Zong Y, Chen Z, Innes J B, Chen C, Wang Z, Wang H
Geography Department, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK.
Nature. 2007 Sep 27;449(7161):459-62. doi: 10.1038/nature06135.
The adoption of cereal cultivation was one of the most important cultural processes in history, marking the transition from hunting and gathering by Mesolithic foragers to the food-producing economy of Neolithic farmers. In the Lower Yangtze region of China, a centre of rice domestication, the timing and system of initial rice cultivation remain unclear. Here we report detailed evidence from Kuahuqiao that reveals the precise cultural and environmental context of rice cultivation at this earliest known Neolithic site in eastern China, 7,700 calibrated years before present (cal. yr bp). Pollen, algal, fungal spore and micro-charcoal data from sediments demonstrate that these Neolithic communities selected lowland swamps for their rice cultivation and settlement, using fire to clear alder-dominated wetland scrub and prepare the site for occupation, then to maintain wet grassland vegetation of paddy type. Regular flooding by slightly brackish water was probably controlled by 'bunding' to maintain crop yields. The site's exploitation ceased when it was overwhelmed by marine inundation 7,550 cal. yr bp. Our results establish that rice cultivation began in coastal wetlands of eastern China, an ecosystem vulnerable to coastal change but of high fertility and productivity, attractions maximized for about two centuries by sustained high levels of cultural management of the environment.
谷物种植的采用是历史上最重要的文化进程之一，标志着从中石器时代觅食者的狩猎采集向新石器时代农民的粮食生产经济的转变。在中国长江下游地区，作为水稻驯化中心，水稻最初种植的时间和体系仍不明确。在此，我们报告来自跨湖桥的详细证据，这些证据揭示了中国东部这个已知最早的新石器时代遗址（距今7700年校正年代，cal. yr bp）水稻种植的确切文化和环境背景。沉积物中的花粉、藻类、真菌孢子和微炭数据表明，这些新石器时代社群选择低地沼泽进行水稻种植和定居，用火清除以桤木为主的湿地灌丛并为居住做准备，然后维持稻田类型的湿草地植被。微咸水的定期泛滥可能通过筑堤来控制，以维持作物产量。该遗址在距今7550年校正年代被海水淹没时停止了开发利用。我们的研究结果表明，水稻种植始于中国东部沿海湿地，这是一个易受海岸变化影响但肥力和生产力高的生态系统，通过持续高水平的环境文化管理，其吸引力在大约两个世纪里得到了最大化。
