Before and after: millet cultivation and the transformation of prehistoric crop production in northern Germany

Filipović, Dragana; Meadows, John; Wiethold, Julian; Jahns, Susanne; Bittmann, Felix; Kirleis, Wiebke

doi:10.15184/aqy.2018.225

Cited by 9 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…A possible explanation for this divergent pattern could be an increased frequency of high-intensity precipitation events or a change in land-use practices favouring soil erosion. The establishment of Broomcorn Millet as full crop at around this time in Northern Germany (Filipović et al, 2018) could indicate such an associated change in land-use practices. However, as the authors state, this might be related to very local cultivation of Broomcorn millet, and further results are necessary to reconstruct when its cultivation was generally adopted across the wider region.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human impact and population dynamics in the Neolithic and Bronze Age: Multi-proxy evidence from north-western Central Europe

et al. 2019

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This paper aims at reconstructing the population dynamics during the Neolithic and Bronze Age, c. 4500–500 cal. BC, in north-western Central Europe. The approach is based on the assumption that increased population density is positively linked with human activity and human impact on the environment, respectively. Therefore, we use archaeological 14C dates and palaeoenvironmental data from northern Germany and south-western Denmark to construct and compare independent proxies of human activity. The latter involves relative quantification of human impact based on pollen analysis and soil erosion history inferred from summarizing of dated colluvial layers. Concurring patterns of changes in human activity are frequently recorded on a multi-centennial scale. Whereas such multi-proxy patterns are interpreted to indicate relative population changes, divergent patterns are discussed in the context of proxy-related uncertainties and potential biases. Patterns of temporal distribution of increasing and decreasing human activity are understood as ‘boom and bust’ phases in population density/size. Based on the comparison of the three proxies, we identify five phases of growing (boom) and four phases of decreasing (bust) population. The boom phases date to ca. 4000–3500, 3000–2900, 2200–2100, 1450–1300 and 1000–750 cal. BC. The bust phases to ca. 3200–3000, 2400–2300, 1650–1500 and 1200–1100 cal. BC.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human impact and population dynamics in the Neolithic and Bronze Age: Multi-proxy evidence from north-western Central Europe

et al. 2019

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“…Both stable isotope and archaeobotanical results show that locally cultivated millet and ruderal C 4 grasses constituted an important component of animal fodder that was probably fed to animals during the winter months at lower elevation winter camps. The increase in millet cultivation from c. 1300 BC onwards seems to be a part of a much wider phenomenon across Eurasia, as during this period broomcorn millet moved to the northern latitudes and high altitudes (Miller et al 2016; Ananyevskaya et al 2018; Filipović et al 2018, 2020; Motuzaite Matuzeviciute 2018; Ventresca Miller & Makarewicz 2019; Wilkin et al 2020). The rise in δ 15 N values during the Final Bronze Age and Early Iron Age points towards an intensification of the pastoral economy and increased consumption of animal products.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The integration of millet into the diet of Central Asian populations in the third millennium BC

et al. 2022

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Stable isotope analyses demonstrate that C4 plants played an important dietary role in Eurasian prehistory. Uncertainty remains, however, about when and how crops were integrated into the diet of Central Asian populations. Here, the authors present δ13C and δ15N stable isotope analysis of human and animal bone collagen from Kyrgyzstan, revealing C4 plant—likely broomcorn millet—consumption in the third millennium BC. Combining this evidence with AMS radiocarbon dating and animal collagen peptide fingerprinting demonstrates that broomcorn millet was consumed by humans and animals during the earliest episodes of the westward spread of this crop plant. The results contribute to debates about the timing and means by which domesticated millets were dispersed across Eurasia.

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“…Focus 3 Socio-environmental components of change concentrates on specific factors or components of change, be they climate and human adaptation strategies (Butruille et al, 2017; Groß et al, this issue; Hinz et al, this issue; Schirrmacher et al, 2019); vegetation and faunal change, human impact, and resource management (Dal Corso et al, this issue, 2018; Feeser et al, this issue; Sommer et al, 2018; Wieckowska-Lüth et al, 2018); the dynamics of soils and erosion processes, demography, mobility and diseases (Capuzzo et al, 2018; Feeser et al, this issue; Fuchs et al, this issue; Furholt, 2017; Krause-Kyora et al, 2018; Müller and Diachenko, 2019); the development and impacts of subsistence practices (Filatova et al, 2019; Filipović et al, this issue, 2018; Jahns et al, 2018) or the social role of technologies and innovations (Bech et al, 2018; Brozio et al, this issue; Kirleis, 2019; Schaefer-Di Maida and Kneisel, this issue).…”

Section: The Approach To the Scales Of Socio-environmental Transformation In Prehistoric And Archaic Societiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Focus 4 Setting the frame supports enquiries concerning the temporal resolution and the exploration of temporal patterns (Filipović et al, 2018; Meadows et al, this issue) as well as the ability to explore spatial patterns of change through the application of novel geophysical methods (Pickartz et al, this issue). The broad array of case studies in the CRC 1266 provides Focus 4 projects with the opportunity for intensive method development within an archaeological framework.…”

Section: The Approach To the Scales Of Socio-environmental Transformation In Prehistoric And Archaic Societiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The concept of socio-environmental transformations in prehistoric and archaic societies in the Holocene: An introduction to the special issue

Müller

Kirleis

2019

The Holocene

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Transformations of human societies and environments are closely interwoven. Due to improved possibilities of paleoecological reconstruction and archaeological methods, we are now in a position to empirically collect detailed data from a variety of records. The Collaborative Research Centre 1266 ‘Scales of Transformation’ has developed a concept in which both deductive and inductive transformation dimensions are compared on different temporal and spatial scales. This concept includes the connection between the environmental and social spheres, which are often inseparable. Accordingly, a holistic principle of socio-environmental research is developed, which is exemplified by the contributions to this special issue of The Holocene.

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Before and after: millet cultivation and the transformation of prehistoric crop production in northern Germany

Cited by 9 publications

References 7 publications

Human impact and population dynamics in the Neolithic and Bronze Age: Multi-proxy evidence from north-western Central Europe

Human impact and population dynamics in the Neolithic and Bronze Age: Multi-proxy evidence from north-western Central Europe

The integration of millet into the diet of Central Asian populations in the third millennium BC

The concept of socio-environmental transformations in prehistoric and archaic societies in the Holocene: An introduction to the special issue

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