Domestication Plants Old World 2Ed

Now in paperback, the second edition of this book reviews the origins and spread of cultivated plants in southwest Asia, Europe, and Africa north of the Sahara, from the earliest beginnings through to classical times. This new edition includes a chapter on dye plants, and significant new information on vegetables, fruit trees, and some grain crops. The authors examine evidence from archaeological sites and living plants to provide a modern synthesis of crop plant evolution. They provide answers to questions such as: What were the first plants to be domesticated in the Old World? Where have the first signs of their domestication been found, and what subsequent developments can be traced? What crops have been introduced from other parts of Asia and Africa? When did all these events take place? A chronological chart, site orientation maps, and full set of references complete the book. From the review of the hardcover edition “….. indeed a ‘mine of information’. An enormous and diverse body of important results is digested and presented economically, in a form that should encourage other authors to mine it and apply the results to their own fields.