CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND—An international team of researchers examined the DNA of modern millet varieties, and carried out radiocarbon dating and isotope analysis on charred millet grains, a crop that was first domesticated some 10,000 years ago in North China, from archaeological sites across China and Inner Mongolia, and concluded that early nomadic early shepherds carried the seeds with them across Eurasia and into Europe. The early farmers also mixed millet seeds with other crops, which gave rise to crop diversity and the use of extended growing seasons. This practice provided food security, but it also required settled populations and elaborate social contracts to regulate the use of water and land. “These findings have transformed our understanding of early agriculture and society. It has previously been assumed that early agriculture was focused in river valleys where there is plentiful access to water. However, millet remains show that the first agriculture was instead centered higher up on the foothills—allowing this first pathway for ‘exotic’ eastern grains to be carried west,” Martin Jones of the University of Cambridge said in a press release. For more, go to "Analyzing the Neolithic Revolution."
