Rye is a hardy cereal grass grown for grain, cover cropping and forage, tolerant of poor soils and cold that would fail wheat. Disputed evidence places rye among the cereals systematically cultivated as early as 13,000 years ago in the Euphrates valley of northern Syria; the more securely dated record shows it appearing in small quantities at Neolithic sites in Anatolia before becoming an independently cultivated crop in central Europe's Bronze Age, around 1800 to 1500 BC, likely spreading north first as an unintentional weed mixed into wheat fields. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Scientific Name Domesticated When (Circa)Circa 1800 to 1500 BC as an independently cultivated crop in central Europe's Bronze Age (a disputed, less secure claim places early cultivation as far back as 13,000 years ago in northern Syria) 1 Disputed
Domestication RegionDisputed: possibly Euphrates valley, northern Syria; securely established as an independent crop in central Europe 1 A disputed early claim places systematic cultivation in the Euphrates valley of northern Syria; the securely dated record instead shows independent cultivation established in central Europe. Era
Era (category) Era (category) Connections
Associated With
Ergot (Claviceps purpurea) is historically and agronomically most associated with rye among cereal crops (confirmed by web search this session).
Repeated rye harvest failures from severe cold are central to accounts of the Finnish famine of 1866-1868; rye was Finland's historic bread grain.
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Era Of Origin
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Source Rye (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Rye (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation- lead section, History
lead description or Wikipedia lead (primary-uses)
In Scandinavia, rye was a staple food in the Middle Ages, and rye crispbread remains a popular food in the region.
History section
Evidence uncovered at the Epipalaeolithic site of Tell Abu Hureyra in the Euphrates valley of northern Syria suggests that rye was among the first cereal crops to be systematically cultivated, around 13,000 years ago.
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