CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 305Archaeology and ancient environmental studiesEurasian Exchange NetworksAncient and Medieval Archaeology Studies

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 128 of the 131 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Between China and South Asia: A Middle Asian corridor of crop dispersal and agricultural innovation in the Bronze Age

Open access
Stevens, Chris J, Murphy, Charlene, Roberts, Rebecca, Lucas, Leilani, Silva, Fabio, Fuller, Dorian Q·2016·The Holocene
DOI 10.1177/0959683616650268PMC PMC5125436
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

The period from the late third millennium BC to the start of the first millennium AD witnesses the first steps towards food globalization in which a significant number of important crops and animals, independently domesticated within China, India, Africa and West Asia, traversed Central Asia greatly increasing Eurasian agricultural diversity. This paper utilizes an archaeobotanical database (AsCAD), to explore evidence for these crop translocations along southern and northern routes of interaction between east and west. To begin, crop translocations from the Near East across India and Central Asia are examined for wheat ( Triticum aestivum) and barley ( Hordeum vulgare) from the eighth to the second millennia BC when they reach China. The case of pulses and flax ( Linum usitatissimum) that only complete this journey in Han times (206 BC–AD 220), often never fully adopted, is also addressed. The discussion then turns to the Chinese millets, Panicum miliaceum and Setaria italica, peaches ( Amygdalus persica) and apricots ( Armeniaca vulgaris), tracing their movement from the fifth millennium to the second millennium BC when the Panicum miliaceum reaches Europe and Setaria italica Northern India, with peaches and apricots present in Kashmir and Swat. Finally, the translocation of japonica rice from China to India that gave rise to indica rice is considered, possibly dating to the second millennium BC. The routes these crops travelled include those to the north via the Inner Asia Mountain Corridor, across Middle Asia, where there is good evidence for wheat, barley and the Chinese millets. The case for japonica rice, apricots and peaches is less clear, and the northern route is contrasted with that through northeast India, Tibet and west China. Not all these journeys were synchronous, and this paper highlights the selective long-distance transport of crops as an alternative to demic-diffusion of farmers with a defined crop package.

