It is generally understood that foxtail millet and broomcorn millet were initially domesticated in Northern China where they eventually became the dominant plant food crops. The rarity of older archaeological sites and archaeobotanical work in the region, however, renders both the origins of these plants and their processes of domestication poorly understood. Here we present ancient starch grai...

Analysis of organic residues in pottery vessels has been successful in detecting a range of animal and plant products as indicators of food preparation and consumption in the past. However, the identification of plant remains, especially grain crops in pottery, has proved elusive. Extending the spectrum is highly desirable, not only to strengthen our understanding of the dispersal of crops from...

The eastern Baltic region represents the world’s most northerly limit of successful broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) (hereafter, millet) cultivation in past, yet this crop has been almost forgotten today. earliest identified from macrobotanical remains which were directly dated to ca 1000 BCE. Between 800 and 500 BCE, was one major staple foods territory modern-day Lithuania. Millet continu...

Stable isotope biochemistry (delta(13)C and delta(15)N) and radiocarbon dating of ancient human and animal bone document 2 distinct phases of plant and animal domestication at the Dadiwan site in northwest China. The first was brief and nonintensive: at various times between 7900 and 7200 calendar years before present (calBP) people harvested and stored enough broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceu...

T wo grains, common (proso or broomcorn) millet (Panicum miliaceum) (Fig. 1) and foxtail millet (Setaria italica), were fundamental to the development of agricultural societies that eventually evolved into the first urban societies of China between 4500 and 3800 calibrated years (cal.) B.P. (1). Today, these grains are important mainly in parts of Russia, South Asia, and East Asia. How, when, a...

Stable isotope analyses demonstrate that C 4 plants played an important dietary role in Eurasian prehistory. Uncertainty remains, however, about when and how crops were integrated into the diet of Central Asian populations. Here, authors present ? 13 15 N stable analysis human animal bone collagen from Kyrgyzstan, revealing plant—likely broomcorn millet—consumption third millennium BC. Combinin...

Broomcorn and foxtail millet are the only major domesticated plants indigenous to prehistoric Eurasia rely on C4photosynthetic pathway. Here we study impact of animal manure (AM) broomcorn (Panicum miliaceum) (Setaria italica), grown in Askov Long-Term Experiment, using unmanured soil dressed with phosphorus plus potassium (PK) as reference treatments. Animal had a marked effect yields δ15N val...

An assemblage of charred plant remains collected from 26 sites in the Yiluo valley of North China as part of an archaeological survey spans the period from the sixth millennium to 1300 calibrated calendrical years (cal) B.C. The plant remains document a long sequence of crops, weeds, and other plants in the country. The results also demonstrate the effectiveness of sediment sampling as part of ...

The pottery vessels from the Mijiaya site reveal, to our knowledge, the first direct evidence of in situ beer making in China, based on the analyses of starch, phytolith, and chemical residues. Our data reveal a surprising beer recipe in which broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum), barley (Hordeum vulgare), Job's tears (Coix lacryma-jobi), and tubers were fermented together. The results indicate...