Abstract

Recent studies of crop domestication have shifted the focus of debate from notions of active selection and breeding to the opportunistic responses to unintended consequences of co-evolution. Such responses relates to a much wider range of traits than simply the classic domestication traits. One example is the changing seasonality responses of plants under domestication.

This talk reviews recent work on the seasonality of crop growth, with particular reference to our recent work on barley, how that is affected by the spread of those crops into new latitudes and altitudes, and how opportunistic responses to genetic changes in the crops has from later prehistory had radical repercussions upon societies across the world. The talk will finally return to reflect on the place of active selection in breeding in the wider domestication process.