Kris’s Archaeology Blog at About.com has a short post summarizing recent work which suggests that there may have been a gap of a millennium between domestication of, and dependence on, broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) in China — and similar gaps for a number of other crops in different centres of origin.
What this is telling us, is that hunter-gatherers took the initial steps towards farming many generations before their descendants became dependent on domestic crops. Interesting, don’t you think?
Indeed.