Further to the theme of the February Millets Webinar - millets as "ancient grains," and how they were a lot more important in much of the world's early agriculture than was once thought - here's a paper by two noted archaeobotanists:
Steven A. Weber and Dorian Q. Fuller, "Millets and Their Role in Early Agriculture," Pragdhara, No. 18, 2007. (Two links, /1 /2)
This article surveys orins of millets, with mention of then current research questions, There is also discussion of how millets - being smaller than major cereal grains - did not emerge in early analysis of archaeological digs, and how a later technique involving floating, revealed the presence of many small grains identified (to the extent possible) as millets. There are tables, illustrations, and a map, situating the ancient origins of various millets across the globe. (That map is *not* the one attached.)
And here's another of possible interest, that treats all domesticated crops in the grass family, including millets. It also includes a map of origins of these plants, altho using common names - 18 of 28 are millets.
Glémin, Sylvain, and Thomas Bataillon. (2009) "A comparative view of the evolution of grasses under domestication." New Phytologist 183: 273–290 (Also two links, /3 /4)
Finally, a quick note on dissemination. The distribution of cultivation of many millets remained up until relatively recently limited to the immediate regions in which they were domesticated. However, a few, including notably the "big 5" - sorghum, pearl millet, foxtail millet, proso millet, and finger millet - were disseminated very early in prehistory, and relatively quickly: Foxtail and proso west and south across Eurasia, and sorghum, pearl, and finger, south in Africa and east to south & southeast Asia. The Indian subcontinent has since been a kind of "crossroads" of millets - its own domesticates, plus the big 5 as I'm calling them.
Please let us know if you have other sources to recommend.
Don