Charred millet-based food remains from the Dacian settlement of Șimleu Silvaniei-Cetate (Romania): evidence for wet-prepared cereal consumption in the Late Iron Age

Charred food remains provide rare direct evidence for ancient culinary practices beyond the identification of cultivated or stored plants. In pre-Roman Dacia, such finds remain exceptionally uncommon, while most archaeobotanical studies focus primarily on isolated grains and storage deposits rather than processed food residues. This study analyses two compact charred cereal-rich aggregates recovered from the Dacian settlement of Șimleu Silvaniei-Cetate (north-western Romania), dated between the 1st century bc and the 1st century ad . The material was investigated through digital microscopy (Keyence VHX-700), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), comparative archaeobotanical analysis, and AMS radiocarbon dating of associated botanical remains. Both aggregates display dense and homogeneous carbonised matrices rich in small panicoid cereal caryopses associated with preserved lemma and palea fragments. The absence of crust-core differentiation, large vesicular pores, laminated baking surfaces, and extensive air voids excludes typical bread-like morphology and is instead consistent with wet-prepared cereal food. The analysed material is dominated by small millet-type cereals belonging to the Setaria/Panicum group. Sample 9 derives from the same domestic context as AMS-dated charred Vicia faba seeds, providing a robust chronological framework for interpretation. Although recent experimental studies demonstrate that compact millet aggregates may occasionally form through non-culinary charring processes, the combined evidence of archaeological context, botanical composition, and microstructural organisation is consistent with interpretation as processed cereal food remains. The study provides rare direct evidence for millet-based cereal processing in the Late Iron Age Dacian environment and offers a documented reference point for future comparative and experimental research on archaeological food aggregates.