title: Microbotanical evidence of domestic cereals in Africa 7000 years ago.
abstract: The study of plant exploitation and early use of cereals in Africa has seen over the years a great input from charred and desiccated macrobotanical remains. This paper presents the results of one of the few examples in Africa of microbotanical analyses. Three grave contexts of phytolith-rich deposits and the dental calculus of 20 individuals were analysed from two Neolithic cemeteries in North and Central Sudan. The radiocarbon-dated phytoliths from the burial samples show the presence of Near East domestic cereals in Northern Sudan at least 7000 years ago. Phytoliths also indicate the exploitation of wild, savannah-adapted millets in Central Sudan between 7500 and 6500 years ago. The calculus samples contained starch grains from wheat/barley, pulses and millets, as well as panicoid phytoliths. This evidence shows that Near East domestic cereals were consumed in Northern Africa at least 500 years earlier than previously thought.
authors.affiliation: Complexity and Socio-Ecological Dynamics Research Group (CaSEs), Barcelona, Spain; ICREA - Department of Humanities, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Madella
authors.affiliation: Complexity and Socio-Ecological Dynamics Research Group (CaSEs), Barcelona, Spain; Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, Institució Milà i Fontanals - Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Juan José
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: García-Granero
authors.affiliation: Graduate School Human Development in Landscapes, Christian-Albrechts-Universität, Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: Welmoed A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Out
authors.affiliation: Department of Conservation and Scientific Research, The British Museum, London, United Kingdom; Institute of Archaeology, UCL, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Philippa
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ryan
authors.affiliation: Centro Studi Sudanesi e Sub-Sahariani, Treviso, Italy.
authors.forename: Donatella
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Usai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002523:Edible Grain / Q000254:growth & development / Q000266:history*; D005580:Fossils; D049690:History, Ancient; D001467:Hordeum / Q000254:growth & development; D006801:Humans; D010163:Paleontology; D055110:Radiometric Dating / Q000379:methods*; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry; D013397:Sudan; D014070:Tooth / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D014908:Triticum / Q000254:growth & development
chemical_list: D012822:Silicon Dioxide