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Morphometric distinction between Acute bulbosus phytoliths (silicified epidermal hair cells) from Panicum miliaceum and Setaria italica leaves

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Abstract

The taxonomic differentiation of Panicum miliaceu (broomcorn millet) and Setaria italica (foxtail millet) is of high relevance for archaeology and archaeobotany. The identification of these millets heavily relies on the morphology of the phytoliths in the inflorescence bracts (husks), while other plant parts have been less researched. This study offers a meticulous examination of a distinctive variety of phytoliths in millet leaves, Acute bulbosus. It carries out a comparative analysis of examples of these from modern P. miliaceum and S. italica leaves. To support the robustness of our findings, a case study was done using pieces of burnt clay daub excavated from the Shuanghuaishu site, central China (5,290–4,527 cal bp), which showed clear impressions of millet. The results agree with parallel investigations of diagnostic phytoliths extracted from millet husks, in addition to ethnographic observations of the uses of millet. This research establishes the possibility of differentiating between the leaves of Panicum miliaceum and Setaria italica, from the dimensions and shapes of the Acute bulbosus phytoliths there. These distinguishing features are quantified using a range of criteria and show the potential for identifying the remains of leaves of S. italica and P. miliaceum from archaeological contexts by using morphometric distinctions between the Acute bulbosus phytoliths.

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Funding

This study was supported by the National Social Science Fund of China grant No. 20CKG024 (TA) and grant No. 19ZDA227 (WG).

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Author notes

  1. Ting An and Jiaxin Chen contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Art and Archaeology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310000, China

    Ting An, Jiaxin Chen & Shude Huo

  2. Zhejiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Hangzhou, 310014, China

    Yunfei Zheng

  3. Zhengzhou Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Zhengzhou, 450007, China

    Wanfa Gu

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  1. Ting An
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Contributions

TA, YZ and WG planned the project. WG provided archaeological samples. TA, JC and SH performed experimental work and data analysis. TA and JC wrote the paper. All authors participated in the discussions of the results and commented on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ting An.

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Communicated by K. Neumann.

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An, T., Chen, J., Zheng, Y. et al. Morphometric distinction between Acute bulbosus phytoliths (silicified epidermal hair cells) from Panicum miliaceum and Setaria italica leaves. Veget Hist Archaeobot (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-024-00999-5

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