More than 10 years have passed since a number of publications presented evidence for the possible cultivation of wild cereals based on charred remains of potential arable weeds and spikelet bases from late Pleistocene/early Holocene sites in northern Syria. Since then, a number of publications concerning the beginnings of cultivation have appeared which used results from the Syrian sites. This paper was inspired by issues raised in these publications, which will be addressed through an empirical approach, first by discussing the possible techniques and methods used for sowing, harvesting and tilling at sites that produced remains of wild cereals and pulses with reference to experimental cultivation and field observations of wild cereal habitats. Secondly, taking into account the range of possible methods of exploitation demonstrates the complexity of distinguishing between the gathering and the cultivation of morphologically wild cereals and the probability that these two modes were practiced intermittently and interchangeably. In addition to this the inadequacy of evidence obtained from charred plant remains, suggests that the concept of “predomestic” cultivation as used for northern Syria needs to be revised. Thirdly, the causes of the varying proportions of shattering and non-shattering spikelets occurring together are examined and found to be multiple, suggesting that selection rates obtained from ratios of charred spikelet bases need to be reconsidered.

十多年过去了，许多出版物提供了证据，表明可能利用叙利亚北部更新世晚期/全新世早期遗址的潜在可耕杂草和小穗基部的烧焦残骸来种植野生谷物。从那时起，出现了许多关于种植起源的出版物，其中使用了叙利亚遗址的结果。本文受到这些出版物中提出的问题的启发，将通过实证方法解决这些问题，首先参考实验栽培，讨论在产生野生谷物和豆类遗迹的地点用于播种、收获和耕作的可能技术和方法以及野生谷物栖息地的实地观察。其次，考虑到可能的开发方法的范围，表明区分形态野生谷物的采集和栽培的复杂性以及这两种模式间歇和互换实施的可能性。除此之外，从烧焦的植物遗骸中获得的证据不足，表明叙利亚北部使用的“国内前”种植的概念需要修改。第三，对破碎和非破碎小穗同时出现的不同比例的原因进行了检查，发现其原因是多种的，这表明需要重新考虑从烧焦的小穗基部的比率获得的选择率。