This article is a world-wide overview of plant domestication and the origins of agriculture. It focuses on the archaeological record: the what, where, and when of these processes, with a brief consideration of why humans domesticated plants and turned to agriculture. After a discussion of how domestication and agriculture are understood through archaeology, the article presents up-to-date reviews of plant domestication and the early spread of agriculture by region. Covered are the Near East (West Asia); Cyprus and Crete; Anatolia, Greece, and the Balkans; Europe; Egypt and North Africa; sub-Saharan Africa; China, Korea, and Japan; Pakistan and India; Southeast Asia, New Guinea, and the Pacific; Mesoamerica; Eastern Woodlands, Northeast, Plains, and Southwest of North America; Central America; the Andes and eastern South America; and the Caribbean. The article includes a map that locates the areas of origin of important food plants, tables of domesticates listed by common and scientific name, and site names and dates for key archaeological data.
Journal articles from the Grassland Society of Southern Africa (GSSA) African Journal of Range and Forage Science as well as related articles and reports from throughout the southern African region.