Ancient Mesopotamian discovery transforms knowledge of early farming

David Graeber and David Wengrow*

In particular, their theory of "play farming", that many societies around the world experimented with going in and out of agricultural societies, is relevant.

This site is not actionable for me. No purchase, read, download or anything.

The date range given for the discovery (1500–1100 BCE) is fairly late, coming after the Old Babylonian era (1900-1600). Probably by around the time of the first extant writing (3200 - 3000) from Sumer, there were trade networks importing carnelian, lapis lazuli, and other materials not found in the region.

I don't think the interest here is the implication of developed trade networks at that time, but rather that the millet was found at all and what that says about the agricultural practices. For thousands of years, people wrote on clay tables with styli made from reeds, yet we've never actually found such a stylus or know precisely how they were made.

Regional and wider exchange networks had existed in that region for several thousand years before millet is now believed to have been cultivated. The transformational nature of this discovery has more to do with our understanding of farming practices. As stated in the article, this site precedes the earliest known site where millet was presumably cultivated in that region by 500-1000 years.

If you read the publication linked there is a lot of textual evidence for millet production that goes back into the 3rd millenium B.C.E. The transformation here has largely to do with new methods of discovering what crops were grown where, and a shift in our understanding.

Meaning, the grain could have been imported?

None of those words (bullhide, copper, and ingot) even appear in the article. What do they have to with growing millet in the Sumerian summers?