"Millets and Their Role in Early Agriculture" (plus early dissemination)
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 Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance don@milletsalliance.org Notes: 1. https://www.academia.edu/322764/Millets_and_Their_Role_In_Early_Agriculture 2. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234128682_Millets_and_their_role_in... 3. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234128682_Millets_and_their_role_in... 4. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2009.02884.x
Two errors - from editing in a hurry (never be in too much of a hurry, the saying goes): I did not attach a map, and neglected to delete reference to same. I do have a PPT presentation on mapping the origins of millets that I hope to make available later. PPT is useful, I find, for combining images with short descriptions in a sequenced format. For note #3, use https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-02666409 (which has an outlink). The ResearchGate page for the second article requires request of the paper to view: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/26281428_A_comparative_view_of_the_... DO, EL, MI, US NAMA On Thu, Feb 23, 2023 at 1:57 PM Don Osborn <don@milletsalliance.org> wrote:
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
Don Osborn, PhD (East Lansing, MI, US) North American Millets Alliance don@milletsalliance.org
Notes: 1. https://www.academia.edu/322764/Millets_and_Their_Role_In_Early_Agriculture 2. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234128682_Millets_and_their_role_in... 3. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234128682_Millets_and_their_role_in... 4. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2009.02884.x
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Don Osborn