Barley elevated Central Asian farmers to ‘the roof of the world’
Hardy western crops allowed villagers to ascend the Tibetan Plateau
By Bruce Bower
A menu shift courtesy of the Fertile Crescent enabled farmers to live year-round at high altitudes on Central Asia’s Tibetan Plateau starting about 3,600 years ago, a new study finds.
Barley and wheat, frost-resistant crops that originated in the Middle East, provided a stable food source for Tibetan farmers in villages located 2,500 to 3,400 meters above sea level, says a team led by geologist Fahu Chen and geoarchaeologist Guanghui Dong, both of Lanzhou University in China.