Hi Peski,

> The study concludes that the sycle was not used in
> early plant domestication. It was used for other
> purposes (in the Near East) or not invented until
> after plant domestication had occured ( in China),
> and was later adapted to the harvesting of already
> domesticated plants.
>
> Early harvesting of semi- and newly-domesticated
> plants was done using older "hunter gatherer" type
> techniques.
>
> Does this imply that domestication may have
> occured earlier than previously thought in some
> areas, because use of the sycle was seen as an
> indicator of the "start time"?

Yes, I believe so. According to the author, there are apparently a greater number of local centres of domestication than proposed in some recent theories (e.g., Diamond).

Hermione
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