Which of the following includes the worlds earliest centers of plant domestication?
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. 2006 Aug 15;103(33):12223-8. Show
doi: 10.1073/pnas.0604335103. Epub 2006 Aug 7. Affiliations
Free PMC article Eastern North America as an independent center of plant domesticationBruce D Smith. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006. Free PMC article AbstractThe status of eastern North America as an independent center of plant domestication has recently been called into question by a number of genetic and archaeological studies, which suggest that the region may not have witnessed the independent domestication of local crop plants, but rather may have been on the receiving end of domesticated crop plants introduced from Mexico. Here, I provide a synthesis of the currently available archaeological and genetic evidence from both eastern North America and Mexico regarding the spatial and temporal context of initial domestication of the four plant species identified as potential eastern North American domesticates: marshelder (Iva annua), chenopod (Chenopodium berlandieri), squash (Cucurbita pepo), and sunflower (Helianthus annuus). Genetic and archaeological evidence provides strong support for the independent domestication of all four of these plant species in the eastern United States and reconfirms the region as one of the world's independent centers of domestication. Conflict of interest statementConflict of interest statement: No conflicts declared. Figures
 Currently recognized independent centers of plant and animal domestication. Location of archaeological sites discussed in the text and the present-day geographical range of the three wild Cucurbita gourds identified as potential progenitors of pepo squash (Cucurbita pepo ssp. ovifera). Comparison of an archaeological sunflower achene from eastern North America with the San Andrés specimen. (Left) Scanning electron micrograph of a sunflower achene from Cloudsplitter Rockshelter in eastern Kentucky, exhibiting distinctive parallel longitudinal strands or bundles of sclerenchyma fibers (achene length, 9.2 mm). (Right) San Andrés achene (achene length, 8.2 mm). (Photograph of San Andrés achene courtesy of David Lentz, Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, IL.) Similar articles
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What was the earliest plant domesticated in the New World?Squash (Cucurbita pepo) is the first recognized domesticated plant from 5025 years B.P.
What was the earliest primary centers of domestication?It was the tropical forests of southeast Asia and South Asia that he believed were the oldest centers of domestication, for root crops such as yams more than 14,000 yrs.
Who first mapped the major centers of plant domestication?By 1940, Nikolai Vavilov had identified a total of seven primary centers of plant domestication, worldwide, based on areas of maximum genetic diversity in crop plants (1).
Which of the following includes the world's earliest hearths of agriculture?It is believed that the first agricultural hearth was the Fertile Crescent, located in the Middle East. Other ancient agricultural hearths emerged in Southeast and East Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Mesoamerica (Valley of Mexico and northern South America).
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