Fruit has been enjoyed by humans for millions of years. But with the Neolithic Revolution and the dawn of agriculture, early humans no longer had to rely on gathering fruits from trees, bushes, and vines. Alongside fundamental crops, fruit was cultivated into sustainable crops, which also dramatically changed taste, appearance, and size. The earliest example of such cultivation stretches back 11,400 years, with evidence of humans propagating fig trees. Although they are technically flowers, they’re widely accepted as falling under the umbrella of fruit.
The evidence of the early domestication of figs can be traced back to a cluster of villages in the Jordan Valley (near Jericho). Researchers uncovered the remains of carbonized figs. Despite their age, what truly surprised them was that all the fruits were a parthenocarpic type. Parthenocarpic figs are sterile, meaning they do not produce seeds and cannot reproduce without human intervention. The only way these trees could continue to be planted was for humans themselves to cut and plant a stem from an established tree. This was the key to pinpointing early evidence of domesticated agriculture. Because parthenocarpic figs generally produce no seeds, rather than the gritty seeds found in pollinated figs, their cultivation also suggests an early example of selectively breeding desirable traits long before the development of modern agricultural breeding practices.
The Jordan Valley is one of the oldest inhabited regions in the world, and, as a result, has a long agricultural lineage. Aside from the native fig trees, there’s also 7000-year old evidence of olive tree cultivation, as well as early evidence of domesticated growing of date palms, grapevines, and pomegranates. Together, these five fruits have become known as the founder fruit trees of the Levant.
What role have figs played in human civilization?
Interestingly, the method humans used 11,400 years ago to cultivate fig trees isn’t very different from the ones used today. For starters, the majority of fig trees cultivated by home gardeners and farms are parthenocarpic. This means that they don’t require the pollination from the specialized fig wasp or another tree to bear fruit. Therefore, propagation — the cutting and planting of the stems — remains an important process to create an exact clone of the parent plant.
Figs aren’t just the oldest cultivated fruit. As of writing, they’re widely considered to be the oldest cultivated crop. Because of this, they’ve made appearances in many long-gone, ancient civilizations. The Sumerians — widely believed to be the oldest civilisation — emerged in southern Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) around 4000 B.C., and the harvesting of figs has been depicted in their tablets. In Ancient Egypt, figs were considered to be a staple food and were frequently depicted in tomb paintings. One tomb painting illustrated figs being harvested from trees with the help of baboons. They were also known to be cultivated in Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire — the latter of whom spread them all over Europe and the surrounding region.
Today, figs remain a hugely popular fruit. Whether they’re turned into a jam and paired with cheese, or just enjoyed fresh or dry, they’re an excellent (and delicious) source of potassium and fiber. While their early origins are based in the Jordan Valley, they’re now cultivated all over the world. In the United States, figs are primarily grown in California. The agreeable Mediterranean climate of hot, dry summers and mild winters perfectly mimics the fig tree’s natural needs.