8 August 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

An ancient melon genome from Libya reveals interesting insights regarding watermelon relatives

The earliest known seeds from a watermelon related were discovered during an archaeological dig in Libya, going back 6,000 years to the Neolithic period. An examination of these seeds performed by biologist Susanne S. Renner of Washington University in St. Louis offers some surprises about how our ancestors used a predecessor of today’s watermelon.

These results and two new genomes of ancient seeds are published in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution.

Scientists generally agree that watermelons came from Africa, but exactly where and when watermelons with red, sweet flesh were first domesticated from their wild form is debatable. The most recent data point to watermelon getting its start in the Nile valley, which is consistent with archaeological evidence.

However, the very old seeds discovered at Uan Muhuggiag, a rock shelter in what is now the Sahara Desert in Libya, seemed at odds with this explanation. There was no way to be certain of their identity prior to this investigation.

“The oldest seeds of watermelons cannot be securely identified as either belonging to a sweet-pulped domesticated form, or instead to one of the bitter-pulped wild forms,” said Renner, an honorary professor of biology in Arts & Sciences. “The seeds of the seven species of Citrullus are basically undistinguishable.”

An sudden new perception from this examine is that Citrullus seems to have initially been collected or cultivated for its seeds, not its candy flesh, in step with seed injury patterns induced by human enamel within the oldest Libyan materials. Credit score: Molecular Biology and Evolution

“Now, having a chromosome-level genome, we can be sure that Neolithic Libyans were using a bitter-fleshed watermelon,” she said. “We suspect they used the fruits to get at the (numerous!) seeds, which even today are eaten air-dried or roasted or also boiled in soups or stews.”

Co-senior author Guillaume Chomicki, a National Environmental Research Council fellow at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom, collected dozens of samples of watermelon and watermelon relatives from herbarium specimens in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, as part of the quest to trace the path of watermelon’s domestication.

He and Renner also obtained much older samples: the 6,000-year-old Libyan seeds and another set of 3,300-year-old Sudanese seeds.

“These seeds were a riddle because they were thought to be the oldest true watermelon seeds,” Chomicki said. “Yet they were from Libya, which was never thought to be the cradle of watermelon domestication.”

The scientists generated genome sequences from the seeds from Libya and Sudan and from the herbarium collections, and analyzed these data together with resequenced genomes from important germplasm collections. They discovered that the oldest seeds came from a plant known as an egusi melon, a watermelon relative that is currently restricted to western Africa.

“Both plant ‘fossils’ were C-14 dated and, as far as we know, are among the oldest plant genomes ever obtained,” Renner said.

“An unexpected new insight is that Citrullus appears to have initially been collected or cultivated for its seeds, not its sweet flesh, consistent with seed damage patterns induced by human teeth in the oldest Libyan material,” Chomicki said. “This study documents the use of the seeds (rather than the fruit) of a watermelon relative more than 6,000 years ago, prior to the domestication of the watermelon.”

“Watermelons — the wild species, as well as the domesticated form — have very numerous seeds that are tasty and oil-rich,” Renner said. “Different from the pulp, the seeds never contain the extremely bitter cucurbitacin chemical. Snacking on those easily available nutritious seeds may have been a good thing.”

Washington University in St. Louis

Related Articles

30 Graves Found in the Basilica-Planned Ancient City

4 April 2021

4 April 2021

Kibyra ancient city is situated south of Turkey, located in the town Gölhisar in the southwestern part of Burdur Province,...

The ruins of a thousand-year-old Buddhist Temple will be opened to the public in Kyrgyzstan

13 September 2022

13 September 2022

The unearthed remains of an ancient Buddhist temple in Kyrgyzstan will open to the public in mid-September as part of...

Egypt’s Tanis bronze figurines shed light on ancient commerce

19 July 2021

19 July 2021

A research team told that the newly discovered 3,000-year-old bronze figurines recently unearthed in Tanis, Egypt, can answer questions about...

Synchrotron Technique Reveals Mysterious Portrait Underneath Renaissance Painting

16 April 2023

16 April 2023

Conservators and curators from the Art Gallery of New South Wales used the Australian Synchrotron’s advanced imaging technique to learn...

Ancient Balkan genomes trace the rise and fall of the Roman Empire’s frontier, reveal Slavic migrations to southeastern Europe

7 January 2024

7 January 2024

The genomic history of the Balkan Peninsula during the first millennium of the common era—a period marked by significant changes...

Archaeologists Found 1,600-year-old Burials of Noble Women and Gold Jewelry in the Mountains of Crimea

4 December 2024

4 December 2024

Archaeologists found burials of noble women filled with gold and silver jewelry in the Crimean mountains in the Bakhchisaray region...

Vindolanda marks the 1900th anniversary of Hadrian’s Wall with an altar discovery

9 February 2022

9 February 2022

The excavation season hasn’t started yet, but the Vindolanda Roman fort has kicked off Hadrian’s Wall’s 1900th anniversary year with...

Rare 832 copper coins from the Portuguese era unearthed in Goa, India

11 November 2023

11 November 2023

In Sattari, Nanoda, in the state of Goa on the west coast of India, 832 copper coins that are believed...

Archaeologists Discover 40,000-Year-Old Evidence of Neanderthal Habitation in Ghamari Cave, Iran

13 March 2025

13 March 2025

Iranian archaeologists have made a groundbreaking discovery in Ghamari Cave (also known as Qamari Cave), located near Khorramabad in Lorestan...

Extraordinary Discovery of a Unique Painted Tomb in Tarquinia’s Etruscan Necropolis

1 February 2025

1 February 2025

Exceptional discovery in the necropolis of Tarquinia, located near the western coast in central Italy, north of Rome (a UNESCO...

6,000-year-old Finds in Dorset Downs

11 June 2021

11 June 2021

In the Dorset Downs, a significant landscaping project has revealed a plethora of intriguing findings on a grand scale. Excavations...

Extraordinary discovery in France: An unlooted 1800-year-old Roman Sarcophagus discovered

27 September 2023

27 September 2023

Archaeologists from France’s National Institute of Preventive Archeology (INRAP) have unearthed an unlooted ancient stone sarcophagus in the vast ancient...

A rare 2,500-year-old marble disc, designed to protect ancient ships and ward off the evil eye discovered near Palmachim Beach

5 August 2023

5 August 2023

A rare 2,500-year-old marble disc designed to protect ancient ships and ward off the evil eye was discovered by a...

8000-year-old with balcony architectural structure belonging to the Prehistoric period found in Anatolia

31 October 2021

31 October 2021

During the excavations in Domuztepe mound, it was revealed that an architectural structure thought to be 7-8 thousand years old...

Remains of 240 people found beneath Ocky White department store in Wales

13 October 2022

13 October 2022

Archaeologists found skeletal remains of over more than 240 people, from beneath a former department store in Pembrokeshire in Wales,...