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SUMMARY:Developmental plasticity under human management shaped cereal evol
 ution prior to domestication in the Early Holocene southern Levant - Jade 
 Whitlam (University of Oxford)
DTSTART:20250207T131500Z
DTEND:20250207T140000Z
UID:TALK227716@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Neal Payne
DESCRIPTION:The domestication of plants in southwest Asia was an evolution
 ary process that took place over several millennia in the Early Holocene. 
 During this time domestic species developed distinct traits that distingui
 sh them from their wild counterparts. Current models of plant domesticatio
 n emphasise the role of genetic selection in the evolution of these traits
 \, viewing these as heritable adaptations that arose in response to select
 ive pressures associated with human cultivation. In cereals\, domesticatio
 n resulted in the evolution of non-shattering rachis and increased grain s
 ize\, two traits that can be tracked directly in the archaeobotanical reco
 rd. Measurements of cereal grains from Early Neolithic sites indicate that
  grain size increase occurred prior to the evolution of non-shattering rac
 his\, and it has been proposed that this reflects selection for larger gra
 ins under tillage\, signifying pre-domestication cultivation. \n\nIn this 
 talk I will report on new results from two Pre-Pottery Neolithic sites in 
 the southern Levant\, where well-preserved archaeobotanical evidence suppo
 rts the hypothesis that cereal evolution was shaped by developmental plast
 icity as well as genetic selection\, and that increased grain size in the 
 Early Holocene is better understood as a plastic response to variation in 
 growing conditions (specifically moisture)\, rather than a result of genet
 ic selection for increased grain size under cultivation (i.e.\, tillage). 
 \n\nPlease join us in-person in the McDonald Institute seminar room or joi
 n online.\n\nhttps://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_ZDc2MD
 k1ZGQtNmNkZC00M2U2LTliYjMtN2EyZWE0MDI5ZTAz%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid
 %22%3a%2249a50445-bdfa-4b79-ade3-547b4f3986e9%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%227c42dde3
 -f200-49ed-9a81-5aa7e67f945e%22%7d
LOCATION:Seminar Room\, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research\, D
 owning Site
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