MILLET CONSUMPTION IN SIBERIA PRIOR TO MID-SECOND MILLENNIUM BC? A REVIEW OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
Svetlana V Svyatko, Rick Schulting, D. Papin, Paula Reimer
Abstract
ABSTRACT In this paper we discuss recent developments in documenting the spread of millet across the Eurasian steppes. We emphasize that, despite a recent proposal that millet consumption in southern Siberia can be attributed to the Early Bronze Age (i.e., the late third to early second millennium BC), at present there are no direct data for southern Siberia indicating the consumption of millet prior to the Late Bronze Age, from the 14th century BC. We also present in full the combined stable isotope and 14 C datasets from the Minusinsk Basin to support this conclusion.
Topics & Concepts
Bronze AgeRadiocarbon datingSteppeConsumption (sociology)GeographyArchaeologyBronzeGeologyPhysical geographySociologySocial scienceArchaeology and ancient environmental studiesPleistocene-Era Hominins and ArchaeologyPacific and Southeast Asian Studies