Variation of millet grain size and cooking techniques across Asia between the late fourth and first millennia BC
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Broomcorn millet and foxtail millet were first cultivated in Neolithic China then the process spread west across Asia during the Bronze Age. But the distinctive ceramic, and later bronze, vessels utilised in East Asian cuisines for boiling and steaming grains did not move west alongside these crops. Here, the authors use measurements of 3876 charred millet grains to evaluate regional variations and implications for food preparation. In contrast to wheat grains, which became smaller as their cultivation moved east, millet grains became larger as they spread from northern China into Inner Asia and Tibet. This indicates the decoupling of millets from associated cooking techniques as they reached geographical and cultural areas.
Source: Antiquity
DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2024.31
Authors: Yufeng Sun, Melissa Ritchey, Hua Zhong, Liya Tang, Elena Sergusheva, Tao Shi, Jixiang Song, Haiming Li, Guanghui Dong, Xinyi Liu
Institutions: Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, Institute of Archaeology, Northwest University, Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography of the Peoples of Far-East, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Sichuan University, Nanjing Agricultural University, Lanzhou University
Language: English
Subfield: Paleontology
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,450
OpenAlex ID: W4395085652