Ancient nomads spread earliest domestic grains along Silk Road, study finds
Tuesday, April 1, 2014 - 19:10
in Earth & Climate
Charred grains of barley, millet and wheat deposited nearly 5,000 years ago at campsites in the high plains of Kazakhstan show that nomadic sheepherders played a surprisingly important role in the early spread of domesticated crops throughout a mountainous east-west corridor along the historic Silk Road, suggests new research from Washington University in St. Louis.