Overview

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1177/0959683616650268

Cites

128 of 128 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Figures

Figure 1. Map showing the defined area of Middle Asia, bounded by the winter rainfall Mediterranean climates in the west, the summer monsoon summer rainfall zones to the south and the boreal forest to the north. Potential prehistoric routes from East Asia to West Asia. (A) Northern route through the Inner Asian Mountain Corridor (IAMC), the proto-Silk Road via the Hexi corridor and Fergana Valley, encompassing Xinjiang, southern Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, branches into Afghanistan and Uzbekistan/Turkmenistan; (B) Southern Himalayan/Tibet route; Sichuan, Yunnan, Tibet, Bhutan, Sikkim, Nepal and Arunachal Pradesh with southern branches via Laos. Thailand, Myanmar, Assam, Bangladesh and northern India; (C) Maritime route, Chinese Coast via Vietnam, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Southern India.
Figure 1. Map showing the defined area of Middle Asia, bounded by the winter rainfall Mediterranean climates in the west, the summer monsoon summer rainfall zones to the south and the boreal forest to the north. Potential prehistoric routes from East Asia to West Asia. (A) Northern route through the Inner Asian Mountain Corridor (IAMC), the proto-Silk Road via the Hexi corridor and Fergana Valley, encompassing Xinjiang, southern Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, branches into Afghanistan and Uzbekistan/Turkmenistan; (B) Southern Himalayan/Tibet route; Sichuan, Yunnan, Tibet, Bhutan, Sikkim, Nepal and Arunachal Pradesh with southern branches via Laos. Thailand, Myanmar, Assam, Bangladesh and northern India; (C) Maritime route, Chinese Coast via Vietnam, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Southern India.CC BY-NC · PubMed Central
Figure 2. Map showing chronological diffusion of wheat (Triticum sp.) and barley (Hordeum vulgare) throughout Eurasia compiled from AsCAD. Individual sites with evidence for wheat and/or barley are shown. The contours are within 1000-year increments covering the period 8500–500 BC and provide a general indication of the chronological spread of wheat and barley based upon our best reading of current existing data as given within the text.
Figure 2. Map showing chronological diffusion of wheat (Triticum sp.) and barley (Hordeum vulgare) throughout Eurasia compiled from AsCAD. Individual sites with evidence for wheat and/or barley are shown. The contours are within 1000-year increments covering the period 8500–500 BC and provide a general indication of the chronological spread of wheat and barley based upon our best reading of current existing data as given within the text.CC BY-NC · PubMed Central
Figure 3. Map showing chronological diffusion of broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) throughout Eurasia compiled from AsCAD. Individual sites with evidence for broomcorn millet are shown. The contours are within 1000-year increments covering the period 5500–500 BC and provide a general indication of the chronological spread of broomcorn millet based upon our best reading of current existing data as given within the text. Earlier possible dead-end centres of cultivation and possible chronological limits are shown with a dotted line.
Figure 3. Map showing chronological diffusion of broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) throughout Eurasia compiled from AsCAD. Individual sites with evidence for broomcorn millet are shown. The contours are within 1000-year increments covering the period 5500–500 BC and provide a general indication of the chronological spread of broomcorn millet based upon our best reading of current existing data as given within the text. Earlier possible dead-end centres of cultivation and possible chronological limits are shown with a dotted line.CC BY-NC · PubMed Central
Figure 4. Map showing chronological diffusion of foxtail millet (Setaria italica) throughout Eurasia compiled from AsCAD. Individual sites with evidence for broomcorn millet are shown. The contours are within 1000-year increments covering the period 5500–500 BC and provide a general indication of the chronological spread of foxtail millet based upon our best reading of current existing data as given within the text. Earlier possible dead-end centres of cultivation and possible chronological limits are shown with a dotted line.
Figure 4. Map showing chronological diffusion of foxtail millet (Setaria italica) throughout Eurasia compiled from AsCAD. Individual sites with evidence for broomcorn millet are shown. The contours are within 1000-year increments covering the period 5500–500 BC and provide a general indication of the chronological spread of foxtail millet based upon our best reading of current existing data as given within the text. Earlier possible dead-end centres of cultivation and possible chronological limits are shown with a dotted line.CC BY-NC · PubMed Central
Figure 5. Graph showing number of sites with reported millets for South Asia for different time periods. Solid colours indicate secure identifications and hatched lines indicate specimens of questionable date or identification. Top: foxtail millet (Setaria italica); middle: broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum); bottom: little millet (Panicum sumatrense).
Figure 5. Graph showing number of sites with reported millets for South Asia for different time periods. Solid colours indicate secure identifications and hatched lines indicate specimens of questionable date or identification. Top: foxtail millet (Setaria italica); middle: broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum); bottom: little millet (Panicum sumatrense).CC BY-NC · PubMed Central
Figure 6. Eurasia showing locations of key sites in the text with early evidence for translocations of crops; including apricot (Armeniaca vulgaris) and/or peach (Amygdalus persica) (Burzahom, Semthan); cannabis/hemp (Cannabis sativa) (Senuwar); along with broomcorn millet, foxtail millet, wheat and/or barley, and evidence for the introduction of japonica rice (Oryza sativa subsp. japonica) (Mahagara). Additional information on the dating of these can be found in the supplementary data (available online).
Figure 6. Eurasia showing locations of key sites in the text with early evidence for translocations of crops; including apricot (Armeniaca vulgaris) and/or peach (Amygdalus persica) (Burzahom, Semthan); cannabis/hemp (Cannabis sativa) (Senuwar); along with broomcorn millet, foxtail millet, wheat and/or barley, and evidence for the introduction of japonica rice (Oryza sativa subsp. japonica) (Mahagara). Additional information on the dating of these can be found in the supplementary data (available online).CC BY-NC · PubMed Central

