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Following their early domestication, broomcorn millet and rice (in East Asia) and wheat and barley (in South-west Asia) were subsequently adopted across Eurasia during the Bronze Age/early historic period. The precise timing and dispersal routes for this trans-Eurasian exchange, however, remain unclear. Here, the authors present archaeobotanical evidence from sites on the Caspian Sea's southern coast, demonstrating that broomcorn millet reached West Asia by c. 2050 BC and rice by c. 120 BC. These dispersals relate to two waves of globalisation and were based on two different mechanisms: an 'infiltration' model (broomcorn millet) and a 'leapfrog' model (rice). The results contribute to our understanding of the continental-scale connectivity of the late prehistoric/ early historic periods. Keywords: Eurasia, Silk Route, Panicum miliaceum, Oryza sativa, Triticum timopheevii, agriculture, crop dispersal, Introduction The transmission and exchange of innovations such as domesticated species, metallurgical technologies and prestige goods have played a significant role in human history, contributing to diverse local trajectories of [...]

The most westerly Pacific island chain, running from Taiwan southwards through the Philippines, has long been central in debates about the origins and early migrations of Austronesian-speaking peoples from the Asian mainland into the islands of Southeast Asia and Oceania. Focusing on the Cagayan Valley of northern Luzon in the Philippines, the authors combine new and published radiocarbon dates to underpin a revised culture-historical synthesis. The results speak to the initial contacts and long-term relationships between Indigenous hunter-gatherers and immigrant Neolithic farmers, and the question of how the early speakers of Malayo-Polynesian languages spread into and through the Philippines. Keywords: Southeast Asia, Philippines, Neolithic, shell middens, radiocarbon dating, human migrations, Introduction Located 125km off the south-eastern coast of China, the island of Taiwan was host to the earliest Neolithic cultures that existed offshore from the southern Chinese mainland. The Dabenkeng [...]

This study aims to explore tooth growth variation by regions and ethnicity in China, and to validate the modified Tibetan so as to assist in proposing a better approach. A total of 1320 orthopantomograms of Han children aged 4–14.99 were retrospectively collected from eastern and western regions of China. The Demirjian method and modified Tibetan method were applied. Results showed that dental maturity scores (DMS) in eastern children were significantly greater than western children. Age was overestimated by both methods in eastern children. MAE was 0.88 and 1.3 years by Demirjian method, 1.01 and 1.21 years by modified Tibetan method in eastern girls and boys respectively. In western children, age was significantly underestimated in girls and slightly overestimated by Demirjian method; by modified method, age was generally overestimated. MAE was 0.79 and 0.84 years by Demirjian method, 0.51 and 0.69 years by modified Tibetan method in girls and boys respectively. The current study reveals that tooth growth was significantly advanced in Eastern Han children compared with Western Han children. Ethnic variation between Eastern Han and Tibetan Chinese was substantial. Neither method was sufficiently accurate in Eastern Han children. The modified Tibetan method was reliable in Western Han children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeobotanical studies tend to concentrate on the evidence for specialised agricultural food production, with less attention directed towards the use of plant foods within hunter-gatherer contexts. Here, the authors present evidence for the exploitation of Canarium nuts from four late hunter-gatherer sites in southern China. Canarium nuts contributed to the inhabitants' diets from as early as 9000 cal BP. They also identify new uses of Canarium, c. 4500-4400 cal BP, as ritual offerings in the context of the introduction of rice and millet farming. The results are exam ined in the context of Canarium use across the wider Asia-Pacific region. Keywords: southern China, Canarium nuts, food resources, hunter-gatherers, Introduction Archaeobotanical research has focused predominantly on evidence for farming economies, with much less attention paid to the question of how hunter-gatherers obtained and maintained plant foods. Yet some 'complex' [...]

The selection of a non‐shattering phenotype is a pivotal change in the process of rice domestication. However, current research is heavily restricted by the preservation conditions of macro‐plant remains in early and middle Neolithic sites, as very limited well‐preserved rice spikelet bases could be retrieved. We present a non‐destructive method based on micro‐computed tomographic (CT) scanning, which could provide detailed visualization of the internal structures of charred spikelet bases and efficiently discriminate the shattering and non‐shattering phenotypes of rice spikelet bases according to the abundance of fusiform echinate phytoliths. It could be widely applied in different contexts, especially those poorly preserved specimens and tempers in pottery sherds, greatly improving our knowledge of rice domestication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]