MicroCT Analysis Reveals Beginning of Rice Domestication in the Lower Yangtze Valley during the Tenth Millennium BP

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Advances in Macrobotanical and Microbotanical Archaeobotany Part 1" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Lower Yangtze valley is widely recognized as the earliest center of rice agriculture. The process of rice domestication, based on the morphology of spikelet bases, has been traced to between 9000 and 5000 BP. However, the domestication status of rice before 9000 BP remains a subject of debate due to the near absence of macrobotanical remains in the region. This research aims to address this gap by investigating rice impressions and inclusions found in ceramic sherds from the early Shangshan site (ca. 12,711–8538 cal BP). Utilizing quantitative microCT analysis, this study examined 184 impressions of Oryza sp. spikelet bases from ceramic sherds, generating the most extensive database of rice remains dating to the early Shangshan phase. The results present evidence for the early onset of the rice domestication process during the tenth millennium BP, supported by the presence of 12% non-shattering-type spikelet bases. This study represents a pioneering use of microCT quantitative analysis of ceramic sherds with early plant impressions.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Advances in Macrobotanical and Microbotanical Archaeobotany Part 1   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39090.0