Between Cereal Agriculture and Animal Husbandry: Millet in the Early Economy of the North Pontic Region

Abstract Broomcorn millet ( Panicum miliaceum L.) was first domesticated in China and dispersed westward via Central Asia the 3rd millennium BC, reaching Europe 2nd BC. North of Black Sea, Pontic steppe forest-steppe areas are key regions for understanding dispersal millet, as evidenced by earliest direct radiocarbon dates on European grains, which we present here. Examining various lines evidence relevant to crop cultivation, animal husbandry, contacts lifestyles, explore regional dynamics adoption broadening knowledge about past subsistence strategies related ‘millet farmers/consumers’ who inhabited northern Sea region during Bronze Iron Ages. Our re-evaluation contributes ongoing discussions mobility prehistoric communities Eurasian forest-steppe—for instance, whether linked full-time mobile pastoralists, occasionally grew or only consumed it, it sedentary farmers cattle herders regularly cultivated among other crops. From Age Late Antique, this is attested under different socio-cultural conditions that suggest adaptable stockbreeding natural environment since mid BC region.