The spread of millet into Southeast Asia related to the southward expansion of East Asian farmers and its impact was poorly understood.This work addresses several key pieces of evidence along the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau by proposing an intensive broomcorn millet-based farming underpinning the emergence and development of the agrarian society in the western Loess Plateauduring the early-middle Yangshao period (~6300-5500 BP), as well as an intensification of the higher-yield foxtail millet-based farming leading the rapid growth of population in the western Loess Plateau and expansion of millet cultivation after 5300 BP. Furthermore, the earliest evidence of millet dispersal to Yunnan is discovered by at least ~4900 BP, revising the time for introducing millet into Yunnan and pointing to on a possible path to Southeast Asia. Finally, this work reveals significant differences in the impact of millet expansion along the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. They found the immunity and metabolism-related proteomic changes linked with subsistence transitions in the Neolithic, indicating that humans had diverse biological adaptations with and without farming.

Refs:

Minmin Ma†, Jiajia Dong†, Yishi Yang†, Martin K. Jones, Jia Wang, Guoke Chen, Gang Li, Letian He, Wenyu Wei, Yongxiang Xu, Yongxiu Lu, Lele Ren, Guanghui Dong*, Fahu Chen, 2023, Isotopic evidence reveals the gradual intensification of millet agriculture in Neolithic North China. Fundamental Research, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fmre.2023.06.007

Minmin Ma†, Minxia Lu†, Rui Sun†, Zhonghua Zhu†, Dorian Q. Fuller, Jianxin Guo, Guanglin He, Xiaomin Yang, Lingling Tan, Yongxiu Lu, Jiajia Dong, Ruiliang Liu, Jishuai Yang, Bo Li, Tiannan Guo, Xiaorui Li, Dongyue Zhao, Ying Zhang, Chuan-Chao Wang*, Guanghui Dong*, 2023, Forager-farmer transition at the crossroads of East and Southeast Asia 4900 years ago, Science Bulletin, Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scib.2023.10.015

A. The δ13C values of humans, pigs and dogs bone collagen indicate three phases of subsistence strategies in the western Loess Plateau. B. The evidence of millet expansion in the western Loess Plateau and northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau after 5300 BP.

Rare evidence of millet was found in central Yunnan during the Neolithic (left). The right figure presents the earliest evidence of millet dispersal to Yunnan by at least ~4900 a BP, revising the timeline for introducing millet into Yunnan and on a likely route to Southeast Asia.