The introduction and early utilization of barley and wheat in Gansu and Qinghai provinces, northwest China

Summary

Barley and wheat are now important cultivated crops in northwest China, especially on the Tibetan Plateau, which are suggested to have been firstly domesticated in West Asia before 10000 cal yr BP. When these two crops were firstly introduced to China that locates in the other part of the Eurasia has been widely concerned and intensively discussed in recent years. Gansu and Qinghai Provinces is a key region of the "Ancient Silk Road", where might have included important passages in "Food Globalisation in Prehistory". Based on archaeobotanic study and direct radiocarbon dating of charred barley and wheat seeds, along with stable isotopic evidence from Bronze sites in Gansu-Qinghai Region, we discuss the introduction and early utilization of these crops in the area. Our results suggest barley and wheat were introduced into the area around 4000 cal yr BP, which became important cultivated crops and staple food a few centuries later.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Food Globalisation in Prehistory

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