Dynamics, Processes, and Subsistence Responses of Prehistoric Millet Dispersal on the Eastern Margin of the Tibetan Plateau

Archaeological Sciences Forum No. 73

Dynamics, Processes, and Subsistence Responses of Prehistoric Millet Dispersal on the Eastern Margin of the Tibetan Plateau

Speaker: Prof. Ma Minmin (School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University)

Host: He Keyang, Distinguished Associate Research Fellow (Center for Archaeological Sciences, Sichuan University)

Abstract:

Millet agriculture, originating in northern China, serves as a crucial economic foundation for the origin and development of Chinese civilization. Before the Han Dynasty, foxtail and broomcorn millets had already spread to most parts of Eurasia, becoming a significant manifestation of the extension of early Chinese civilization and profoundly influencing social evolutionary processes and human genetic structures in East and Southeast Asia. The innovation mechanisms, dispersal processes, and impacts of millet agriculture have become frontier issues of multi-disciplinary concern involving geography, archaeology, genetics, and linguistics. As the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau acts as a key corridor for cultural exchange, the southward spread of millets along this region and its driving forces are vital for revealing pre-Han exchanges and their impacts between China and Southeast/South Asia. Although some progress has been made in studying the early southward spread of millet agriculture, research on agricultural innovation and the southward dispersal process along the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau remains noticeably insufficient. This lecture will focus on the aforementioned key scientific issues, emphasizing research findings from zooarchaeology, archaeobotany, and isotopic analysis on the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau, to analyze the dynamics, processes, and subsistence strategies of millet agriculture dispersal.

Time: 10:00-12:00, December 19, 2025

Venue: Conference Room 518, Zone 2, Liberal Arts Building, Jiang'an Campus, Sichuan University