28Agricultural origins and dispersals are subjects of fundamental importance to archaeology as 29 well as many other scholarly disciplines. These investigations are world-wide in scope and 30 require significant amounts of paleobotanical data attesting to the exploitation of wild 31 progenitors of crop plants and subsequent domestication and spread. Accordingly, for the past 32 few decades the development of methods for identifying the remains of wild and domesticated 33 plant species has been a focus of paleo-ethnobotany. Phytolith analysis has increasingly taken its 34 place as an important independent contributor of data in all areas of the globe, and the volume of 35 literature on the subject is now both very substantial and disseminated in a range of international 36 journals. In this paper, experts who have carried out the hands-on work review the utility and 37 importance of phytolith analysis in documenting the domestication and dispersals of crop plants 38 around the world. It will serve as an important resource both to paleo-ethnobotanists and other 39 scholars interested in the development and spread of agriculture. 40

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In a study of residues from gourd and squash artifacts, we recovered starch grains from manioc (Manihot esculenta), potato (Solanum sp.), chili pepper (Capsicum spp.), arrowroot (Maranta arundinacea), and algarrobo (Prosopis sp.) from feasting contexts at the Buena Vista site, a central Peruvian preceramic site dating to Ϸ2200 calendar years B.C. This study has implications for the study of plant food use wherever gourds or squashes are preserved, documents the earliest evidence for the consumption of algarrobo and arrowroot in Peru, and provides insights into foods consumed at feasts.

Chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) variability has been examined in a range of tetraploid European potato cultivars. The potato genotypes studied included primitive cultivars such as Lumpers (1806), Yam (1836), Myatts Ashleaf (1847) and more recently bred cultivars such as Brodick (1990). Three cpDNA phenotypes were detected and these probably represent original introductions from South America into Europe. The most common cp phenotype was the T type cpDNA (Hosaka & Hanneman, 1988) characteristic of cultivars descended from cv. Rough Purple Chili. The presence of the T type cpDNA in the cultivar Yam indicates that this genotype which is of Andigena origin shares a common cytoplasm with other S. tuberosurn ssp. tuberosurn clones which have a Chilean type cytoplasm. The implications of these results are discussed in relation to the origin of the T type cpDNA. Methods for increasing the cytoplasmic diversity of the cultivated potato gene pool are proposed.

North China is regarded as a center of domestication for broomcorn millet ( Panicum miliaceum) and foxtail millet ( Setaria italica ssp. italica). The Neolithic Xinglonggou site (ca. 8000–7500 cal. BP) in the Liao River region has revealed the earliest macrobotanical evidence of domesticated millets in Northeast China, but controversy remains as to the importance of the millets in human diet. We employed an interdisciplinary approach involving analyses of starch grains, phytoliths, and usewear patterns to study a range of materials from Xinglonggou, including grinding stones, human dental calculus, and vegetative charcoal. The results demonstrate a broad spectrum of plant exploitation by the first farmers in Northeast China rather than dependence upon singular crops. Furthermore, three types of underground storage organs appear to be major staples, while millets were secondary to another early and important cultivated cereal, Job’s tears ( Coix lacryma-jobi L.). Wild grasses and acorns also account for small portions of plants used. This study documents the northernmost and earliest occurrence of Job’s tears in temperate Northeast China, a species which may have originated in the subtropical regions. We argue that Job’s tears may have been one of the earliest domesticates in China along with millets.