Birthplace of olive and fig farming located

The birthplace of olive and fig farming has been discovered by archaeologists who say the fruits were first cultivated 7,000 years ago by an affluent society in what is now Israel.

Evidence of the crops was found at Tel Tsaf in the Central Jordan Valley.

A team from Tel Aviv University identified 16 different trees from 600 samples dated to around 5,000 BC.

Six per cent were olive branches and seven per cent from fig trees.

Study author Dr Dafna Langgu, whose findings appeared in Scientific Reports, said he is confident the site is the earliest known evidence of olives being farmed outside their naturally occurring range, and the first place to cultivate figs.