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<p>The Syr and Amu Darya deltas and the littoral zone of the eastern Aral Sea, from Khorezm to Kyzylorda, have attracted the attention of archaeologists for nearly a century. Since the well-known Tolstov expeditions, archaeologists have discussed the establishment of early defensive architecture and elaborate irrigation systems on the periphery of the hyper-arid Kyzyl Kum Desert. Scholars have argued over whether the ancient people in this region during the 1st mill. <span>bc</span>, which are often culturally ascribed to the Saka, were more nomadic or sedentary and what their political organization looked like. Thus far, archaeobotanical investigations in this region have been lacking, limiting discussions about cultural adaptation, social orders, and the dispersal routes for domesticated plants and animals. In this study, we provide the first evidence for both <i>Hordeum vulgare</i> (barley) and <i>Panicum miliaceum</i>/<i>Setaria italica</i> (millets) cultivation in this key cultural region, dating to the first half of the 1st mill. <span>bc</span>. We identified barley and millet impressions on ceramics from all sites that we studied in the region, including ceramics that archaeologists classify as both Saka and Chirik-Rabat. We argue that the ubiquity of these finds indicates a greater prominence of farming practices across the steppe ecozone than scholars have previously recognized.</p>

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Grain impressions in ceramic vessels illustrate the extent of 1st millennium bc agriculture across the northern Central Asian steppe

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2025年7月30日

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  • Eiko Endo,
  • Zhanargul Kaliyeva,
  • Zhanbolat Utubayev,
  • Asemgul D. Kasenova,
  • Makpal Suyundikova,
  • Akhan Onggaruly,
  • Robert Spengler,
  • Shinya Shoda

摘要

The Syr and Amu Darya deltas and the littoral zone of the eastern Aral Sea, from Khorezm to Kyzylorda, have attracted the attention of archaeologists for nearly a century. Since the well-known Tolstov expeditions, archaeologists have discussed the establishment of early defensive architecture and elaborate irrigation systems on the periphery of the hyper-arid Kyzyl Kum Desert. Scholars have argued over whether the ancient people in this region during the 1st mill. bc, which are often culturally ascribed to the Saka, were more nomadic or sedentary and what their political organization looked like. Thus far, archaeobotanical investigations in this region have been lacking, limiting discussions about cultural adaptation, social orders, and the dispersal routes for domesticated plants and animals. In this study, we provide the first evidence for both Hordeum vulgare (barley) and Panicum miliaceum/Setaria italica (millets) cultivation in this key cultural region, dating to the first half of the 1st mill. bc. We identified barley and millet impressions on ceramics from all sites that we studied in the region, including ceramics that archaeologists classify as both Saka and Chirik-Rabat. We argue that the ubiquity of these finds indicates a greater prominence of farming practices across the steppe ecozone than scholars have previously recognized.