An Asian origin for a 10,000-year-old domesticated plant in the Americas.

ABSTRACT: New genetic and archaeological approaches have substantially improved our understanding of the transition to agriculture, a major turning point in human history that began 10,000-5,000 years ago with the independent domestication of plants and animals in eight world regions. In the Americas, however, understanding the initial domestication of New World species has long been complicated by the early presence of an African enigma, the bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria). Indigenous to Africa, it reached East Asia by 9,000-8,000 before present (B.P.) and had a broad New World distribution by 8,000 B.P. Here we integrate genetic and archaeological approaches to address a set of long-standing core questions regarding the introduction of the bottle gourd into the Americas. Did it reach the New Wo

SUBMITTER: Erickson DL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1311910 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature