Thanks to the common barley, Tibetans were able to survive, thrive and build their unique culture in their high altitude homeland, said new study.

The Tibetan Plateau, located 2.5 kilometers above sea level, is never the ideal place for people to build homes because of the extreme altitude, frigid temperatures, relentless winds and low-oxygen conditions. But ancient Tibetans discovered frost-resistant barley that could grow at about 8,200 feet. They had the food source they needed to survive the hostile  high altitudes.

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Archaeologists have found evidence of an intermittent human presence on the Tibetan Plateau as far back as 20,000 years ago. But it wasn't until 3,600 years ago humans settled permanently at heights above 2.5 kilometers. At this same time, barley became the crop of choice for the Tibetans instead of millet.

"It's taking a novel crop and using it in a different way - exploring these high altitudes in a way that wasn't possible before," said Martin Jones of the University of Cambridge, and a member of the team that did the analysis.

He said barley is likely to have originated in Mesopotamia, also called the fertile crescent region of the Middle East, and moved to Tibet via trade routes.

Researchers discovered remnants of rustic structures, hearths, pottery, animal bones, cereal grains and other evidence of human habitation. They analyzed the charred seeds left behind by these early Tibetans.

"The key to their movement is that crops from very different parts of Asia were coming together at that time. There was a sort of reshuffling of old crops with alien ones. They added a new ingredient to their farming tool kit," said Jones.

As Tibetans moved upland, they gradually switched to barley, which became the staple food for contemporary Tibetans. They also began keeping sheep.

TagsTibetans, high-altitudes, pre-historic humans, cereal crops, barley, Tibet, Tibetan Plateau