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dc.contributor.authorOrfanou, Eleftheria
dc.contributor.authorZach, Barbara
dc.contributor.authorRohrlach, Adam B.
dc.contributor.authorSchneider, Florian N.
dc.contributor.authorPaust, Enrico
dc.contributor.authorLucas, Mary Alexis
dc.contributor.authorHermes, Taylor
dc.contributor.authorIlgner, Jana
dc.contributor.authorScott, Erin
dc.contributor.authorEttel, Peter
dc.contributor.authorHaak, Wolfgang
dc.contributor.authorSpengler, Robert
dc.contributor.authorRoberts, Patrick
dc.date.accessioned2024-09-23T08:56:10Z
dc.date.available2024-09-23T08:56:10Z
dc.date.issued2024-02-22
dc.description.abstractThe Bronze Age of Central Europe was a period of major social, economic, political and ideological change. The arrival of millet is often seen as part of wider Bronze Age connectivity, yet understanding of the subsistence regimes underpinning this dynamic period remains poor for this region, in large part due to a dominance of cremation funerary rites, which hinder biomolecular studies. Here, we apply stable isotope analysis, radiocarbon dating and archaeobotanical analysis to two Late Bronze Age (LBA) sites, Esperstedt and Kuckenburg, in central Germany, where human remains were inhumed rather than cremated. We find that people buried at these sites did not consume millet before the Middle Bronze Age (MBA) (ca. 1600 BCE). However, by the early LBA (ca. 1300–1050 BCE) people consumed millet, often in substantial quantities. This consumption appears to have subsequently diminished or ceased around 1050–800 BCE, despite charred millet grains still being found in the archaeological deposits from this period. The arrival of millet in this region, followed by a surge in consumption spanning two centuries, indicates a complex interplay of cultural and economic factors, as well as a potential use of millet to buffer changes in aridity in a region increasingly prone to crop failure in the face of climate change today.en_US
dc.identifier.citationOrfanou, Zach, Rohrlach, Schneider, Paust, Lucas, Hermes, Ilgner, Scott, Ettel, Haak, Spengler, Roberts. Biomolecular evidence for changing millet reliance in Late Bronze Age central Germany. Scientific Reports. 2024;14(1)en_US
dc.identifier.cristinIDFRIDAID 2260153
dc.identifier.doi10.1038/s41598-024-54824-0
dc.identifier.issn2045-2322
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10037/34823
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherSpringer Natureen_US
dc.relation.journalScientific Reports
dc.relation.projectIDinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/771234/EU/Human health and migration in prehistory/PALEoRIDER/en_US
dc.relation.projectIDinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/851102/EU/Fruits of Eurasia: Domestication and Dispersal/FEDD/en_US
dc.rights.accessRightsopenAccessen_US
dc.rights.holderCopyright 2024 The Author(s)en_US
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0en_US
dc.rightsAttribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)en_US
dc.titleBiomolecular evidence for changing millet reliance in Late Bronze Age central Germanyen_US
dc.type.versionpublishedVersionen_US
dc.typeJournal articleen_US
dc.typeTidsskriftartikkelen_US
dc.typePeer revieweden_US


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Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)