**3. The Levant**

The first definite evidence of cultivated cereals in the Levant has been dated to about 10,600–10,000 ybp [19, 20]. Wild cereals were extensively gathered even before domestication took place; their remains are found at various settlement sites. In order to properly date the time of domestication, a distinct marker is needed to distinguish domesticated plants from their wild progenitors. In the case of cereals, such as the wheat, domesticated in the Levant, there are such distinguishing characteristics [19]. For example, in the wild cereals, the seeds ripen over a period of time and leave stems when ripe. In domesticated cereals, all seeds ripen at the same time and are retained on the stems until harvested, which is necessary if a farmer

wants to have control of the crop. For dating the onset of agriculture, grain has the advantage that the plant material is not easily destroyed; both wild and domesticated remains of wheat have been recovered from ancient sites in the Levant. The wild grain inadvertently goes via genetic changes required for the domestication. The estimated time required for these changes is of the order of a few centuries [19]. Hence, the climate must remain stable on time scales of a few centuries for even the first step in the development of an agricultural society to take place.
