which has remained remarkably similar over thousands of years. Furthermore, the analysis suggests that NGW was undergoing selection for domestication traits in terms of shattering behaviour and grain form during the 1150-year East Mound sequence. These findings are interpreted in the context of substantial archaeobotanical evidence for a broad-spectrum plant strategy at &Ccedil;atalh&ouml;y&uuml;k which mitigated the risk of resource failure and supported experimentation in cropping. Possible cultural and practical incentives are considered for investment in the crop, made despite the availability of a fully-domesticated glume wheat (emmer) with similar growing and processing requirements. Alongside this, the study demonstrates the sensitivity of GMM to differences between and within wheat species, with methodological findings that can inform future studies.</p>
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spelling oxford-uuid:7863bc37-38b7-436f-bf63-4cda6e9ee9b32023-08-09T12:17:31ZGeometric Morphometrics sheds new light on the identification and domestication status of ‘new glume wheat’ at Neolithic ÇatalhöyükJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:7863bc37-38b7-436f-bf63-4cda6e9ee9b3EnglishSymplectic ElementsElsevier2022Roushannafas, TBogaard, ACharles, M <p>&lsquo;New glume wheat&rsquo; (NGW) is an archaeobotanical type increasingly recognised at Neolithic&ndash;Bronze Age sites across Europe and Western Asia. NGW has been recognised via aDNA and morphological analyses of chaff remains as a member of the&nbsp;<em>Triticum timopheevii</em>&nbsp;wheat group, recent cultivation of which is known only from western Georgia. This study combines geometric morphometric (GMM) analysis of NGW grains with updated results from a parallel study of chaff dehiscence, to assess the taxonomic classification and domestication status of NGW from the Neolithic East Mound at &Ccedil;atalh&ouml;y&uuml;k (central Anatolia).</p> <p id="abspara0015">Results confirm close comparability of NGW with modern wheats from the group&nbsp;<em>T. timopheevii</em>, in a form which has remained remarkably similar over thousands of years. Furthermore, the analysis suggests that NGW was undergoing selection for domestication traits in terms of shattering behaviour and grain form during the 1150-year East Mound sequence. These findings are interpreted in the context of substantial archaeobotanical evidence for a broad-spectrum plant strategy at &Ccedil;atalh&ouml;y&uuml;k which mitigated the risk of resource failure and supported experimentation in cropping. Possible cultural and practical incentives are considered for investment in the crop, made despite the availability of a fully-domesticated glume wheat (emmer) with similar growing and processing requirements. Alongside this, the study demonstrates the sensitivity of GMM to differences between and within wheat species, with methodological findings that can inform future studies.</p>
spellingShingle Roushannafas, T
Bogaard, A
Charles, M
Geometric Morphometrics sheds new light on the identification and domestication status of ‘new glume wheat’ at Neolithic Çatalhöyük
title Geometric Morphometrics sheds new light on the identification and domestication status of ‘new glume wheat’ at Neolithic Çatalhöyük
title_full Geometric Morphometrics sheds new light on the identification and domestication status of ‘new glume wheat’ at Neolithic Çatalhöyük
title_fullStr Geometric Morphometrics sheds new light on the identification and domestication status of ‘new glume wheat’ at Neolithic Çatalhöyük
title_full_unstemmed Geometric Morphometrics sheds new light on the identification and domestication status of ‘new glume wheat’ at Neolithic Çatalhöyük
title_short Geometric Morphometrics sheds new light on the identification and domestication status of ‘new glume wheat’ at Neolithic Çatalhöyük
title_sort geometric morphometrics sheds new light on the identification and domestication status of new glume wheat at neolithic catalhoyuk
work_keys_str_mv AT roushannafast geometricmorphometricsshedsnewlightontheidentificationanddomesticationstatusofnewglumewheatatneolithiccatalhoyuk
AT bogaarda geometricmorphometricsshedsnewlightontheidentificationanddomesticationstatusofnewglumewheatatneolithiccatalhoyuk
AT charlesm geometricmorphometricsshedsnewlightontheidentificationanddomesticationstatusofnewglumewheatatneolithiccatalhoyuk