Developing Domestication Criteria for Crops with Knotty Morphologies: Polygonum in the Eastern Woodlands

By developing morphological criteria for recognizing domesticated plants, archaeologists are able to find direct, datable evidence of past agricultural practices.  Annual seed crops often exhibit a straightforward domestication syndrome in response to human selection that includes larger seeds, reduced germination inhibiters (seed and fruit coats), synchronized fruiting, decrease in mechanisms for seed dispersal, and a more erect growth habit.  Despite these well-established indicators, some crops continue to elude our efforts to develop criteria for domestication.  I present preliminary results from my attempts to establish morphological criteria for domestication for one such crop, knotweed (Polygonum sp.) that was cultivated for at least 2000 years in the Eastern North America.  In order to establish domestication criteria for this extinct crop with complicated seed morphology, I am employing morphometrics and texture analysis coupled with experimental cultivation and observations of modern plants.  This study also has the potential to enrich our understanding of the dynamics of domestication through agricultural practice in general