Early domesticated sorghum from central sudan

ABSTRACT LARGE quantities of carbonised _Sorghum bicolor_ (L.) Moench grains, spikelets (Fig. 1_a_) and inflorescence fragments sorted from about 2 foot3 of charred material found in a

storage pit at Jebel et Tomat (13° 36′N, 32° 34′E) in Central Sudan (Fig. 2), and small amounts of carbonised sorghum found in eleven levels of the midden excavated there, suggest that

sorghum was the staple grain of people who inhabited the site. The date of 245 ± 60 AD (UCLA 1874M) was obtained from a concentration of carbonised plant remains in the floor of the pit,

which was dug into the dark clay loam on which the midden rests (Fig. 3) probably at about the same time as the accumulation of the middle or beginning of the upper unit of the midden. The

remains of wickerwork matting and many fragments of thick stalks of cereal grass suggest that the pit may have been a silo lined with stalks and mats. If so, it is not dissimilar to the pits

made today in the area for storing grain. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution ACCESS OPTIONS Access

through your institution Subscribe to this journal Receive 51 print issues and online access $199.00 per year only $3.90 per issue Learn more Buy this article * Purchase on SpringerLink *

Instant access to full article PDF Buy now Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout ADDITIONAL ACCESS OPTIONS: * Log in * Learn about institutional

subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer support SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS PLANT CULTIVATION AND DIVERSITY AT THE EARLY NEOLITHIC SETTLEMENT IN BISKUPICE IN POLAND

Article Open access 02 September 2024 MULTIDISCIPLINARY EVIDENCE FOR EARLY BANANA (_MUSA_ CVS.) CULTIVATION ON MABUYAG ISLAND, TORRES STRAIT Article 10 August 2020 ARCHAEOBOTANICAL EVIDENCE

SUPPORTS INDIGENOUS CUCURBIT LONG-TERM USE IN THE MESOAMERICAN NEOTROPICS Article Open access 13 May 2024 REFERENCES * Williams, M. A. J., and Adamson, D. A., _Geogr. J._, 139, 498–508

(1973). Article  Google Scholar  * Mukherjee, R., Rao, C., and Trevor, J. C., _The Ancient Inhabitants of Jebel Moya, Sudan_ (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1955). Google Scholar  * Addison, F.,

_Wellcome excavations in the Sudan: I, Jebel Moya_, 1910–1914 (Oxford Univ., Press 1949). Google Scholar  * Harlan, J. R., and de Wet, J. M. J., _Crop Sci._, 12, 172–176 (1972). Article 

Google Scholar  * Williams, M. A. J., and Adamson, D. A., _Nature_, 284, 584–586 (1974). Article  Google Scholar  * Plumley, J. M., _J. Egypt. Archaeol._, 56, 12–18 (1970). Google Scholar  *

Shinnie, P. L., _Meroe: A civilisation of the Sudan_ (Thames and Hudson, London, 1967). * _The Geography of Strabo_, (edit. by Jones, H. L.), 143, (London, 1932). * Shiner, J. L., _The

Prehistory and Geology of northern Sudan_, 335–394 (National Science Foundation, 1971). Google Scholar  Download references AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Department of

Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley, California, 94720 J. DESMOND CLARK * Department of Botany, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, 61801 ANN STEMLER Authors * J. DESMOND

CLARK View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * ANN STEMLER View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE CLARK, J., STEMLER, A. Early domesticated sorghum from Central Sudan. _Nature_ 254, 588–591 (1975).

https://doi.org/10.1038/254588a0 Download citation * Received: 26 September 1974 * Accepted: 12 March 1975 * Published: 01 April 1975 * Issue Date: 17 April 1975 * DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1038/254588a0 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Get shareable link Sorry, a shareable link is not currently

available for this article. Copy to clipboard Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative