EGU21-8311, updated on 04 Mar 2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-8311
EGU General Assembly 2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Millet arrived in the South China Coast around 5,500 years ago

Jinqi Dai1,2,3, Xipeng Cai4, Jianhui Jin1,2,3, Wei Ge5, Yunming Huang6, Wei Wu7,8, Taoqin Xia4, Fusheng Li4, and Xinxin Zuo1,2,3
Jinqi Dai et al.
  • 1Key Laboratory for Humid Subtropical Eco-geographical Processes of the Ministry of Education, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, China
  • 2School of Geographical Sciences, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, China
  • 3Center for Environmental Archaeology in Southeast China, Fujian Normal University, Pingtan, China
  • 4Fuzhou Municipal Institute of Archaeology, Fuzhou, China
  • 5School of Humanities, Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
  • 6School of Humanities, Minjiang University, Fuzhou, China
  • 7College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Fujian University of Technology, Fuzhou, China
  • 8Tanshishan Site Museum, Fuzhou, China

Crop dispersal has long been recognised as an important topic in agricultural archaeology and food globalisation. One of most pressing questions facing archaeologists is determining when and where millet arrived in the South China Coast. Our study focused on the millet phytoliths remains from three Neolithic sites in southeast coastal Fujian. Multiple dating methods, including charred carbon dating, phytolith carbon dating, and optically stimulated luminescence were used to construct the chronologies of the sites. The dating results showed that BTS was initially occupied at approximately 5,500 cal a BP. The millet phytoliths recovered in this study are likely the earliest millet remains found in Fujian, suggesting that millet arrived in the South China Coast at least 5,500 years ago. However, questions about whether millet agriculture in northern China dispersed southward through the inland or coastal routes remain unanswered. Given that millet remains were found in Jiangxi and northern Fujian – two important gaps in the inland route – no earlier than 5,000 cal a BP, it seems that the millet remains recovered from the coastal sites of Fujian might have dispersed following a coastal route from northern China. Nevertheless, Fujian is an important junction of the coastal route for the dispersal of millet from northern China. These findings not only provide new insights to millet dispersal routes in China, but also have significant implications for crop communications between Taiwan and mainland China during the Neolithic age.

 

 

How to cite: Dai, J., Cai, X., Jin, J., Ge, W., Huang, Y., Wu, W., Xia, T., Li, F., and Zuo, X.: Millet arrived in the South China Coast around 5,500 years ago, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-8311, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-8311, 2021.