Wheat’s beginnings can be traced to a clan of wild grasses called Triticeae, the seeds of which had a flavour that was pleasing to primitive people. Triticeae included wheat, barley, rye, their wild relatives, and a number of important wild grasses. The Fertile Crescent, at the core of western Asia and northern Africa, is the center of origin and early diversification of this clan. Wild einkorn and emmer, which have been known for roughly 75,000 years, are credited as wheat’s earliest ancestors.