Wheat, barley, millet and rice are four of the ancient grains, going back to the Neolithic agrarian revolution c. 10,000 BCE. Ancient grains are those which have minimally changed since the days of early agriculture.
Barley and wheat are two of the seven ancient foods of the Hebrew bible. The others are dates, figs, grapes, pomegranates and olives. These foods will sustain a person through the year. The ancient Israelites depend on bread, wine and oil as basic dietary staples.
Ancient grains include varieties of wheat: spelt, Khorasan wheat (Kamut), einkorn and emmer wheat. They also encompass the grains millet, barley, teff, oats, and sorghum as well as pseudo-cereals quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, and chia.
A pseudocereal or pseudograin is one of any non-grasses used in much the same way as cereals. Pseudocereals are gluten-free. They can be used and prepared like cereals. Seeds of pseudo-cereals can be ground into flour.
Some include bulgur and freekeh in the ancient grains category. Modern wheat is a hybrid descendant of three wheat species considered to be ancient grains, emmer, einkorn and spelt.
Around 10,000 BCE prehistoric humans move from hunter-gatherer nomadic lifestyles to settled agrarian economies. They may have begun by seasonally cultivating food crops as part of the nomadic cycle.
Modern grains develop over time through mutation, selective cropping and breeding. People gather together to exchange ideas. Animals such as sheep and pigs go through a period of partial domestication, including wild foraging, before being brought into farms and herds.
Ancient grains are almost unchanged from first domestic varieties. Evidence comes from research of carbonized and semi-carbonized grains, coprolites (fossilized feces), imprints of grains, husks or spikelets on potsherds found during excavations of Neolithic sites.
The grains are part of the spiritual life of ancient civilizations such as the Aztecs, Egyptians and Greeks. Quinoa, called the "mother of all grains", is considered sacred by the Inca people.
Amaranth is likewise perceived by the Aztecs. It's used as part of a religious ceremony thus banned by Spanish colonialists. Mention of farro grains appears in the Old Testament.
In the Neolithic, farming may be supplemented by hunting. Around this time early salt processing sites spring up at Solnitsata near the Black Sea and in Romania. Salt creates some of the earliest trade routes, because people no longer get enough salt from meat.
Wheat
Wheat is a grass (Poaceae or Gramineae) cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain and staple food throughout the world. Archaeology suggests wheat is first cultivated in the regions of the Fertile Crescent c. 9600 BCE. The wheat kernel is a caryopsis, a type of fruit.
Wheat in its whole form is a source of dietary fiber. It's also a good source of magnesium, a mineral with several benefits to the body including heart health.
Three species of wheat exist in the Neolithic world:
Triticum sphaerococcum
Triticum vulgare
Triticum compactum
The first two (bread wheat) are still cultivated, mostly in Northern India. Einkorn and emmer are early wheat species. Evidence of these goes back to c. 7500 - 6500 BCE in today's Iran. The grain Triticum durum (durum wheat) is cultivated in Ancient Egypt.
Grains found in India include:
Triticum sphaerococcum - also called "Indian Short Wheat", this is the earliest known cultivated wheat from India with evidence from Harappa
Triticum vulgare - also called "bread wheat" evidence at Chanhudaro, Mohenjodaro and Navdatolo
Triticum compactum - found at Harappa, Mundigak and Mohenjodaro
Triticum Sp. - Navdaroli, Inamgaon, Atranjikhera and Kayatha
Triticum Sp. Contd. - found at Songaon, Rohtak, Nevasa and Bhokardan
The first reference to ancient grains as a health food is in Daily News (New York) in 1996. Since then the popularity of ancient grains as a food has increased. In 2011 the gluten-free food market is valued at $1.6 bn. In 2019 it has catapulted to US $3,564 million or $3.5 bn.
Barley
Barley is a good source of the antioxidant selenium. It also contains healthy amounts of phosphorus, copper, and manganese needed by the body for maintenance and defense against disease.
Barley (Hordeum vulgare) belongs to the grass family. A major cereal grain, it grows in temperate climates world-wide and is among the first cultivated crops. Domesticated in the Fertile Crescent c. 9000 BCE, barley spreads through Eurasia by c. 2000 BCE.
In hulled form it's grown abundantly in the Near East and Southern Europe. The domesticated "two row" species are thought to originate at Beidha (Jordan), Jarmo (Zagros Mountains, Iraq), or Ali Kosh (Zagros Mountains, w. Iran).
Hordeum spontaneum (wild barley) is found at Çatalhöyük (c. 5850 - 5600 BCE) and Hordeum distichum (common or two-rowed barley) at Ali Kosh (c. 6750 - 6000 BCE).
In India barley is largely cultivated in north and central regions, about as far south as Inamgaon and Nevasa (Newasa) both in east central India.
Millet
Millet is thought to originate in Africa (Abyssinia), or India. Charred grains of cultivated and wild ragi are found at the Neolithic site Hallur in southern India. In China millet is known by 10,000 BCE. Millet's rapid growth allows cultivation tests and trials in the Stone Age.
In German folklore, demonic or mischievous magical entities such as Drak or a finicky Kobold may be placated with millet gruel. In some African communities, millets are considered to have magical properties. They're used in rituals for good luck and prosperity
Millet doesn't contain Prussic acid found in sorghum, and it's also gluten free. Prussic acid is a cyanide compound and can poison animals who ingest it. Animals given millet are healthier with better weight gain than those fed sorghum.
Wild ragi (eleusine indica Gaertn) is known only from Songaon and Bhokardan, while the cultivated form has a wider range. Cultivation of pearl millet is found in semi-arid climate such as Hallur, Rangpur and Nevasa.
Cultivation of pearl millet in modern India (where it is also called bajra) is mostly limited to the country's semi-arid regions. In Africa evidence has been found dating to the Naghez phase, but it is not known whether these were cultivated.
Charred grains of Paspalum scrobiculatum (Kodo millet), at Nevasa date to the Satavahana period. Sorghum vulgare is known from semi-arid regions.
Rice
Rice is cultivated at Non Nok Tha in northeast Thailand since c. 3500 BCE. Impressions of rice grains appear on potsherds. Other cultivation areas include Neolithic sites of Yangshao (Yellow River, China), Liu Tzuchen, Anhui (East China) Kionsi, Zhejiang and Hubei.
About 20 years ago, researchers studying Neolithic jars from Jiahu, China find traces of a fermented beverage. It's made of rice, honey and hawthorn fruti/and or grape, around 7000 – 6600 BCE, making it the oldest proven alcoholic beverage in the world.
Wild rice
The Anishinaabe are thought to have harvested wild rice in prehistoric North America, according to archaeologists studying the clay linings of thermal features and jigging pits associated with parching and threshing of the plant.
Ancient grains are high in protein, micronutrients and fiber. Overall they're not considered healthier than modern grains. Ancient and modern grains have similar nutritional content as whole grains. Gluten-free versions include amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat, millet, and teff.
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