Hi Simone & colleagues
Is the biblical reference Genesis 41.5? "He went back to sleep and had a second dream, in which seven ears of grain, full and healthy, grew on a single stalk." It would be interesting to hear a biblical scholar's view of this text. I would not read it as a literal reference - the 7 heads clearly connect to the 7 cattle later on.
My guess is that the mutant branched form of T. turgidum (miracle or mummy wheat) has appeared at numerous times in history - it is a single gene mutation: http://www.genetics.org/content/genetics/201/1/155.full.pdf
but has always been rapidly abandoned because its yield is so low (despite the high number of grains in each ear) - see the USDA yield figures here:
https://naldc.nal.usda.gov/naldc/download.xhtml?id=ORC00000312&content=PDF
In the 19th century there is the development of effective, rapid communications between farmers, via mass-produced newspapers, and also the ability to transmit seeds easily by post - hence the rather frequent mention of branched turgidums from this time.
Mark
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From: The archaeobotany mailing list <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Simone Riehl <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: 16 February 2018 21:12
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Subject: Triticum turgidum var. mirabilis
Dear all,
is there anything known about when branched spikes evolved?
As it is mentioned in texts of the Old Testament, one might assume
that cereals with branched spikes were present at least from the Iron
Age onward.
Any kind of evolutionary references would be much appreciated.
Best wishes,
Simone
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