Early millet use in northern China

TLDR

Foxtail and broomcorn millet were domesticated in Northern China, yet their origins and domestication processes remain poorly understood due to scarce archaeological evidence. The study seeks to clarify millet domestication processes in Northern China through future research. The authors analyzed ancient starch grains from pottery residues and grinding stones at Nanzhuangtou and Donghulin to reconstruct early millet use. Starch evidence pushes back millet use in China by ~1,000 years and foxtail millet by at least two millennia, indicating a prolonged cultivation period during which foxtail millet was undergoing domestication.

Abstract

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 grain assemblages recovered from cultural deposits, including carbonized residues adhering to an early pottery sherd as well as grinding stone tools excavated from the sites of Nanzhuangtou (11.5–11.0 cal kyBP) and Donghulin (11.0–9.5 cal kyBP) in the North China Plain. Our data extend the record of millet use in China by nearly 1,000 y, and the record of foxtail millet in the region by at least two millennia. The patterning of starch residues within the samples allow for the formulation of the hypothesis that foxtail millets were cultivated for an extended period of two millennia, during which this crop plant appears to have been undergoing domestication. Future research in the region will help clarify the processes in place.