New radiocarbon evidence on early rice consumption and farming in South China. (July 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Yang, Xiaoyan; Wang, Weiwei; Zhuang, Yijie; Li, Zhao; Ma, Zhikun; Ma, Yongchao; Cui, Yong; Wei, Jun; Fuller, Dorian Q
• Is Part Of: Holocene. Volume 27:Number 7(2017)
• Page Start: 1045
• Page End: 1051
• Publication Date: 2017-07
• Subjects: Guangdong -- Guye site -- late-Holocene -- Lingnan Region -- Shixia site -- southward spread of rice farming; Geology, Stratigraphic -- Holocene -- Periodicals; Paleoclimatology -- Periodicals; 333.7
• DOI: 10.1177/0959683616678465
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0959-6836

Abstract

While the possibility of indigenous rice cultivation cannot be entirely ruled out, there is increasing evidence suggesting that rice farming was introduced to South China during the late-Holocene. However, determination of the exact timing of the spread of rice farming to South China is fraught with the lack of reliable radiocarbon dates. In this article, we present 15 new AMS 14 C dates of charred plant remains recovered from late-Holocene sites of Shixia and Guye in Guangdong Province of South China. Our new AMS 14 C dates suggest a later arrival of rice farming in the Pearl River Delta than previously thought. These new AMS 14 C dates will shed new lights to an improved understanding of the environmental background and ecology of the southward spread of rice farming.