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The Neolithic founder crops (or primary domesticates) are the eight plant
Plant

Plants are Life organisms belonging to the Kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae....
 species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
 that were domesticated
Domestication

Domestication or taming refers to the process whereby a population of living things becomes accustomed to a controlled environment by other plants or animals through a process of Selective breeding....
 by early Holocene
Holocene

The Holocene is a geological Epoch which began approximately 11,700 years ago . According to traditional geological thinking, the Holocene continues to the present....
 (Pre-Pottery Neolithic A
Pre-Pottery Neolithic A

The Pre-Pottery Neolithic A represents the early Neolithic in the Levantine and upper Mesopotamian region of the Fertile Crescent. It succeeds the Natufian culture of the Epipaleolithic as the domestication of plants and animals was in its beginnings and triggered by the Younger Dryas....
 and Pre-Pottery Neolithic B
Pre-Pottery Neolithic B

Pre-Pottery Neolithic B is a division of the Neolithic developed by Dame Kathleen Kenyon during her archaeological excavations at Jericho in the southern Levant region....
) farming communities in the Fertile Crescent
Fertile Crescent

The Fertile Crescent is a region in the Near East, incorporating the Levant and Mesopotamia, and often extended to Lower Egypt. Mesopotamia is considered the Cradle of civilization and saw the development of the earliest human civilizations and is the History_of_writing#Bronze_Age_writing and Wheel#History....
 region of southwest Asia
Southwest Asia

Southwest Asia or Southwestern Asia is the southwestern subregion of Asia. The term West Asia is sometimes used in the United Nations subregion geoscheme and in writings about the archeology and the late prehistory of the region....
, and which formed the basis of systematic agriculture
Agriculture

Agriculture refers to the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of civilization, with the animal husbandry of domestication animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more Population density and Social stratification societies....
 in the Middle East
Middle East

File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
, North Africa
North Africa

North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the United Nations subregion of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories:...
, India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
, Persia and (later) Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
. They consist of flax
Flax

Flax is a member of the genus Linum in the family Linaceae. It is native to the region extending from the eastern Mediterranean region to India and was probably first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent....
, three cereal
Cereal

Cereals, or cereal grains, are mostly Poaceae cultivated for their edible brans or fruit seeds . Cereal grains are grown in greater quantities and provide more energy worldwide than any other type of crop; they are therefore staple foods....
s and four pulses
Pulse (legume)

Pulses are annual leguminous crops yielding from one to twelve grains or seeds of variable size, shape and color within a pod, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations ....
, and are the first known domesticated plants in the world. Although domesticated rye
Rye

Rye is a Poaceae grown extensively as a grain and forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe and is closely related to barley and wheat. Rye grain is used for flour, rye bread, rye beer, some rye whiskey, some vodkas, and animal fodder....
 (Secale cereale) occurs in the final Epi-Palaeolithic strata at Tell Abu Hureyra
Tell Abu Hureyra

Tell Abu Hureyra was a site of an ancient settlement in the northern Levant or western Mesopotamia. It has been cited as showing the earliest known evidence of agriculture anywhere....
 (the earliest instance of a domesticated plant species), it was an insignificant in the Neolithic Period of southwest Asia and only became common with the spread of farming into northern Europe
Northern Europe

Northern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. The United Nations defines Northern Europe as including the following countries and dependent regions:...
 several millennia later.

Cereals

Pulses

Other

el Zohary and Maria Hopf, Domestication of Plants in the Old World, third edition.






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The Neolithic founder crops (or primary domesticates) are the eight plant
Plant

Plants are Life organisms belonging to the Kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae....
 species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
 that were domesticated
Domestication

Domestication or taming refers to the process whereby a population of living things becomes accustomed to a controlled environment by other plants or animals through a process of Selective breeding....
 by early Holocene
Holocene

The Holocene is a geological Epoch which began approximately 11,700 years ago . According to traditional geological thinking, the Holocene continues to the present....
 (Pre-Pottery Neolithic A
Pre-Pottery Neolithic A

The Pre-Pottery Neolithic A represents the early Neolithic in the Levantine and upper Mesopotamian region of the Fertile Crescent. It succeeds the Natufian culture of the Epipaleolithic as the domestication of plants and animals was in its beginnings and triggered by the Younger Dryas....
 and Pre-Pottery Neolithic B
Pre-Pottery Neolithic B

