Peach domestication

The domestication of trees is a topic that interests archaeologists as it is not as well understood as the processes involving other crops. However, the discovery of ancient peach pits from the Yangtze Valley in China has shed some light on this long process which started 7500 years ago. By around 4,300 to 5300 years ago, the peaches started to look like the domesticated peaches currently produced and consumed. According to the researchers, ancient Chinese farmers used techniques such as grafting and vegetative reproduction to develop specific types of peaches.