On Oct. 31, 2016, scientists reported that humans domestication of crops and livestock are dated to 14000 BCE in the Fertile Crescent, a region that includes parts of modern-day Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Jordan.

David Reich, a geneticist at Harvard Medical School and colleagues Ron Pinhasi, an archaeologist at University College Dublin, and Dr. Lazaridis of Harvard, recovered genetic material from 44 sets of remains around the Near East that date as far back as 14,000 years ago. The study results were published in the Journal of Lithic Studies.