Grinding en route to sedentism: Plant processing in the 8 ka-BP southern Mongolian Plateau, China

Abstract

Plant food exploitation has long been considered one of the most significant windows to understanding the process of sedentism. Two early Neolithic sites, Yumin (ca. 8,400-7,600 cal BP) and Simagou (ca. 7,500-7,000 cal BP), witnessed the earliest onset of a sedentary lifeway in the southern Mongolian Plateau (today’s south-central Inner Mongolia) of north China. The results from residue (starch and phytolith) and usewear analyses on grinding stones from these two sites yield evidence of processing and consuming Panicoideae (millet, Job’s tears), Triticeae, and multiple types of tubers, indicating a broad-spectrum subsistence practice in this region. Additionally, this study documents the earliest time phase of millet consumption during the transition to sedentism in the southern Mongolian Plateau.