New AMS 14C dates track the arrival and spread of broomcorn millet cultivation and agricultural change in prehistoric Europe

Broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) is not one of the founder crops domesticated in Southwest Asia in the early Holocene, but was domesticated in northeast China by 6000 bc. In Europe, millet was reported in Early Neolithic contexts formed by 6000 bc, but recent radiocarbon dating of a dozen 'early' grains cast doubt on these claims. Archaeobotanical evidence reveals that millet was common in Europe from the 2nd millennium bc, when major societal and economic transformations took place in the Bronze Age. We conducted an extensive programme of AMS-dating of charred broomcorn millet grains from 75 prehistoric sites in Europe. Our Bayesian model reveals that millet cultivation began in Europe at the earliest during the sixteenth century bc, and spread rapidly during the fifteenth/fourteenth centuries bc. Broomcorn millet succeeds in exceptionally wide range of growing conditions and completes its lifecycle in less than three summer months. Offering an additional harvest and thus surplus food/fodder, it likely was a transformative innovation in European prehistoric agriculture previously based mainly on (winter) cropping of wheat and barley. We provide a new, high-resolution chronological framework for this key agricultural development that likely contributed to far-reaching changes in lifestyle in late 2nd millennium bc Europe

Antenatal assessment of fetal outcome in pregnant diabetics

Peer Reviewe

Records of "new glume wheat" in France : a review

International audienc

Sub-local differences in Late Holocene land use at Orstad, Jæren in SW-Norway, revealed by soil pollen stratigraphy

Made available with permission from Maney Publishing / Environmental Archaeology. www.maneypublishing.com/journals/env and www.ingentaconnect.com/content/maney/env.Four soil profiles along an 84 m transect through a clearance cairn field on podsol soils at Orstad, Jæren, SW Norway, were investigated. By relating pollen-analytical results to soil stratigraphical and morphological features, it was possible to reconstruct the landuse history of the site, and to reveal differences along the transect, although pollen preservation was poor. Human activity at Orstad began about 4500 uncalibrated 14C years BP. The reason for an intermediate abandonment of the site between about 4000 and 3600 uncalibrated 14C years BP was presumably a higher ground-water level, caused by local deforestation and/or by a climatic change. After that period, people seem to have grown cereals (Triticum and Hordeum) on at least two different field patches on the site. This land use was presumably occasional, and related to extraordinary needs. Fire-clearance seems to have been practised to prepare the fields for cultivation after long fallow periods. Between 2900 and 3200 uncalibrated 14C years BP, Orstad was possibly permanently inhabited. The agricultural fields were moved to higher levels, as the initial fields had become nutrient-depleted and too moist. Thin black layers in the profile may be remains of manure