The effect of geographical margins on cereal grain size variation: Case study for highlands of Kyrgyzstan

Kubatbek TABALDİYEV

Archaeobotanical research in prehistoric Central Asia and beyond has repeatedly reported highly compact wheat and barley varieties found along piedmont sites of the Inner Asian Mountain Corridor (IAMC). The morphotypical variation of wheat caryopses across Eurasia generated the Liu et al. (2016) publication pointing out a decrease in grain size relative to eastward dispersal into China; the decrease in wheat caryopses was explained as human selection of smaller grain sizes for better culinary properties. In this study we discuss the possible effect of geographical margin, mountains in partic ...Более