Archaeobotanical evidence from southwest Asia is often interpreted as showing that the spectrum of wild plant foods narrowed during the origins of agriculture, but it has long been acknowledged that the recognition of wild plants as foods is problematic. Here, we systematically combine compositional and contextual evidence to recognise the wild plants for which there is strong evidence of their deliberate collection as food at pre-agricultural and early agricultural sites across southwest Asia. Through sample-by-sample analysis of archaeobotanical remains, a robust link is established between the archaeological evidence and its interpretation in terms of food use, which permits a re-evaluation of the evidence for the exploitation of a broad spectrum of wild plant foods at pre-agricultural sites, and the extent to which this changed during the development of early agriculture. Our results show that relatively few of the wild taxa found at pre- and early agricultural sites can be confidently recognised as contributing to the human diet, and we found no evidence for a narrowing of the plant food spectrum during the adoption of agriculture. This has implications for how we understand the processes leading to the domestication of crops, and points towards a mutualistic relationship between people and plants as a driving force during the development of agriculture.

中文翻译：

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对前农业遗址和早期农业遗址的植物遗址进行的重新分析没有提供证据证明西南亚农业起源期间野生植物食物谱变窄。

来自西南亚的考古植物学证据通常被解释为表明，野生植物食物的谱系在农业起源期间就变窄了，但长期以来人们一直认为将野生植物作为食物的认识是有问题的。在这里，我们系统地结合了成分和背景证据，以识别野生植物，这些野生植物在西南亚的农业前和早期农业地区被有意收集为食物。通过对考古植物遗骸的逐个样本分析，在考古证据及其对食物用途的解释之间建立了牢固的联系，从而可以重新评估在当地利用多种野生植物食物的证据。农业前的地点，以及在早期农业发展过程中这种变化的程度。我们的结果表明，在农业早期和早期发现的野生分类单元中，很少有人可以肯定地认为它们有助于人类饮食，而且我们没有发现在采用农业的过程中植物食物谱变窄的证据。这对我们如何理解导致农作物驯化的过程产生了影响，并指出人与植物之间的相互关系是农业发展过程中的驱动力。我们没有发现在采用农业的过程中缩小植物食物范围的证据。这对我们如何理解导致农作物驯化的过程产生了影响，并指出人与植物之间的相互关系是农业发展过程中的驱动力。我们没有发现在采用农业的过程中缩小植物食物范围的证据。这对我们如何理解导致农作物驯化的过程产生了影响，并指出人与植物之间的相互关系是农业发展过程中的驱动力。