The time and place of the first domestication of crops such as wheat and maize have been pinpointed. Research in the Americas has put the dates for the first domestication of squash and other crops at 10,000 years ago. Domestication is the result of genetic changes that have evolved because of cultivation. The domestication syndrome is a term applied to signs that plants have adapted to humans. For example in cereals such as wheat and barley the spikelets stay on the stalk until they are harvested.