Millet agriculture dispersed from Northeast China to the Russian Far East: integrating archaeology, genetics, and linguistics
Broomcorn and foxtail millets were being cultivated in the West Liao River basin in Northeast China by at least the sixth millennium BCE. However, when and how millet agriculture spread from there to the north and east remains poorly understood. Here, we trace the dispersal of millet agriculture fro...
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ftpubman:oai:pure.mpg.de:item_3213114 2023-08-27T04:12:25+02:00 Millet agriculture dispersed from Northeast China to the Russian Far East: integrating archaeology, genetics, and linguistics Li, T. Ning, C. Zhushchikhovskaya, I. Hudson, M. Robbeets, M. 2020-06 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0005-D82B-8 http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0005-D82D-6 eng eng info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/646612 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.ara.2020.100177 http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0005-D82B-8 http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0005-D82D-6 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Archaeological Research in Asia info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2020 ftpubman https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ara.2020.100177 2023-08-02T01:04:58Z Broomcorn and foxtail millets were being cultivated in the West Liao River basin in Northeast China by at least the sixth millennium BCE. However, when and how millet agriculture spread from there to the north and east remains poorly understood. Here, we trace the dispersal of millet agriculture from Northeast China to the Russian Far East and weigh demic against cultural diffusion as mechanisms for that dispersal. We compare two routes for the spread of millet into the Russian Far East discussed in previous research—an inland route across Manchuria, and a coastal/inland route initially following the Liaodong Peninsula and Yalu River—using an archaeological dataset including millet remains, pottery, stone tools, spindle whorls, jade and figurines. We then integrate the archaeological evidence with linguistic and genetic findings in an approach we term ‘triangulation’. We conclude that an expansion of agricultural societies in Northeast China during the Middle to Late Hongshan (4000–3000 BCE) coincided with the arrival of millet cultivation in eastern Heilongjiang and the Primorye province of the Russian Far East. Our findings support the inland, Manchuria route for the dispersal of millet to the Primorye and suggest that, as well as long-distance cultural exchange, demic diffusion was also involved. Our results are broadly compatible with the farming/language dispersal hypothesis and consistent with a link between the spread of millet farming and proto-Tungusic, the language ancestral to the contemporary Tungusic languages, in late Neolithic Northeast Asia. © 2020 The Authors 1. Introduction 1.1. Neolithic expansions in East Asia 1.2. Millet cultivation and expansions 1.3. Millet dispersals to the Primorye: previous research 1.4. Natural setting and environment 2. Routes of millet dispersal: Yalu vs. Manchuria models 2.1. Archaeological evidence 2.1.1. Millet remains 2.1.2. Stone tools 2.1.3. Ceramics, portable art and spindle whorls 2.1.4. Jade 2.1.5. Stone circles 2.1.6. Summary of archaeological evidence ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Tungusic languages Max Planck Society: MPG.PuRe Archaeological Research in Asia 22 100177 |
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English |
description |
Broomcorn and foxtail millets were being cultivated in the West Liao River basin in Northeast China by at least the sixth millennium BCE. However, when and how millet agriculture spread from there to the north and east remains poorly understood. Here, we trace the dispersal of millet agriculture from Northeast China to the Russian Far East and weigh demic against cultural diffusion as mechanisms for that dispersal. We compare two routes for the spread of millet into the Russian Far East discussed in previous research—an inland route across Manchuria, and a coastal/inland route initially following the Liaodong Peninsula and Yalu River—using an archaeological dataset including millet remains, pottery, stone tools, spindle whorls, jade and figurines. We then integrate the archaeological evidence with linguistic and genetic findings in an approach we term ‘triangulation’. We conclude that an expansion of agricultural societies in Northeast China during the Middle to Late Hongshan (4000–3000 BCE) coincided with the arrival of millet cultivation in eastern Heilongjiang and the Primorye province of the Russian Far East. Our findings support the inland, Manchuria route for the dispersal of millet to the Primorye and suggest that, as well as long-distance cultural exchange, demic diffusion was also involved. Our results are broadly compatible with the farming/language dispersal hypothesis and consistent with a link between the spread of millet farming and proto-Tungusic, the language ancestral to the contemporary Tungusic languages, in late Neolithic Northeast Asia. © 2020 The Authors 1. Introduction 1.1. Neolithic expansions in East Asia 1.2. Millet cultivation and expansions 1.3. Millet dispersals to the Primorye: previous research 1.4. Natural setting and environment 2. Routes of millet dispersal: Yalu vs. Manchuria models 2.1. Archaeological evidence 2.1.1. Millet remains 2.1.2. Stone tools 2.1.3. Ceramics, portable art and spindle whorls 2.1.4. Jade 2.1.5. Stone circles 2.1.6. Summary of archaeological evidence ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Li, T. Ning, C. Zhushchikhovskaya, I. Hudson, M. Robbeets, M. |
spellingShingle |
Li, T. Ning, C. Zhushchikhovskaya, I. Hudson, M. Robbeets, M. Millet agriculture dispersed from Northeast China to the Russian Far East: integrating archaeology, genetics, and linguistics |
author_facet |
Li, T. Ning, C. Zhushchikhovskaya, I. Hudson, M. Robbeets, M. |
author_sort |
Li, T. |
title |
Millet agriculture dispersed from Northeast China to the Russian Far East: integrating archaeology, genetics, and linguistics |
title_short |
Millet agriculture dispersed from Northeast China to the Russian Far East: integrating archaeology, genetics, and linguistics |
title_full |
Millet agriculture dispersed from Northeast China to the Russian Far East: integrating archaeology, genetics, and linguistics |
title_fullStr |
Millet agriculture dispersed from Northeast China to the Russian Far East: integrating archaeology, genetics, and linguistics |
title_full_unstemmed |
Millet agriculture dispersed from Northeast China to the Russian Far East: integrating archaeology, genetics, and linguistics |
title_sort |
millet agriculture dispersed from northeast china to the russian far east: integrating archaeology, genetics, and linguistics |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0005-D82B-8 http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0005-D82D-6 |
genre |
Tungusic languages |
genre_facet |
Tungusic languages |
op_source |
Archaeological Research in Asia |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/646612 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.ara.2020.100177 http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0005-D82B-8 http://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0005-D82D-6 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ara.2020.100177 |
container_title |
Archaeological Research in Asia |
container_volume |
22 |
container_start_page |
100177 |
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1775356537769820160 |