Numerous civilizations evolved at the frontier of salinization and developed specific tools and know how to cope with the dangers of excessive salt contents in soils. Among the recorded approaches, domestication of salt-tolerant plants, ranging from some which slightly exceed the resistance of glycophytes to the extreme halophytes which can grow in substrates with salinity superior to that of the sea water, is emphasized. Three main regions and cultures are analyzed in terms of their relationships with halophytes and saline soils: Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt, and Andean Tiwanaku.

Tell Khamîs, an archaeological site of the Syrian region of Upper Jazeera, is 3 km east of the Euphrates and 31 km from Yarâblûs (ancient Karkemiš); archaeological excavations determined seven different levels (Early Bronze, Middle Bronze, Aramaic, Assyrian, Persian, Hellenistic, and Islamic). This study aims to identify plant remains recovered during the excavation of the site and to place them within the chronology of Tell Khamîs and in the context of the archaeobotanical evidence for the Upper Euphrates. A total of 88 sediment samples were collected, and seeds, recovered via flotation, were identified using optical and SEM microscopy. A total of 20,606 whole remains and 37,646 fragments belonging to 92 taxa and 35 plant families were identified. Seed lists were compared with those from other sites, and the results were analyzed using multivariate techniques. Barley is particularly noteworthy for the number of remains; this species was found in 49 different samples, notably, in a silo of about 4 m3 in volume. Middle Bronze Age and Assyrian levels are the richest in remains; the site presents a maximum of documented activity in the Middle Bronze Age period, and the most interesting taxa from a paleoenvironmental and cultural point of view are represented by one or a few seeds.

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The origins of the main cultivar groups of Vitis vinifera, their relationships with wild grapevine populations, and the use of other Vitaceae are relevant issues for the improvement and conservation of Vitis diversity. Morphometric studies, domestication indices, multivariate analyses, and Bayesian hypothesis testing have been used. Eight different seed types have been identified in the 24 samples analyzed from materials from the Upper Euphrates sites of Tell Khâmis and Tell Qara Quzaq (Early Bronze Age to Hellenistic), ranging from highly domesticated to purely wild. We have been able to establish the predominance among the domesticated of Proles orientalis Negrul (three samples, Domestication Index = 1), the existence of and extinct Proles euphratica (six samples, Domestication Index = 0.67–0.83) and numerous intermediates and hybrids (eight samples). We have determined the continued presence throughout the period studied of wild grapevines related to Vitis sylvestris C.C.Gmelin and V. caucasica Vavilov (5 samples, with Domestication Indices = 0.17–0.5). The existence of Ampelopsis seeds was established for three samples. We determined that the oldest Vitaceae seed linked to human presence, in the Acheulense (780 myr), also belongs to Ampelopsis. Finally, “stenosperms” appear associated with Ampelopsis seeds (three samples), suggesting anomalies in seed formation due to intergeneric cross-pollination. Moreover, if isolated, they suggest the presence of “stenospermocarpic” Vitis vinifera raisins of the Sultanina type. Finally, we must reflect on the role that Ampelopsis species may have played and their possible cultivation and domestication almost 4000 years ago.