by Christopher Joyce
Correction: In the broadcast version of this story, an archeological site in the lower Jordan Valley was incorrectly identified as being in Israel. The site is in the occupied West Bank.
Courtesy Jonathan Reif: An ancient fig (left), appears next to an Iranian commercial variety (center), and a common variety of Turkish fig (right). The ancient fig's color was altered to prepare it to be photographed in magnified form.
All Things Considered, June 2, 2006 ยท The discovery of figs in an 11,400-year-old house near the ancient city of Jericho may be evidence that cultivated crops came centuries before the first farmers planted cereal grains.
Archeologists in Israel discovered the figs in an excavated house in a village called Gilgal 1. The fruits were mutant figs -- growing on a rare kind of tree that isn't pollinated by insects and won't reproduce unless someone takes a cutting and plants it.
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# Posted by Michelle Moran @ |
Friday, September 12, 2008