Abstract
Ladizinsky’s (1987) mathematical model of the domestication of lentils and other Near Eastern legumes is invalid. Ladizinsky believed that the model predicts that high rates of seed harvesting would lead to fixation, in wild populations, of genes conferring lack of seed dormancy (a domesticated trait). In fact, however, the model gives rapid fixation of alleles for non-dormancy underall circumstances; gathering by humans has no effect on allelic frequencies. It appears that in these species cultivation must have preceded the morphological changes that distinguish domesticated from wild plants. The addition of more realistic assumptions to the model does not alter this conclusion. I suggest several scenarios that could explain Near Eastern legume domestication: the most plausible of these postulates that cultivation of cereals led to scheduling conflicts which necessitated the abandonment of harvesting of wild legumes, and hence the initiation of their cultivation. Mathematical modelling may be able to contribute to our understanding of agricultural origins, but it must be carried out with greater rigor and closer attention to the theoretical literature.
Résumé
Ladizinsky pensait que son modèle prévoyait que des récoltes élevées de semences entraineraient dans les populations de plantes sauvages la fixation des gènes contrôlant un trait de plante domestique, l’inaptitude de la plante à demeurer au stade dormant. En fait son modèle sous-entend la fixation rapide des attelès de l’inaptitude de la plante à demeurer au state dormant en toutes circonstances; le fait de récolter est sans effet sur les fréquences des allèles. Pour ces espèces, la culture semble avoir précédé les changements morphologiques qui distinguent les plantes domestique des plantes sauvages. L’apport, à son modèle de suppositions plus vraisemblables ne change rien à cette conclusion. Je propose plusieurs hypothèses qui pourraient expliquer la domestication des légumineuses au Proche- Orient: la plus plausible d’entre elles suggère que la culture des céréales a créé des conflits d’emploi du temps qui ont nécessité l’abandon de la récolte des légumineuses sauvages, et donc le commencement de leur culture. L’usage de modèles mathématiques peut contribuer à la compréhension des origines de l’agriculture, mais il doit être accompagné d’une plus grande rigueur et d’une attention plus sytématique à la littérature théorique.
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Blumler, M.A. Modelling the origins of legume domestication and cultivation. Econ Bot 45, 243–250 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02862051
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02862051