Broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) was domesticated in China, at least 1000 years before it became a substantial portion of the Middle Neolithic Yangshao diet.
Broomcorn Millet (Panicum miliaceum) Photo by Mark Nesbitt
Recent studies have shown that a long lag time between invention and dependence is also true for rice; also true for maize; and also true for wheat: domesticated crops from all over the world, not just Asia.
What this is telling us, is that hunter-gatherers took the initial steps towards farming many generations before their descendants became dependent on domestic crops. Interesting, don't you think? Clearly, we need to rethink our ideas of what a hunter-gatherer lifestyle was, and how much they understood about the plants and animals they used to sustain a mobile lifestyle.
- Broomcorn millet
- Plant Domestication Table)
- Rice
- Maize and at Xihuatoxtla rockshelter
- Wheat, and at Ohalo II
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