Verification

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Citations

Cites

Show all 131 references

Research works printed but not linked: 55

  1. Bellwood P, 2005, First Farmers
  2. Bray F, 1984, Science and Civilisation in Ancient China: Biology and Biological Technology Part II Agriculture, 6
  3. Costantini L, 1979, Fouilles de Pirak, 326
  4. Costantini L, 1987, Prehistoric and Protohistoric Swat, Pakistan, 155
  5. Fairservis W, 1975, The Roots of Ancient India
  6. Faust M, 1995, Horticultural Review, 17, 331
  7. Fu D, 2001, Kaogu, 66
  8. Fuller DQ, 2003, Food, Fuel and Fields: Progress in Africa Archaeobotany, 239
  9. Fuller DQ, 2009, Linguistics, Archaeology and the Human Past, 147
  10. Fuller DQ, 2001, Indian Archaeology in Retrospect: Protohistory, 317
  11. Fuller DQ, 2007, Dengfeng wangchenggang yizhi de faxian yu yanjiu (2002–2005), 916
  12. Gupta A, 2010, East African Journal of Sciences, 4, 106
  13. Han J, 2012, Anabasis, 3, 25
  14. Harvey EL, 2005, South Asian Archaeology 2003 (Proceedings of the European Association for South Asian Archaeology Conference, Bonn: 7th–11th July 2003), 329
  15. Hunt HV, 2008, Pragdhara, 18, 53
  16. Huo W, 1990, Nongye Kaogu, 2, 101
  17. Jin GY, 2011, Archaeological Technology, 37
  18. Kajale MD, 1988, Excavations at Inamgaon, 727
  19. Kajale MD, 1996, Man and Environment, 21, 98
  20. Kostina KF, 1971, Flora of the USSR, 434
  21. Kudo Y, 2009, Japanese Journal of Historical Botany, 17, 27
  22. Liu X, 2015, The Cambridge World History – A World With Agriculture, 12,000 BCE-500 CE, 335
  23. Lone FA, 2000, Facets of Indian Civilization Recent Perspectives
  24. Lu L, 2003, Flora of China, 9, 391
  25. Mani BR, 2004, Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in History and Archaeology, 1, 142
  26. Miller NF, 2011, Archäologische Mitteilungen aus Iran und Turan, 43, 213
  27. Mughal MR, 1972, Pakistan Archaeology, 8, 33
  28. Parpola A, 1988, Studia Orientalia, 64, 195
  29. Pashkevich G, 2005, Cucuteni: 120 Years of Research, 231
  30. Pasternak R, 1998, Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft zu Berlin, 130, 160
  31. Pokharia AK, 2007, Linguistics, Archaeology and the Human Past. Occasional Paper 2. Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, 30
  32. Qin L, 2009, Nanjiaokou Site in Sanmenxia, 427
  33. Rassamakin Y, 1999, Late Prehistoric Exploitation of the Eurasian Steppe, 59
  34. Riehl S, 1999, BioArchaeologica 2
  35. Saraswat KS, 1986, Geophytology, 16, 97
  36. Saraswat KS, 2004, Early Farming Communities of the Kaimur (Excavations at Senuwar), 416
  37. Saraswat KS, 2003, Pragdhara, 12, 105
  38. Saraswat KS, 2004, Plant Resources in the Neolithic Economy at Kanishpur, Kashmir
  39. Schwatz MC, 2014, Genome Biology, 15, 506
  40. Scorza R, 1996, Fruit Breeding: Tree and Tropical Fruit, 1, 325
  41. Sharif M, 1992, History and Civilizations of Central Asia: The Dawn of Civilization: Earliest times to 700 B.C, 1, 127
  42. Sharma AK, 1996, Early Man in Eastern Himalayas
  43. Simoons F, 1970, Anthropos, 65, 547
  44. Stacul G, 1976, East and West, 26, 13
  45. Stacul G, 1993, East and West, 43, 69
  46. Stevens CJ, Language Dynamics and Change
  47. Tewari R, 2008, Pragdhara, 18, 347
  48. Tsunewaki K, 1990, Journal of Genetics, 65, 353
  49. Weber SA, 1993, South Asian Archaeology 1989, 283
  50. Winkelmann S, 2000, East and West, 50, 43
  51. Witzel M, 2005, Linguistics, Archaeology and the Human Past, 87
  52. Witzel M, 2009, Linguistics, Archaeology and the Human Past, 79
  53. Xue Y, 2010, Yunnan Jianchuan Haimenkou Zhiqu Yicun Chubu Yanjiu
  54. Zhao Z, 2015, Nanfang Wenwu, 2015, 44
  55. Zhejiang Province Institute of Archaeology and Cultural-relics (ZPIAC), 2014, Kuahuqiao

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Items 201–300 of 305

Related

See all

Metadata

Authors
Stevens, C. J., Murphy, C., Roberts, R., Lucas, L., Silva, F., & Fuller, D. Q.
Affiliations
  • University College London (GB)
  • Institute of Archaeology, University College London, UK
Corresponding author
Stevens, Chris J
ORCID
Venue
The Holocene
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2016-07-28
Volume
26
Issue
10
Pages
1541-1555
ISSN
  • 0959-6836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1477-0911
DOI
10.1177/0959683616650268
PMC
PMC5125436
OpenAlex
W2414902507
Cited by
303
References
131
Citations by year
2026: 23 · 2025: 60 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 31 · 2022: 31 · 2021: 28 · 2020: 34 · 2019: 23 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 27 · 2016: 1
FWCI
19.68
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • The Holocene (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Bournemouth University Research Online (Bournemouth University) (acceptedVersion)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
  • Apollo (University of Cambridge) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • Apollo
Funders
  • Peking University
  • Natural Environment Research Council (NE/K003402/1, NE/N010957/1)
  • FP7 Ideas: European Research Council (323842)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Archeology › Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Eurasian Exchange Networks
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology (arts and humanities) › Ancient and Medieval Archaeology Studies
Keywords
crop dispersal, agricultural innovation, Bronze Age, food globalization, wheat, barley, Panicum miliaceum, foxtail millet, peach, apricot, flax, pulses, Oryza sativa subsp. japonica, Indica rice, Middle Asia, demic diffusion, archaeobotany

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review