Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Fire and flood management of coastal swamp enabled first rice paddy cultivation in east China

Nature volume 449, pages 459–462 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

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 farmers1. In the Lower Yangtze region of China, a centre of rice domestication2, 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.

Access through your institution
Buy or subscribe

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Access through your institution

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Location of the Kuahuqiao site, and others, in the lower Yangtze region.
Figure 2: Integrated palaeoecological data from Kuahuqiao.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Lu, T. L. D. The Transition from Foraging to Farming and the Origin of Agriculture in China (British Archaeological Reports International Series 774, John & Erica Hedges, Oxford, 1999)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Londo, J. P., Chiang, Y.-C., Hung, K.-H., Chiang, T.-Y. & Schaal, B. A. Phylogeography of Asian wild rice, Oryza rufipogon, reveals multiple independent domestications of cultivated rice, Oryza sativa. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 103, 9578–9583 (2006)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Zhao, Z. J. & Piperno, D. R. Late Pleistocene/Holocene environments in the middle Yangtze River valley, China and rice (Oryza sativa L.) domestication: the phytolith evidence. Geoarchaeology 15, 203–222 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Lu, H. et al. Rice domestication and climatic change: phytolith evidence from East China. Boreas 31, 378–385 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Higham, C. F. W. & Lu, T. The origins and dispersal of rice cultivation. Antiquity 72, 867–877 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Zhao, Z., Pearsall, D. M. & Jiang, Q. H. in Origins of Rice Agriculture (eds MacNeish, R. S. & Libby, J. G.) 47–52 (Univ. Texas Press, El Paso, 1995)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Wang, Y. et al. The Holocene Asian monsoon: links to solar changes and North Atlantic climate. Science 308, 854–857 (2005)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Zhao, Z. The middle Yangtze region in China is one place where rice was domesticated: phytolith evidence from the Diaotonghuan cave, northern Jiangxi. Antiquity 72, 885–897 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Crawford, G. W. & Shen, C. The origins of rice agriculture: recent progress in East Asia. Antiquity 72, 858–866 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Jiang, L. Kuahuqiao (Wenwu Press, Beijing, 2004)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Jiang, L. & Liu, L. The discovery of an 8000-year-old dugout canoe at Kuahuqiao in the Lower Yangtze River, China. Antiquity 79, Project Gallery 305 〈http://antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/liu/index.html〉 (2005)

  12. Zheng, Y., Jiang, L.-P. & Zheng, J.-M. Study on the remains of ancient rice from Kuahuqiao site in Zhejiang province. Chin. J. Rice Sci. 18, 119–124 (2004)

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  13. Zong, Y. Mid-Holocene sea-level highstand along the southeast coast of China. Quat. Int. 117, 55–67 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Glover, I. C. & Higham, C. F. W. in The Origin and Spread of Agriculture and Pastoralism in Eurasia (ed. Harris, D. R.) 413–441 (UCL Press, London, 1996)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Tang, S., Sato, Y. I. & Yu, W. Discovery of wild rice grains (O. rufipogon) in the Hemudu ancient carbonized rice. Agric. Archaeol. 3, 88–122 (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Jiang, Q. Searching for evidence of early rice agriculture at prehistoric sites in China through phytolith analysis: an example from central China. Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 89, 481–485 (1995)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Huang, F. & Zhang, M. Pollen and phytolith evidence for rice cultivation during the Neolithic at Longqiuzhuang, eastern Jianghuai, China. Veg. Hist. Archaeobot. 9, 161–168 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Bird, M. I. et al. An inflection in the rate of early mid-Holocene eustatic sea-level rise: a new sea-level curve from Singapore. Estuar. Coast. Shelf Sci. 71, 523–536 (2007)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  19. Chen, Z., Wang, Z., Schneiderman, J., Tao, J. & Cai, Y. Holocene climate fluctuations in the Yangtze delta of eastern China and the Neolithic response. Holocene 15, 917–926 (2005)

