RESUMEN
Rice (Oryza sativa) serves as a staple food for more than one-third of the global population. However, its journey from a wild gathered food to domestication remains enigmatic, sparking ongoing debates in the biological and anthropological fields. Here, we present evidence of rice phytoliths sampled from two archaeological sites in China, Shangshan and Hehuashan, near the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. We demonstrate the growth of wild rice at least 100,000 years before present, its initial exploitation as a gathered resource at about 24,000 years before present, its predomestication cultivation at about 13,000 years before present, and eventually its domestication at about 11,000 years before present. These developmental stages illuminate a protracted process of rice domestication in East Asia and extend the continuous records of cereal evolution beyond the Fertile Crescent.
Asunto(s)
Domesticación , Oryza , Arqueología , China , Productos AgrícolasRESUMEN
Alcoholic beverages played an essential role in rituals in ancient societies. Here we report the first evidence for beer drinking in the context of burial ritual in early Holocene southern China. Recent archaeological investigations at Qiaotou (9,000-8,700 cal. BP) have revealed a platform mound containing human burials and high concentrations of painted pottery, encircled by a human-made ditch. By applying microfossil (starch, phytolith, and fungi) residue analysis on the pottery vessels, we found that some of the pots held beer made of rice (Oryza sp.), Job's tears (Coix lacryma-jobi), and USOs. We also discovered the earliest evidence for using mold saccharification-fermentation starter in beer making, predating written records by 8,000 years. The beer at Qiaotou was likely served in rituals to commemorate the burial of the dead. Ritualized drinking probably played an integrative role in maintaining social relationships, paving the way for the rise of complex farming societies four millennia later.