Finds of carbonized barley and wheat, dating 18,500 to 17,000 B. P., suggested an early origin of food production. Electron spin resonance spectroscopy indicated that the maximal temperature to which the grains had been subjected was too low to account for the charring allowing them to survive for such a long period. Thus six seeds and three pieces of wood charcoal were directly dated by tandem accelerator mass spectrometer. Results from the gold-coated seeds were considered invalid; an explanation of the discrepancies is offered, and problems with contamination of the samples before dating are explained. This work refutes the hypothesis summarized in <i>AATA* 3 21-176</i>. . -- AATA