以甘肃省秦安县和礼县考古遗址中发现的粟和黍为研究对象,对其进行了碳同位素的测定,并开展了碳同位素和形态学鉴定方法的检验。结果表明,粟和黍的碳同位素值是不同的,即使是炭化的考古样品,粟和黍的碳同位素值仍然是有差别的,粟较黍的碳同位素值总体偏正。这一方法可以比较简便地检验形态学鉴定的结果是否正确。如果能够建立不同地区不同时段粟和黍的碳同位素值数据库,将会为粟和黍的鉴别提供依据。
Origin of agriculture researches in the world show that Northern China is the only one where agriculture did not seem to unfold,in situ, from local hunter-gatherers in ten instances known worldwide in which agriculture evolved independently. And foxtail millet (Setaria italica)and common millet (or broomcorn millet; Panicum miliaceum) were staple foods in the semiarid regions of prehistoric China before the popularity of rice and wheat, and even today are still important foods there. However, archaeobotanical remains of foxtail millet and common millet are difficult to distinguish mainly because of their very small sizes and very similar shapes. Here we try to discriminate foxtail millet and common millet by using δ^13C values as indicator. There are three kinds of C4 plants based on photosynthesis: PEP-CK type; NADP-ME type, which includes foxtail millet; NAD-ME type, which includes common millet. Other studies show that different types of C4 plants have different δ^13C values. The charred botanical samples studied were collected from archaeological sites,Qin'an County and Li County, Gansu Province. They were identified as foxtail millet and common millet in terms of morphology. Using a Dleta Plus produced by Finigan, δ^13C of each sample were analyzed of 12 couples of foxtail millet and common millet from Qin'an and 14 couples from Li. For Qin'an County's samples,the δ^13C values of foxtail millet are - 11.36%0 - -9.78‰, averaging - 10.39‰ and the δ^13C values of common millet are - 11.85‰ - - 10.02‰, averaging - 10. 87‰, while for Li County's samples,the δ^13C values of foxtail millet are -11.76%0 - -9.59%0, averaging -10.46‰ and the δ^13C values of common millet are - 11.93‰ - - 10.49‰, averaging - 11.26‰. As a whole, the δ^13C of charred foxtail millet trends more toward the positive than the δ^13C of charred common millet does. This trend may be used to test if the morphological distinguishing between foxtail millet and common millet is correct. If a database