異域文化 How Art Made The World 人、藝術(shù)、世界 17

They began by analyzing the strain of farmed wheat that goes into our food and extracting its DNA.

They did the same to several varieties of wild wheat. Then they compared their genetic makeup.

And what they discovered is that the closest wild relative to our cultivated wheat grows in those mountains over there--the Karacadag about 20 miles from Gobekli Tepe. The theory is that wild wheat was brought from the mountains and farmed here to feed the thousands of people frequenting the site.

So there's the momentous conclusion that imagery have become so powerful in the minds of human beings that it brought about the greatest transformation in human history.

Today our modern world is dominated by pictures in ways our ancient ancestors could never have begun to imagine, what would they have made of images that move, that have beamed across the globe and that are seen by millions?

Yet, none of these could have happened without people thousands of years ago having had a revelation, that with lines, shapes and colors, they could capture the world.

Next on How Art Made The World, we'll reveal how today's politicians are exploiting visual techniques invented thousands of years ago. We'll uncover the first leader in Britain to exploit the power of art. And we'll discover how two mighty kings fought over an empire using imagery as a weapon.

Where can you find out more about the stories featured in this series? Well, visit the website: bbc.co.uk/science for details of museums with How Art Made the World events.

word to remember:

makeup: The way in which something is composed or arranged; composition or construction.組成