Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40242516›Full record

ArticleFundamental research2025

Isotopic evidence reveals the gradual intensification of millet agriculture in Neolithic western Loess Plateau.

Minmin Ma, Jiajia Dong, Yishi Yang, Martin K Jones, Jia Wang, Guoke Chen, Gang Li, Letian He, Wenyu Wei, Yongxiang Xu and 4 more

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In one paragraph

Article in Fundamental research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Minmin MaMinistry of Education Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental System, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Jiajia DongMinistry of Education Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental System, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Yishi YangGansu Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Martin K JonesMcDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1TN, United Kingdom.
Jia WangMinistry of Education Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental System, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Guoke ChenGansu Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Gang LiMinistry of Education Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental System, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Letian HeSchool of History and Culture, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Wenyu WeiMinistry of Education Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental System, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Yongxiang XuMinistry of Education Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental System, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Yongxiu LuMinistry of Education Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental System, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Lele RenSchool of History and Culture, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Guanghui DongMinistry of Education Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental System, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Fahu ChenMinistry of Education Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental System, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The intensification of millet agriculture facilitated the development of ancient civilization in northern China. In Inner Mongolia and the Central Plains, the intensification of millet farming was relatively continuous. However, prior evidence from the western Loess Plateau (WLP) has suggested an indistinct sequence of millet cultivation and a time lag between the initial intensification of millet agriculture and subsequent expansion of millet farming. We report on new stable isotopic data and radiocarbon dates from the Gedachuan site which challenge that interpretation. Our results indicate a gradual intensification and expansion of millet agriculture across the whole WLP. They attest to intensive broomcorn millet-based farming underpinning the emergence and development of the agrarian society in the WLP during the early-middle Yangshao period (∼6300-5500 BP), and to an intensification of the higher-yielding foxtail millet-based farming leading to the rapid growth of population in the WLP and expansion of millet cultivation after 5300 BP.

Indexed as

Neolithic periodRadiocarbon datingRain-fed agricultureStable isotopeWestern Loess Plateau

Identifiers

PMID40242516
PMCPMC11997589

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.