Abstract
The adaptive economies that allowed ancient people to, not only survive on the arid steppe of northern Central Asia, but also form early polities, elaborate burial practices, and specialized craft production, have attracted the attention of archaeologists for more than a century. Traditionally, these scholars have emphasized the first millennium BC as a key period of cultural change, labeling it the period when highly specialized nomadic pastoralism develop in this part of the world. While specialized nomadism has recently been challenged, it remains difficult to identify further evidence of agriculture at open-air sites because of deflation. We bypass the limitations in the archaeobotanical data by studying grain impressions on ceramic sherds from 24 archaeological sites across southern Kazakhstan, spanning more than two millennia. We identified impressions of hulled barley, naked barley, both broomcorn and foxtail millet, and rice at sites across this steppe belt, allowing us to piece together a more nuanced view of the ancient economy.