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 μm, 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.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barton H. 2007. Starch residues on museum artefacts: implications for determining tool use. J Archaeol Sci, 34: 1752–1762
Diamond J. 2002. Evolution, consequences and future of plant and animal domestication. Nature, 418: 700–707
Fuller D Q, Qin L, Zheng Y F, Zhao Z J, Chen X G, Hosoya L A, Sun G P. 2009. The domestication process and domestication rate in rice: Spikelet bases from the Lower Yangtze. Science, 323: 1607–1610
Ge W, Liu L, Chen X C, Jin Z Y. 2010. The experimental research on starch granules damage during food processing and its application in archaeology (in Chinese). Archaeology, (7): 74–77
Jones M K, Liu X Y. 2009. Origins of agriculture in East Asia. Science, 324: 730–731
Li M Q, Yang X Y, Wang H, Wang Q, Jia X, Ge Q S. 2010. Starch grains from dental calculus reveal ancient plant foodstuffs at Chenqimogou site, Gansu Province. Sci China Earth Sci, 53: 694–699
Liu G X. 2006. Conspectus of the ancient culture from Neolithic Age to the forepart of Bronze Age in Xiliaohe river area (in Chinese). J Liaoning Norm Univ-Soc Sci Ed, 29: 113–122
Liu J X, Dong X L. 1996. Initial discussion of agricultural economics of Zhaobaogou culture (in Chinese). Archaeology, (2): 61–65
Lu H Y, Zhang J P, Liu K B, Wu N Q, Li Y M, Zhou K S, Ye M L, Zhang T Y, Zhang H J, Yang X Y, Shen L C, Xu D K, Li Q. 2009. Earliest domestication of common millet (Panicum miliaceum) in East Asia extended to 10000 year ago. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 106: 7367–7372
Ma Z K. 2014. The process of millet domestication and dispersal (in Chinese). Doctoral Dissertation. Beijing: Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences. 216
Su B Q, Yin W Z. 1981. Questions about regional typology of archaeological cultures (in Chinese). Cult Rel, (5): 10–17
Suo X F, Li S B. 2008. A preliminary probing into the settlement pattern of Xiaohexi culture (in Chinese). Cult Rel Archaeol Inner Mongolia, (1): 55–60
Sun Y G, Cao J E, Jing Z W, Zhao Z J. 2012. Analysis of flotation results from Weijiawopu site at 2009 year (in Chinese). North Cult Rel, (1): 37–40
Sun Y G, Zhao Z J. 2013. Comprehensive research of plant macroremains extracted from Weijiawopu site of Hongshan culture (in Chinese). Agr Archaeol, (3): 1–5
Sun Y G. 2015. A comparative study of prehistoric life ways on West Liaohe upstream region and central plain China (in Chinese). J Liaoning Norm Univ-Soc Sci Ed, 38: 269–275
Suo X F, Li S B. 2014. The sequence and pattern of the archaeological cultures of the Neolithic Age on the south and north sides of the Yanshan mountain (in Chinese). Act Archaeol Sin, (3): 293–326
Tanno K, Willcox G. 2006. How fast was wild wheat domesticated? Science, 311: 1886–1886
Wan Z W, Yang X Y, Ge Q S, Fan C S, Zhou G M, Jiang M X. 2012a. Starch grain analysis reveals Late Neolithic plant utilization in the middle reaches of the Ganjiang River. Sci China Earth Sci, 55: 2084–2090
Wan Z W, Yang X Y, Li M Q, Ma Z K, Ge Q S. 2012b. China modern starch grain database (in Chinese). Quat Sci, 32: 371–372
Wang Q, Jia X, Li M Q, Yang X Y. 2013. China common food legumes starch grain database and its application in archaeology (in Chinese). Stories Rel, (3): 3–11
Yang H, Lin X Z. 2009. A preliminary study on the Xiaohexi site in Aohan Banner, Inner Mongolia (in Chinese). North Cult Rel, (2): 3–7
Yang X Y, Yu J C, Lu H Y, Cui T X, Guo J N, Ge Q S. 2009a. Starch grain analysis reveals function of grinding stone tools at Shangzhai site, Beijing. Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 52: 1164–1171
Yang X Y, Kong Z C, Liu C J, Zhang Y, Ge Q S. 2009b. Characteristics of starch grains from main nuts in North China (in Chinese). Quat Sci, 29: 153–158
Yang X Y, Kong Z C, Liu C J, Ge Q S. 2010. Morphological characteristics of starch grains of millets and their wild relatives in North China (in Chinese). Quat Sci, 30: 364–371
Yang X Y, Wan Z W, Perry L, Lu H Y, Wang Q, Zhao C H, Li J, Xie F, Yu J C, Cui T X, Wang T, Li M Q, Ge Q S. 2012a. Early millet use in China. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 109: 3726–3730
Yang X Y, Zhang J P, Perry L, Ma Z K, Wan Z W, Li M Q, Diao X M, Lu H Y. 2012b. From the modern to the archaeological: Starch grains from millets and their wild relatives in China. J Archaeol Sci, 39: 247–254
Yang X Y, Perry L. 2013. Identification of ancient starch grains from the Tribe Triticeae in the North China Plain. J Archaeol Sci, 40: 3170–3177
Yang X Y, Ma Z K, Wang T, Perry L, Li Q, Huang X J, Yu J C. 2014. Starch grain evidence reveals early pottery function cooking plant foods in North China. Chin Sci Bull, 59: 4352–4358
Yang X Y, Ma Z K, Zhuang Y J, Li J, Yu J C. 2015. Comparing subsistence strategies in different landscapes of North China 10000 years ago, Holocene, doi: 10.1177/0959683615596833
Yang Z L. 2008. The origin of agriculture and early development in Xiliaohe area (in Chinese). J Liaoning Norm Univ-Soc Sci Ed, 31: 130–132
Zhao B F. 2005. The course of researching Hongshan culture and the further understanding of some pertinent problems (in Chinese). J Inner Mongolia Univ-Humanit Soc Sci, 4: 53–58
Zhao Z J. 2004. Flotation results from the Xinglonggou site and the origin of the dry-land agriculture in North China (in Chinese). In: Department of Cultural Relics and Museology of Nanjing Normal University, ed. Antiquities of East Asian (A). Beijing: Cultural Relics Publishing House. 188–199
Zhao Z J. 2006. Study on the origin of millets: New data from paleoethnobotany and ecology (in Chinese). In: Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Institute of Archaeology of the Swedish National Heritage Board, eds. Chinese Archaeology and Swedish Archaeology: The First archaeological Forum of China and Sweden. Beijing: Science Press. 98–104
Zhao Z J. 2014. The process of origin of agriculture in China: Archaeological evidence from flotation results (in Chinese). Quat Sci, 34: 73–84
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ma, Z., Yang, X., Zhang, C. et al. Early millet use in West Liaohe area during early-middle Holocene. Sci. China Earth Sci. 59, 1554–1561 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-015-5257-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-015-5257-5