Grapes Were Domesticated In West Asia And The Caucasus 11,000 Years Ago

Contrary to previous understandings, grapes for food and wine were among the first domesticated crops in the Fertile Crescent Neolithic package of crops, and were independently domesticated in two places (the Near East and the Caucasus) with European grapes derived from the Near Eastern domestication. These grapes were then crossed with local wild grape varieties.

A new study reveals that Vitis vinifera was first domesticated around 11,000 years ago, according to a March 2 journal article in Science. The new research, based on genetics data of over 3,500 grape types, suggests that grapevines were first domesticated around 3,000 years prior than previously believed.

Previous archaeological research suggested that Vitis vinifera was first cultivated in the Transcaucasian region around 6,000— to 8,000 years ago, according to the National Library of Medicine.

The study conducted by an international group of researchers also reveals surprising information about the origins of grape domestication. The first cultivated grapevines were traced back to Western Asia and the Caucasus some 11,000 years ago.

Researchers analyzed genetic data from 3,525 domesticated and wild grape varieties to pinpoint the origin of table and wine grapes. It’s believed that the grapevines cultivated in Western Asia traveled to Europe, sparking agricultural pursuits in the area. The data indicates that humans dispersed grapevines along migratory routes into Europe and subsequently created unique grapevines growing both domestically and in the wild.

From here. The journal article and its summary and abstract as well as some key figures from the Supplemental Materials are as follows:

Origins and domestication of grapevines

Humans have extensively shaped the organisms around us through domestication. Although wine and table grapes have been important culturally for thousands of years, their origin has been difficult to pinpoint because of uneven sampling of modern cultivars. Dong et al. analyzed genetic data from about 3500 cultivated and wild grape varieties from around the world. The results of their analysis reveal the effects of climate on historic population sizes, suggest concurrent domestications of wine and table grapes, and identify variants associated with domestication traits such as berry color and palatability. These results increase our understanding of how humans and the environment shaped this domesticated crop. —CNS

Abstract

We elucidate grapevine evolution and domestication histories with 3525 cultivated and wild accessions worldwide. 

In the Pleistocene, harsh climate drove the separation of wild grape ecotypes caused by continuous habitat fragmentation. Then, domestication occurred concurrently about 11,000 years ago in Western Asia and the Caucasus to yield table and wine grapevines. The Western Asia domesticates dispersed into Europe with early farmers, introgressed with ancient wild western ecotypes, and subsequently diversified along human migration trails into muscat and unique western wine grape ancestries by the late Neolithic. 

Analyses of domestication traits also reveal new insights into selection for berry palatability, hermaphroditism, muscat flavor, and berry skin color. These data demonstrate the role of the grapevines in the early inception of agriculture across Eurasia.

Yang Dong, et al., "Dual domestications and origin of traits in grapevine evolution" 379 (6635) Science 892-901 (MARCH 2, 2023). DOI: 10.1126/science.add8655. First Supplemental Materials file here.

The abstract of a related commentary article is as follows:

The domestication of plants that underpin the rise of human civilization is increasingly recognized as a complex interplay of processes across a culturally connected landscape. On page 892 of this issue, Dong et al. reveal more of this complexity by reporting the unraveling of the evolutionary events that led to grape (Vitis vinifera ssp. vinifera) domestication. 

By incorporating the effects of glacial oscillations on biogeographical distributions of the wild progenitor (Vitis vinifera ssp. sylvestris) across Eurasia, they resolved two separate domestication processes from two distinct populations of sylvestris in the Near East and South Caucasus that were separated during the last glacial advance. They found that although the South Caucasus domestication is associated with early winemaking, the origin of wine in Western Europe is associated with cross-fertilization (introgression) between Western Europe’s wild populations and domesticated grapes originating from the Near East that were initially used as food sources.