First molecular and isotopic evidence of millet processing in prehistoric pottery vessels
Heron, Carl (University of Bradford. Department of Archaeological Sciences)
Shoda, Shinya (University of York)
Breu Barcons, Adrià (University of Bradford. Department of Archaeological Sciences)
Czebreszuk, Janusz (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (Polònia))
Eley, Yvette (University of Connecticut (UConn). Center for Integrative Geosciences)
Gorton, Marise (University of Bradford. Department of Archaeological Sciences)
Kirleis, Wiebke (Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel (Alemanya). Institute of Pre-and Protohistoric Archaeology)
Kneisel, Jutta (Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel (Alemanya). Institute of Pre-and Protohistoric Archaeology)
Lucquin, Alexandre (University of York)
Müller, Johannes (Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel (Alemanya). Institute of Pre-and Protohistoric Archaeology)
Nishida, Yastami (Niigata Prefectural Museum of History (Japó))
Son, Joon Ho (Korea University. Department of Archaeology and Art History)
Craig, Oliver E. (University of York)

Date:	2016
Description:	9 pàg.
Abstract:	Analysis of organic residues in pottery vessels has been successful in detecting a range of animal and plant products as indicators of food preparation and consumption in the past. However, the identification of plant remains, especially grain crops in pottery, has proved elusive. Extending the spectrum is highly desirable, not only to strengthen our understanding of the dispersal of crops from centres of domestication but also to determine modes of food processing, artefact function and the culinary significance of the crop. Here, we propose a new approach to identify millet in pottery vessels, a crop that spread throughout much of Eurasia during prehistory following its domestication, most likely in northern China. We report the successful identification of miliacin (olean-18-en-3β-ol methyl ether), a pentacyclic triterpene methyl ether that is enriched in grains of common/broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum), in Bronze Age pottery vessels from the Korean Peninsula and northern Europe. The presence of millet is supported by enriched carbon stable isotope values of bulk charred organic matter sampled from pottery vessel surfaces and extracted n-alkanoic acids, consistent with a C 4 plant origin. These data represent the first identification of millet in archaeological ceramic vessels, providing a means to track the introduction, spread and consumption of this important crop.
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Published in:	Scientific reports, Vol. 6 (2016) , Article number 38767, ISSN 2045-2322

DOI: 10.1038/srep38767
PMID: 28004742

9 p, 885.8 KB

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Arts and Humanities > Grupo de Investigación Arqueológica del Mediterráneo y del Próximo Oriente (GRAMPO)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles