Farming and Agriculture in the Mideast Began Far Earlier Than Expected 23,000 Years Ago

First Posted: Jul 23, 2015 07:45 AM EDT

Scientists may have uncovered the first evidence of farming in the Mideast. While researchers believed that farming was "invented" about 12,000 years ago in Iraq, the Levant, parts of Turkey and Iran, this new study seems to indicate otherwise.

The researchers actually focused on the discovery of the first weed species at the site of a sedentary human camp on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. It revealed that farming began far earlier than expected-about 23,000 years ago.

"While full-scale agriculture did not develop until much later, our study shows that trial cultivation began far earlier than previously believed, and gives us reason to rethink our ancestors' capabilities," said Marcelo Sternberg, one of the researchers, in a news release. "Those early ancestors were more clever and more skilled than we knew."

Although weeds are considered a threat or nuisance in farming, their presence revealed the realiest signs of trial plant cultivation. The plant material itself was found at the site of the Ohalo II people, who were fisher hunter-gatherers and established a sedentary human camp.

"This unique preserved site is one of the best archaeological examples worldwide of the hunter-gatherers' way of life," said Sternberg. "It was possible to recover an extensive amount of information on the site and its inhabitants. Because weeds thrive in cultivated fields and disturbed soils, a significant presence of weeds in archaeobotanical assemblages retrieved from Neolithic sites and settlements of later age is widely considered an indicator of systematic cultivation."

This new study provides evidence that early humans functioned with a basic knowledge of agriculture. Not only that, but they exhibited foresight and agricultural planning far earlier than expected. This is important to note when it comes to understanding the development of agriculture.

The findings are published in the journal PLOS One.