By about 6000 B.C. a fairly large number of crop plants were already present: 3 wheat species, 3 barley species, 4 leguminous species, and linseed. For a reconstruction of the history of early agriculture in the Near East the botanical information is still insufficient. The origin of Triticum dicoccum has recently been questioned. The evidence from Cayonu pleads in favour of the opinion that Triticum dicoccoides is the wild ancestor. The carbonized remains of free-threshing wheat constitutes a problem. Neither the grains nor the rachis internodes seem to provide clues for distinguishing between Triticum aestivum and Triticum durum. The evidence from Ramad suggests that linseed cultivation must have started in the second half of the seventh millennium B.C., if not earlier. Pollen analysis has already provided valuable information on prehistoric environments in southwestern Asia. In the Near East, the prospects to demonstrate palynologically the activity of Neolithic farmers seem to be less favourable than in Europe. In the pollen diagram prepared for a sediment core from Lake Beysehir an earlyhistoric land occupation phase could be demonstrated.