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 centres of domestication but also to determine modes of food processing, artefact function and the culinary significance of the crop. Here, we propose a new approach to identify millet in pottery vessels, a crop that spread throughout much of Eurasia during prehistory following its domestication, most likely in northern China. We report the successful identification of miliacin (olean-18-en-3β-ol methyl ether), a pentacyclic triterpene methyl ether that is enriched in grains of common/broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum), in Bronze Age pottery vessels from the Korean Peninsula and northern Europe. The presence of millet is supported by enriched carbon stable isotope values of bulk charred organic matter sampled from pottery vessel surfaces and extracted n-alkanoic acids, consistent with a C4 plant origin. These data represent the first identification of millet in archaeological ceramic vessels, providing a means to track the introduction, spread and consumption of this important crop.
New results from recent excavation at Gird Lashkir (Erbil, Kurdistan region, Iraq) are presented in this paper. Data from the most archaic occupation phases so far discovered at the site will be discussed, with special emphasis on the Late Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age. This article presents data related to architecture and subsistence (bioarchaeological analyses, organic residue analyses, etc.) as well as craft activities (ceramic production, metallurgy, etc.). The general characterisation of the settlement in these periods will be compared to similar horizons in Northern Mesopotamia, particularly in the Erbil Plain.
Résumé. Dans cet article, de nouveaux résultats provenant de récents travaux archéologiques à Gird Lashkir (Erbil, région du Kurdistan, Irak) seront présentés. Les données des phases d'occupation les plus anciennes jusqu'ici découvertes sur le site seront discutées, mettant ainsi en avant les données du Chalcolithique tardif et du début de l'âge du Bronze. Cet article présente les donnéesrelatives aux structures d'habitat décrivant plusieurs activités de subsistance (analyses bioarchéologiques, analyses de résidus organiques, etc.) ainsi que des activités productives (production de céramique, métallurgie, etc.). La caractérisation générale du peuplement dans ces périodes sera liée à l'état des connaissances pour des horizons similaires dans le Nord de la Mésopotamie et, plus précisément, dans la plaine d'Erbil.
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