On the Identification of Domesticated Emmer Wheat, Triticum turgidum subsp. dicoccum (Poaceae), in the Aceramic Neolithic of the Fertile Crescent

Abstract

The present article summarises and discusses the state of research concerning emmer domestication and presents new identification criteria for domestic emmer wheat. General morphological analyses as well as experimental charring and measurements on domestic emmer (Triticum turgidum subsp. dicoccum) and its wild progenitor (Triticum turgidum subsp. dicoccoides) from the Fertile Crescent were conducted to track the main features that distinguish both forms. Wild emmer can be differentiated from domestic emmer using longitudinal sections through rachises. The scar morphology of wild emmer specimens with a rough upper abscission scar is distinct from domestic emmer. In addition, two of the measuring tracks distinguish between domestic emmer and its progenitor. These results were applied to archaeological specimens from the aceramic Neolithic site of Chogha Golan (Ilam Province, Iran), which was excavated in 2009 and 2010 by a team of the Tübingen Iranian Stone Age Research Project. The carbonised emmer rachis remains dating to about 9,800 BP contain morphologically wild and domestic types, which is typical for cereal assemblages from aceramic Neolithic deposits.