Rare finds of Southwest Asian cereals primarily derived from funerary contexts in Upper Nubia and Central Sudan continue to generate discussions concerning the configuration of Neolithic economies and whether local agricultural production formed part of initial responses to climate change. However, the context of these finds and lack of large-scale integrated studies presents a major barrier to understanding diachronic changes in plant use and dietary breadth. This paper presents recent findings from analyses of human dental calculus and dietary isotopes from Kadruka 1 and Kadruka 21 that contextualise domesticated cereals previously reported in associated graves. In line with emerging trends highlighting subsistence flexibility and the variable use of domesticates by early food producers, these results necessitate a reconsideration of the economic significance of early funerary evidence in the Middle Nile region and the timing of agricultural transmissions.