TY - JOUR
T1 - Pottery Impressions Reveal Earlier Westward Dispersal of Foxtail Millet in Inner Asian Mountain Corridor
AU - Endo, Eiko
AU - Shoda, Shinya
AU - Frachetti, Michael
AU - Kaliyeva, Zhanargul
AU - Kiyasbek, Galymzhan
AU - Zhuniskhanov, Aidyn
AU - Liu, Xinyi
AU - Dupuy, Paula Doumani
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by the authors.
PY - 2023/7
Y1 - 2023/7
N2 - The Inner Asian Mountain Corridor (IAMC) has been identified as a major pathway for the westward dispersal of millet from Northern China, where it was initially cultivated. Cross-disciplinary investigations are necessary to distinguish cultivated millet taxa from their wild relatives and to clarify the social context underlying millet adoption in novel environments. Despite the ambiguity in distinguishing Setaria italica from Panicum miliaceum or other Setaria species using conventional analysis of charred macro remains, recent attention has focused on the time gap between the introduction of S. italica to IAMC following P. miliaceum. Here, we employed a pottery impression casting method on materials from four Bronze Age sites in eastern/southeastern Kazakhstan to investigate the surface textures of grain impressions on the surface of pottery containers. We successfully identified both millets (Setaeria and Panicum) from three of the sites, Begash, Tasbas, and Dali in the IAMC. Based on our findings, two species of millet were introduced to the region within a much shorter range of time than previously estimated. In addition, the current evidence supports the premise that these cereals were likely utilized for human consumption.
AB - The Inner Asian Mountain Corridor (IAMC) has been identified as a major pathway for the westward dispersal of millet from Northern China, where it was initially cultivated. Cross-disciplinary investigations are necessary to distinguish cultivated millet taxa from their wild relatives and to clarify the social context underlying millet adoption in novel environments. Despite the ambiguity in distinguishing Setaria italica from Panicum miliaceum or other Setaria species using conventional analysis of charred macro remains, recent attention has focused on the time gap between the introduction of S. italica to IAMC following P. miliaceum. Here, we employed a pottery impression casting method on materials from four Bronze Age sites in eastern/southeastern Kazakhstan to investigate the surface textures of grain impressions on the surface of pottery containers. We successfully identified both millets (Setaeria and Panicum) from three of the sites, Begash, Tasbas, and Dali in the IAMC. Based on our findings, two species of millet were introduced to the region within a much shorter range of time than previously estimated. In addition, the current evidence supports the premise that these cereals were likely utilized for human consumption.
KW - Bronze Age
KW - Central Asia
KW - Kazakhstan
KW - Panicum miliaceum
KW - pottery impression casting method
KW - Setaria italica
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U2 - 10.3390/agronomy13071706
DO - 10.3390/agronomy13071706
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85165977483
SN - 2073-4395
VL - 13
JO - Agronomy
JF - Agronomy
IS - 7
M1 - 1706
ER -