Barley Grain (IMAGE)

Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology

Barley Grain

Caption

A wild barley grain with a zoomed in image of the base of the rachis. In this wild form, the rachis cleanly snaps off of the ear of barley when it is ripe. In the domesticated form, the rachis has to be forcibly pulled off of the ear causing a jagged break. Archaeobotanists look for specimens with the jagged break as the first indication of plants evolving in response to human cultivation practices.

Credit

Robert Spengler

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