The early adoption of East Asian crops in West Asia: rice and broomcorn millet in northern Iran

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 [...]