**2. Dogma on the olive tree history**

Domestication is based upon conscious behavior by humans over several centuries aimed at selecting among a species natural diversity those individuals that satisfied human requirements [5] such as in yield (seeds or other organs), composition (sugar, starch, fats, …), and to harvest and maintain the cultivation of said species (seed attachment to spike or capitulum, dormancy of seeds, …).

Origin and History of the Olive 5

the Atlas Mountains in North Africa, Lower Egypt, the Sudan or even Ethiopia. Further, The wild-olive is a tree of the maquis shrubland, itself in part the result of the long presence of

In the west of the Mediterranean basin they were considered today, as a result of natural hybridization and the very ancient domestication and extensive cultivation of the olive throughout the Mediterranean Basin, wild-looking feral forms of olive, called "oleasters", constitute a complex of populations, potentially ranging from feral forms to the wild-olive. We believe that feral forms cannot be called "oleaster*"* due to their origin from the

The olive tree contributes in shaping landscapes and has deep importance in the agroeconomy, including the industrial economies based upon its by-products. However, the wild olive thrives in most of the domesticated olive's cultivation area and the wild olive's contribution to landscapes is far from neglected even though its contribution to agro-

The olive tree is now used for oil and canned-fruit production, with minor use of the wood for handcrafts. The leaves are used in medicine as herb tea, due to mainly their high phenolic compound content as oleuropein and hydroxytyrosol, which are beneficial in nutrition and medicine (see chapter 15, this book). What was the first use of the olive tree that justified initial care to wild trees? This remains a question and we suggest some tracks. First, the use of the wood and oil as a fuel, since the wood burns green and further the oil produces little smoke, an great advantage in caves in comparison to using animal fats for light and to warm [26]. The spread of olive oil has been documented in the Bronze Age by the features and artifacts (stones, pottery) and later by the containers (aryballos and

All European civilizations have tree symbols: Ash tree (Scandinavian), Sycomore (Egyptian)*,* Plane tree (Sparta, Greece), Oak tree (for the Gauls, Druids, to harvest mistletoe), Pinus (Japanese), (For the Buddha, India) and for Adam and Eve, …. The olive tree is markedly present in all religions (Christian, Judaism, Islam) symbolizing peace, aging, longevity, rejuvenating, authority, … and plenty of legends and stories are anchored in its history in Mediterranean cultures [28]. However, a primary feature of the olive is that olive oil may also be sacred and has many religious associations. Chrism (consecrated or anointing oil) is made of olive oil, usually includes balsam, and spices. There are many legends on the origins of the olive tree, and all started with the myth of a spontaneous (Athena) or a foreign origin, as Arbequina cv. (Museum Borges Blanca, Catalonia, Spain). Chrism is used for Blessed Sacrament, unction (anointing) oil for baptism, confirmations, Eucharist or communion, marriage, for doing penance, ordination of priests, and extreme unction or the last rites. If olive oil did exist during the Bronze Age, its exact purpose is not well known

economy is weak. One faces some confusion on their respective identification [25].

alabasters) of the perfume industry which used olive oil as a perfume base [27].

mankind." [24].

domesticated olive.

[27].

**3. State of the art on the olive tree** 

"However, human practices have had effects on the plant genome other than those intended through the conscious behavior of human domestication, effects which are highly documented for many crop species, especially cereals [6] barley, maize [7] Maize, [8] sunflower [9, 10], as examples."

For wheat and grains which were weeds in wheat fields, the main domestication center has been the Near-East in the Fertile-Crescent documented by [11, 12, 13]. Botanists have therefore inferred that the olive tree may have followed a similar history. The presence of Olea cuspidata in the Mountains of Iran suggested a relationship between this species and the olive (Figure 1). Initial molecular results have eliminated this hypothesis and definitively anchored the origin of the olive in the wild olive only [14, 15]. Relationships between the subspecies of *Olea europaea* are not addressed in this chapter.

Present populations of wild olive (called "oleaster") have questioned researchers on their origins. In the East of the Mitterrand they were considered natural. The famous botanist Pelletier has written, "the motherland of the wild olive tree is Anatolia", where numerous wild olive trees make up dense groves, and De Candolle opines that "olive was originated from Asia Minor and spread from Syria over to Greece via Anatolia" [16]. The Flora of the Mediterranean basin is split into eastern and western halves by a line between the Cyrenaica basin of Libya and the Adriatic sea [17, 18, 19, 20]. Effectively, Botanists believe that the oleaster was native to the eastern or oriental half, and once domesticated the olive was transported by humans in the western half, where it thrives as feral form. Thus, all oleaster trees in the western Mediterranean would be feral trees [21].

This supposition has been widely accepted on plenty of open commercial internet sites selling olive products. We believe that this assertion is false and will demonstrate that idea through the results given from various teams working on the olive (Italy, Spain, France, Portugal, Morocco, Tunisia, …).

Using the first molecular markers, namely isozymes, [22] has shown genetic differences between the wild and the crop in the west, but the results did not support an exclusive crop origin in the East, although in many internet sites, such as wikipedia, there is quotation of [23] Wikipedia to sustain the theory.

Readers may therefore encounter confusing theories dealing with the olive history. A number of commercial sites favor the olive's origin as belonging to the commercial site's country, but this has no scientific support. According to some commercial sites, the motherland of the olive is the island of Crete, according to others Southern Caucasia, Iran, the Atlas Mountains in North Africa, Lower Egypt, the Sudan or even Ethiopia. Further, The wild-olive is a tree of the maquis shrubland, itself in part the result of the long presence of mankind." [24].

In the west of the Mediterranean basin they were considered today, as a result of natural hybridization and the very ancient domestication and extensive cultivation of the olive throughout the Mediterranean Basin, wild-looking feral forms of olive, called "oleasters", constitute a complex of populations, potentially ranging from feral forms to the wild-olive. We believe that feral forms cannot be called "oleaster*"* due to their origin from the domesticated olive.
