Between Cereal Agriculture and Animal Husbandry: Millet in the Early Economy of the North Pontic Region
Journal: Journal of World Prehistory
Year: 2022

Abstract Broomcorn millet ( Panicum miliaceum L.) was first domesticated in China and dispersed westward via Central Asia in the 3rd millennium BC, reaching Europe in the 2nd millennium BC. North of the Black Sea, the North Pontic steppe and forest-steppe areas are key regions for understanding the westward dispersal of millet, as evidenced by the earliest direct radiocarbon dates on European millet grains, which we present here. Examining various lines of evidence relevant to crop cultivation,