Pre-Pottery Neolithic B is a division of the Neolithic developed by Dame Kathleen Kenyon during her archaeological excavations at Jericho in the southern Levant region....
) farming communities in the Fertile Crescent
Fertile Crescent

The Fertile Crescent is a region in the Near East, incorporating the Levant and Mesopotamia, and often extended to Lower Egypt. Mesopotamia is considered the Cradle of civilization and saw the development of the earliest human civilizations and is the History_of_writing#Bronze_Age_writing and Wheel#History....
 region of southwest Asia
Southwest Asia

Southwest Asia or Southwestern Asia is the southwestern subregion of Asia. The term West Asia is sometimes used in the United Nations subregion geoscheme and in writings about the archeology and the late prehistory of the region....
, and which formed the basis of systematic agriculture
Agriculture

Agriculture refers to the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of civilization, with the animal husbandry of domestication animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more Population density and Social stratification societies....
 in the Middle East
Middle East

File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
, North Africa
North Africa

North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the United Nations subregion of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories:...
, India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
, Persia and (later) Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
. They consist of flax
Flax

Flax is a member of the genus Linum in the family Linaceae. It is native to the region extending from the eastern Mediterranean region to India and was probably first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent....
, three cereal
Cereal

Cereals, or cereal grains, are mostly Poaceae cultivated for their edible brans or fruit seeds . Cereal grains are grown in greater quantities and provide more energy worldwide than any other type of crop; they are therefore staple foods....
s and four pulses
Pulse (legume)

Pulses are annual leguminous crops yielding from one to twelve grains or seeds of variable size, shape and color within a pod, according to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations ....
, and are the first known domesticated plants in the world. Although domesticated rye
Rye

Rye is a Poaceae grown extensively as a grain and forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe and is closely related to barley and wheat. Rye grain is used for flour, rye bread, rye beer, some rye whiskey, some vodkas, and animal fodder....
 (Secale cereale) occurs in the final Epi-Palaeolithic strata at Tell Abu Hureyra
Tell Abu Hureyra

Tell Abu Hureyra was a site of an ancient settlement in the northern Levant or western Mesopotamia. It has been cited as showing the earliest known evidence of agriculture anywhere....
 (the earliest instance of a domesticated plant species), it was an insignificant in the Neolithic Period of southwest Asia and only became common with the spread of farming into northern Europe
Northern Europe

Northern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. The United Nations defines Northern Europe as including the following countries and dependent regions:...
 several millennia later.

Cereals
  • Emmer
    Emmer

    Emmer wheat , also known as farro especially in Italy, is a low yielding, Awn wheat. It was one of the Neolithic founder crops in the Near East....
     (Triticum dicoccum, descended from the wild T. dicoccoides)
  • Einkorn (Triticum monococcum, descended from the wild T. boeoticum)
  • Barley
    Barley

    Barley is an annual plant cereal grain derived from the grass Hordeum vulgare. It serves as a major animal feed crop, with smaller amounts used for malting and in health food, as well as the making of alcoholic beverages beer and whisky....
     (Hordeum vulgare/sativum, descended from the wild H. spontaneum)


Pulses
  • Lentil
    Lentil

    The lentil or daal or pulse is a bushy annual plant of the Fabaceae family, grown for its lens-shaped seeds. It is about 15 inches tall and the seeds grow in pods, usually with two seeds in each....
     (Lens culinaris)
  • Pea
    Pea

    A pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the legume Pisum sativum. Each pod contains several peas. Although treated as a vegetable in cooking, it is botanically a fruit....
     (Pisum sativum)
  • Chickpea
    Chickpea

    The chickpea is an edible legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. Chickpeas are high in protein and one of the earliest cultivated vegetables....
     (Cicer arietinum)
  • Bitter vetch
    Bitter vetch

    The bitter vetch is an Neolithic founder crops of the Mediterranean region. Besides the English name, other common names include: Gavdaneh , kersannah , yero , rovi , and burcak ....
     (Vicia ervilia)


Other
  • Flax
    Flax

    Flax is a member of the genus Linum in the family Linaceae. It is native to the region extending from the eastern Mediterranean region to India and was probably first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent....
     (Linum usitatissimum)


Further reading

Daniel Zohary and Maria Hopf, Domestication of Plants in the Old World, third edition. Oxford: University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-19-850356-3