It's the pits: Ancient peach stones offer clues to fruit's origins
Sunday, September 7, 2014 - 01:30
in Paleontology & Archaeology
Anyone who enjoys biting into a sweet, fleshy peach can now give thanks to the people who first began domesticating this fruit: Chinese farmers who lived 7,500 years ago. Archeologists have a good understanding of domestication -- conscious breeding for traits preferred by people -- of annual plants such as grains (rice, wheat, etc.), but the role of trees in early farming and how trees were domesticated has not been well documented to date.
