In 1924 Nikolai Vavilov, a Russian / Soviet scientist, identified the geographic regions where crops were first domesticated: the Vavilov Centres of Diversity.

Joe Roe [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
The number of such centres varies a bit, depending on which study you use. The Wikipedia article identifies eight:
Mexico and Central America
Corn, beans, pepper, sweet potato
South America
Potato, pumpkin, tomato, cocoa, peanut
Mediterranean
Cabbage, lettuce, celery, olive, peppermint
Middle East
Wheat, barley, rye, apple, pear, cherry
Ethiopia
Flax, sesame, coffee
Central Asiatic
Mustard, onion, garlic, carrot, grape
Indian
Cucumber, mango, sugarcane, bamboo, banana, clove
Chinese
Rice, soybean, walnut, peach, apricot
Some crops were domesticated in several of these regions, of course, but it’s an impressive picture of the distribution of early agrarian civilizations.
Categories: Food & agriculture History Prehistory Sciences
The Generalist
I live in Auckland, New Zealand, and am curious about most things.
Leave a Reply