Early millet use in West Liaohe area during early-middle Holocene

Abstract

It is generally recognized that millet agriculture originated in northern China. However, the domestication process of foxtail millet (Setaria italica) and broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) is still poorly understood. Based on statistical and morphological analyses of ancient millet starch grains, a tangible hypothesis has been proposed for the long-term domestication of green foxtail millet (S. viridis). However, the hypothesis requires validation by evidence from more regions and more archaeological finds. The West Liaohe region is one of the earliest regions of millet cultivation. Here, we report ancient starch grains recovered from 12 stone grinding tools from eight sites of the Xiaohexi culture (before 8.5 ka BP), Xinglongwa culture (8.2-7.4 ka BP), Zhaobaogou culture (7.0-6.4 ka BP), and Hongshan culture (6.5-5.0 ka BP) in the West Liaohe region of China. Our results indicate that the proportion of millet starch grains with wrinkled surfaces and rough edges, which are diagnostic of wild millet grasses, decreased from 13.0% to 3.4% from the Xiaohexi culture to the Hongshan culture. Millet starch grains measuring >16.8 m, a size class recorded only in domesticated foxtail millet, increased from 55.0% to 62.1%. These millet data imply that the process of millet domestication in the West Liaohe region began in the Xiaohexi period and continued up to the Hongshan period.

Charcoal evidence for environmental change ca. 3.5 ka and its influence on ancient people in the West Liao River Basin of northeastern China

“…Quercus probably was dominant in the gathering, comprising the most fossil charcoals identified from the Erdaojingzi site (Table 2). Acorns, which are the nuts of Quercus , are considered to be an important component of gathering because they were often found in the archaeological sites of China (Zhao, 2006; Fuller et al, 2007; Sun et al, 2007; Yang et al, 2009; Fuller and Qin, 2010; Ma et al, 2016). The acorns also have been processed by humans since the Neolithic Age in the West Liao River Basin (Ma et al, 2016), and were probably chosen as a useful supplement for food resources in the Erdaojingzi site due to their rich starch content.…”

Temporal changes of mixed millet and rice agriculture in Neolithic-Bronze Age Central Plain, China: Archaeobotanical evidence from the Zhuzhai site

“…As mentioned above, substantial data could not be provided to illustrate the domestication process of foxtail millet at the Zhuzhai site in detail, but it is speculated that this process may be protracted according to the starch analysis of sites in the West Liaohe region, which have suggested that millet domestication proceeded gradually over a long period from approximately 6500 to 3000 cal. BC (Ma et al, 2016b).…”

Ancient genomes from northern China suggest links between subsistence changes and human migration

“…Both the YR and the WLR are known for rich archeological cultures that relied substantially on millet farming 8,9 . By the Middle Neolithic (roughly 4000 BCE), complex societies with a substantial reliance on millet farming had developed in the WLR (Hongshan culture; 4500-3000 BCE) 10,11 and in the YR (Yangshao culture; 5000-3000 BCE) basins 11 .…”