Continuous presence of proto-cereals in Anatolia since 2.3 Ma, and their possible co-evolution with large herbivores and hominins

Valérie Andrieu-Ponel (1) , Pierre Rochette (2) , François Demory (2) , Hülya Alçiçek (3) , Nicolas Boulbes (4) , D.L. Bourles (2) , Cahit Helvaci (5) , Anne‑elisabeth Lebatard (2) , Serdar Mayda (6) , Henri Michaud (7) , Anne‑marie Moigne (4) , Sébastien Nomade (8, 9) , Mireille M. Perrin (2) , Philippe Ponel (1) , Claire Rambeau (10) , Amélie Vialet (4) , Belinda Gambin (11) , Mehmet Cihat Alçiçek (3)

1 IMBE - Institut méditerranéen de biodiversité et d'écologie marine et continentale
2 CEREGE - Centre européen de recherche et d'enseignement des géosciences de l'environnement
3 Pamukkale University, Department of Geology
4 HNHP - Histoire naturelle de l'Homme préhistorique
5 Dokuz Eylül University Department of Geology
6 Ege University, Department of Biology,
7 Conservatoire Botanique National Méditerranéen de Porquerolles
8 LSCE - Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement [Gif-sur-Yvette]
9 PALEOCEAN - Paléocéanographie
10 LIVE - Laboratoire Image, Ville, Environnement
11 University of Malta [Malta]

Cereals are a central resource for the human diet and are traditionally assumed to have evolved from wild grasses at the onset of the Neolithic under the pressure of agriculture. Here we demonstrate that cereals may have a significantly longer and more diverse lineage, based on the study of a 0–2.3 Ma, 601 m long sedimentary core from Lake Acıgöl (South-West Anatolia). Pollen characteristic of cereals is abundant throughout the sedimentary sequence. The presence of large lakes within this arid bioclimatic zone led to the concentration of large herbivore herds, as indicated by the continuous occurrence of coprophilous fungi spores in the record. Our hypothesis is that the effects of overgrazing on soils and herbaceous stratum, during this long period, led to genetic modifications of the Poaceae taxa and to the appearance of proto-cereals. The simultaneous presence of hominins is attested as early as about 1.4 Ma in the lake vicinity, and 1.8 Ma in Georgia and Levant. These ancient hominins probably benefited from the availability of these proto-cereals, rich in nutrients, as well as various other edible plants, opening the way, in this region of the Middle East, to a process of domestication, which reached its full development during the Neolithic.

Mots clés: Palaeoecology; Palaeontology

Domaines: Sciences de l'environnement

Valérie Andrieu-Ponel, Pierre Rochette, François Demory, Hülya Alçiçek, Nicolas Boulbes, et al.. Continuous presence of proto-cereals in Anatolia since 2.3 Ma, and their possible co-evolution with large herbivores and hominins. Scientific Reports, 2021, 11 (1), pp.8914. ⟨10.1038/s41598-021-86423-8⟩. ⟨hal-03209271⟩