Project description
Understanding human-plant interactions in Neolithic western Asia
Early plant domestication greatly influenced human history and economies. While processes varied across western Asia, they led to significant genetic and phenotypical changes in crops. Limited data exist on these early agricultural practices. Wheat (Triticum spp.), with rich diversity, shows evidence of early domestication in three Neolithic communities in volcanic Cappadocia, Türkiye. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the WHEADCAP project explores Triticum species using innovative methods to find patterns missed by traditional approaches. It will develop geometric morphometric models to analyse the diversity of early wheat populations and trace the evolution of domesticated varieties. Additionally, it will examine past crop conditions and management practices to offer insights into the ecology of domestication.
Objective
Early plant management and domestication have shaped the history of humanity and the evolution of socio-economic systems. Domestication processes, involving variable rates of selection over several millennia across different geographies in western Asia, resulted in complex phenotypical and genetic alterations in crop plants, while influencing new economic practices among human populations. Yet, the data for the nature of early agriculture and human-derived dynamics entangled in the selection of domestication traits is still limited. What practices did early management systems involve and how did these influence crop diversity and the protracted, non-linear selection of traits? To find answers, the WHEADCAP project focuses on one of the oldest groups of crop plants, wheats (Triticum spp.), and the archaeobotanical assemblages from three early Neolithic communities (9th-8th millennium cal. BCE) in volcanic Cappadocia, Central Anatolia (Türkiye). A rich phenotypic diversity characterises these assemblages, including the globally oldest known in situ domestication process of several wheat species. The project aims to integrate two cutting-edge methodologies to detect patterns conventional approaches cannot unveil. First, WHEADCAP will develop new Geometric Morphometric models to disentangle the high taxonomic and phenotypic diversity within the early wheat populations and to reconstruct the evolution of domesticated forms of wheats in a specific geographical context. Functional Weed Ecology will then be applied at the Secondment to assess past crop growing conditions and management practices, revealing the ecological context of the domestication and selection processes. While reshaping our perspectives on agricultural origins and contributing to my professional career through new scientific skills, the project will also provide novel and widely applicable models to study human-plant interactions and domestication at the onset of agriculture in western Asia and beyond.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- humanities history and archaeology history
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology
- social sciences economics and business business and management
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture grains and oilseeds cereals
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01
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75005 Paris
France
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