Historical biogeography of olive domestication (Olea europaea L.) as revealed by geometrical morphometry applied to biological and archaeological material

Aim  This study intends to improve our understanding of historical biogeography of olive domestication in the Mediterranean Basin, particularly in the north-western area. Location  Investigations were performed simultaneously on olive stones from extant wild populations, extant cultivated varieties from various Mediterranean countries, and archaeological assemblages of Spanish, French and Italian settlements. Methods  A combination of morphometrics (traditional and geometrical) allowed us to study both the size and shape of endocarp structure. Concerning shape, a size-standardized method coupled with fitted polynomial regression analysis was performed. Results  We found morphological criter…