Evolution of Peaches Evident in Yangtze River Valley
Paula Marie Navarra | | Sep 08, 2014 08:18 AM EDT |
A new study by Zhejiang Institute of Archeology showed that there are domesticated peach stones 7,500 years old at the Yangtze River Valley in Southern China.
Gary Crawford, one of the researchers, said that previously no one knew where peaches were domesticated except that it happened somewhere in China.
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Archeologists explain that radiocarbon dating of ancient peach stones indicates that the peach have diverged from its wild ancestors.
They said that peaches mature very quickly producing fruits in a span of two to three years which makes the selection for desirable traits relatively quickly.
The researchers were faced with the dilemma on how to recognize the peach's selection process in the archeological record.
With the help of the peach stone found in the Yangtze Valley, the researchers were able to find out that peaches grew larger over time which demonstrated the domestication of this places.
They said that the first peach stone in China is similar to the modern peaches cultivated in the Liangze province, 4,300 to 5,300 years ago.
Crawford said that Chinese people understood grafting and vegetative reproduction because it speeded up the selection process of the peaches.
Researchers believe that it took 3,000 years to create a domesticated peach that is almost the same as the peaches we know today.
Crawford explained that modern peaches did not come from the wild because generation after generation kept selecting peaches that they enjoyed.
He noted that discovering the origins of domesticates that people have today also tell about early humans.
Researchers believe that their findings show that early humans weren't passive with the environment because they understand grain production and can manipulate woodlands and certain trees.
Crawford said that this shows that early humans have the same brain capacity as modern humans, debunking the general sense that people in the past were not as smart as we are today.
He said that people have been changing the environment to suit their needs for a very long time, as shown in the peach stones.
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