Millets across Eurasia: chronology and context of early records of the genera Panicum and Setaria from archaeological sites in the Old World

Abstract

We have collated and reviewed published records of the genera Panicum and Setaria (Poaceae), including the domesticated millets Panicum miliaceum L. (broomcorn millet) and Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauv. (foxtail millet) in pre-5000 cal B.C. sites across the Old World. Details of these sites, which span China, centraleastern Europe including the Caucasus, Iran, Syria and Egypt, are presented with associated calibrated radiocarbon dates. Forty-one sites have records of Panicum (P. miliaceum, P. cf. miliaceum, Panicum sp., Panicum type, P. capillare (?) and P. turgidum) and 33 of Setaria (S. italica, S. viridis, S. viridis/verticillata, Setaria sp., Setaria type). We identify problems of taphonomy, identification criteria and reporting, and inference of domesticated/wild and crop/weed status of finds. Both broomcorn and foxtail millet occur in northern China prior to 5000 cal B.C.; P. miliaceum occurs contemporaneously in Europe, but its significance is unclear. Further work is needed to resolve the above issues before the status of these taxa in this period can be fully evaluated.

Agricultural origins and the isotopic identity of domestication in northern China

“…Because Panicum grows faster and is more cold-and drought-tolerant than other candidate crops (44), it is an ideal crop for mobile hunter-gatherers attracted to flexible resources requiring minimal investments, and limited delays. We suggest this complementarity both enabled and promoted numerous independent experiments with Panicum-based food production across northern China and, perhaps more generally, throughout Eurasia (45,46). Although climate in the deserts north of the Loess Plateau would have held millet productivity in check, it likely flourished when exploited (Table S3) provides a rough proxy for occupation intensity at the site.…”

Earliest domestication of common millet ( Panicum miliaceum ) in East Asia extended to 10,000 years ago

“…These have been reported as the world's oldest foxtail millet in the literature (6,9,10,14). However, the millet identification has been questionable (4,11,12,15), because the macro (ash) remains were too friable to be observed under the microscope. Furthermore, very little study has been conducted on the spodograms or phytoliths of modern millets, so no clear diagnostic feature has been used to distinguish foxtail millet from common millet (12,16).…”

Panicoids in Xiongnu burial ground (Mongolia, First Century AD): problems of identification

“…Tzvelev. Some authors consider it to be an ancestral form for millet "domestication" in China (Hunt et al, 2008).…”

“…Previously, the botanical component in archaeological investigations was minimized; in addition, the methods of cereal macroremains identification were imperfect. According to H. Hunt et al (2008) from 60 records of panicoid grasses finds in the Northern Hemisphere, practically all plant remains require special methods of identification and, probably, re- identification. The attributing of plant remains to one or another botanical taxon is still disputable, while comparison of published data is complicated due to re-identifications of cereal fragments in earlier publications.…”