La Domestication des plantes

This work deals with a subject of paramount importance for the history of human societies: the origin of cultivated plants, which are the basis of our agriculture. These were mainly domesticated in the Fertile Crescent, in the Near East, before being spread by humans throughout Europe and the Mediterranean basin, as well as to India and Ethiopia. Agriculture, by allowing the sedentarization of populations, founded the organization of societies and initiated the complex development of current civilizations. It is therefore an extremely important subject of study. Cultivated plants have also deeply influenced our cultures (art, symbolism, religions…).

This publication presents the latest results in molecular biology concerning the genetic relationships between domestic plants and their wild ancestors. It also makes it possible to approach the domestication of plants from the angle of archeology thanks to a critical study of plant remains and a synthetic restitution in the form of maps and plans.