    ADS  Google Scholar 

  20. Pike, A. W. Recovery of helminth eggs from archaeological excavations, and their possible usefulness in providing evidence for the purpose of an occupation. Nature 219, 303–304 (1968)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. van Geel, B. & Aptroot, A. Fossil ascomycetes in Quaternary deposits. Nova Hedwigia 82, 313–320 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Mesleard, F. J., Lepart, J., Grillas, P. & Mauchamp, A. Effects of seasonal flooding and grazing on the vegetation of former rice fields in the Rhone delta (Southern France). Plant Ecol. 145, 101–114 (1999)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Graf, M.-T. & Chmura, G. L. Development of modern analogues for natural, mowed and grazed grasslands using pollen assemblages and coprophilous fungi. Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. 141, 139–149 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Morton, J. F. Cattails (Typha spp.)—weed problem or potential crop? Econ. Bot. 29, 7–29 (1975)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Jiang, L. Hemudu—A Neolithic Site and its Archaeological Excavations (Wenwu Press, Beijing, 2003)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Zhao, S. & Wu, W.-T. Early Neolithic Hemudu culture along the Hangzhou estuary and the origin of domestic paddy rice in China. Asian Perspect. 27, 29–34 (1988)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Jiang, L. & Liu, L. New evidence for the origins of sedentism and rice domestication in the Lower Yangtze River, China. Antiquity 80, 355–361 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Fuller, D. Q., Harvey, E. & Qin, L. Presumed domestication? Evidence for wild rice cultivation and domestication in the fifth millennium BC of the Lower Yangtze region. Antiquity 81, 316–331 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Pei, A. Notes on new advancements and revelations in the agricultural archaeology of early rice domestication in the Dongting Lake region. Antiquity 72, 878–885 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Jarvis, D. Pollen evidence of changing Holocene monsoon climate in Sichuan province, China. Quat. Res. 39, 325–337 (1993)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Moore, P. D., Webb, J. & Collinson, M. Pollen Analysis (Blackwell, Oxford, 1991)

    Google Scholar 

  32. Clarke, C. M. In Aspects of Archaeological Palynology: Methodology and Applications (eds Davis, O. K. & Overs, J.) 53–62 (AASP Contributions Series 29, 1994)

    Google Scholar 

  33. Innes, J. B. & Simmons, I. G. Mid Holocene charcoal stratigraphy, fire history and palaeoecology at North Gill, North York Moors, UK. Palaeogeog. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol. 164, 151–165 (2000)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  34. Vos, P. C. & de Wolf, H. Diatoms as a tool for reconstructing sedimentary environments in coastal wetlands: methodological aspects. Hydrobiologia 269/270, 285–296 (1993)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Stuiver, M., Reimer, P. J. & Braziunas, T. F. High-resolution radiocarbon age calibration for terrestrial and marine samples. Radiocarbon 40, 215–230 (1998)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research is funded by the Leverhulme Trust (to Y.Z.) and assisted by a visiting professorship by the East China Normal University, Shanghai, China (to Y.Z.).

Author Contributions Y.Z., Z.C. and C.C. worked on the project design. Z.C., C.C., Z.W. and H.W. helped with fieldwork and sample collection. Z.C. provided the radiocarbon dates. J.B.I. and Y.Z. analysed the microfossil data. Y.Z., Z.C. and J.B.I. wrote the paper. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geography Department, Durham University, Durham DH1 3LE, UK

    Y. Zong & J. B. Innes

  2. Institute for Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China

    Z. Chen & Z. Wang

  3. Department of Cultural Heritage, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China

    C. Chen

  4. Department of Geography, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China

    H. Wang

Authors
  1. Y. Zong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  2. Z. Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  3. J. B. Innes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  4. C. Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  5. Z. Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  6. H. Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Y. Zong or J. B. Innes.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

Reprints and permissions information is available at www.nature.com/reprints. The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Zong, Y., Chen, Z., Innes, J. et al. Fire and flood management of coastal swamp enabled first rice paddy cultivation in east China. Nature 449, 459–462 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06135

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature06135

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing
pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy