**The human-driven ecological success of olive trees over the last 3700 years in the Central Mediterranean**

_“We hypothesize that cultural exchanges between Sicily and the Aegean in the Early-Middle Bronze Age have promoted the use of wild olive trees in the Messina area. At that time, olive trees could have been used for various purposes, including fruit production, but also wood and forage for animals. The development of olive groves followed a gradual, multi-stage process in the Central Mediterranean, with large-scale cultivation appearing only in modern times.”_

Palli, J. et al. (2025) 'The human-driven ecological success of olive trees over the last 3700 years in the Central Mediterranean,' Quaternary Science Reviews, 356, p. 109313. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109313.

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