 Ample archeological evidence shows it has been grown in Europe for at least 3,000 years.The earliest findsites include the Neolithic levels at Auvernier, Switzerland (dated to the second millennium BC), the Chalcolithic level at Pefkakia in Greece (dated to the third millennium BC), and Sucidava-Celei, Romania ("circa" 2200 BC).During the Bronze Age and Iron Age, it was an important agricultural crop in northern Greece beyond the current range of the olive.