The small spelt is one of the first cultivated forms of wheat. Its grains have been found in epipaleolithic locations of the Fertile Crescent. In the Middle East, the cultivation of triticum monococcum began to decline in favour of spelt around 2000 BC. Its cultivation was never extensive in Italy, south of France and Spain but it continued to be cultivated in some areas of northern Europe during the Middle Ages and until early years of the twentieth century. It is a variety of short wild wheat which is usually less than 70 cm high and not very generous in producing edible grains. The main difference between wild and cultivated triticum monococcum is the way the seed dispers. In the wild variety, the shell breaks and the seeds scatter on the ground. This facilitates a subsequent grain harvest whereby human intervention made the difference. Indeed, harvesting Monococcum spelt with intact-shell was easier for primitive growers; with time passing by and through more or less conscious selection, man’s preferences for intact seed-shell have created the domestic variety which has slightly larger grains than those of wild triticum monococcum. Small spelt requires man's sowing and harvesting to perpetuate his own existence.