It is difficult to overstate the cultural and biological impacts that the domestication of plants
and animals has had on our species. Fundamental questions regarding where, when, and …

The domestication of plants and animals over the past 11,500 years has had a significant
effect not just on the domesticated taxa but also on human evolution and on the biosphere …

Human cooperation is highly unusual. We live in large groups composed mostly of non-
relatives. Evolutionists have proposed a number of explanations for this pattern, including …

Over two thousand plant species have been modified morphologically through cultivation
and human use. Here, we review three aspects of crop domestication that are currently …

New human aDNA studies have once again brought to the forefront the role of mobility and
migration in shaping social phenomena in European prehistory, processes that recent …

Background Unravelling domestication processes is crucial for understanding how species
respond to anthropogenic pressures, forecasting crop responses to future global changes …

Olive (O lea europaea ssp. europaea) is the most important oil fruit crop in temperate areas,
but the origin of the cultivated olive remains unclear. The existence of one or several …

During the last decade, ancient DNA research has been revolutionized by the availability of
increasingly powerful DNA sequencing and ancillary genomics technologies, giving rise to …

Abstract Background Persian walnut, Juglans regia, occurs naturally from Greece to western
China, while its closest relative, the iron walnut, Juglans sigillata, is endemic in southwest …

By documenting how humans adapted to changes in their environment that are often much
greater than those experienced in the instrumental record, archaeology provides our only …