The lower Yangtze River valley has widely been regarded as centres of rice domestication, tracing back to 10,000 cal a BP or even earlier in the late Pleistocene. Despite recent advances in both evidence of genetics and archaeology had shed light on the process of rice domestication, including its initiation, acceleration, and completion, the spatial pattern and intra-regional differences of rice domestication in the lower Yangtze River remain unclear. Here, rice bulliform phytoliths were selected as a proxy of the domestication trait and applied to Jingtoushan, Hemudu, Yushan and Xiawangdu sites, ranging from 8000 to 5000 cal a BP in the Ningshao Plain, along with accumulated phytolith data in the Jinqu Basin and Taihu Plain. Rice domestication in the lower Yangtze River exhibited a geographic mosaic pattern rather than the presumed synchronous process among different regions. Rice domestication was initiated during the Shangshan culture (10–8.5 cal ka BP) in the Jinqu Basin and increased rapidly, which reached even higher level than the subsequent Jingtoushan culture (8.3–7.8 cal ka BP) in the Ningshao Plain. During the middle Holocene, rice domestication in the Taihu Plain was generally higher than that in the contemporaneous Ningshao Plain which may finish hundreds of years later. In contrast to the accomplishment of rice domestication around 6000 cal a BP in the Taihu Plain, the delayed process of rice domestication in the Ningshao Plain may result from frequent marine inundation induced by sea-level fluctuation during the Jingtoushan and Hemudu cultures (7–5 cal ka BP).

Coastal regions play a significant role in human migration, population growth, and social interactions. However, the transition of subsistence strategies from foraging to farming at the onset of the Neolithic Age in such regions remains obscure. Here, we analysed microfossil data of phytoliths and diatoms and morphological and morphometric data of rice bulliform phytoliths at the Jingtoushan site in the lower Yangtze River to investigate the relationship between rice cultivation and marine exploitation during the early Holocene. Our research showed a delayed rice domestication process at the Jingtoushan site owing to environmental and social factors induced by sea level rise; this remained in the initial stages of domestication. Contrary to the previous notion that the shell middens of southern coastal China merely relied on marine adaptation without evidence of rice farming, our research suggests that rice cultivation was integrated into marine adaptation at the Jingtoushan site around 8000 cal. BP and subsequently dispersed to southeast China around 5000 cal. BP. Thus, the Jingtoushan site may not only serve as an ancestor of the Hemudu culture but also as a precursor to the Neolithic expansion of maritime Austronesian.

Extensive fires pose catastrophic threats to both human and natural ecosystems. Understanding the history of fire, particularly Holocene palaeofire activity in densely populated areas, is essential for predicting future fire risks and developing effective fire management policies. The complexity of fire activity is influenced by various factors, including climate and anthropogenic activities. In this study, we analysed microcharcoal from the top 35.36 m of a well‐dated sediment core HMD1401 in Ningshao Plain, eastern China. We combined our findings with phytolith and diatom evidence to obtain a comprehensive understanding of variations in Holocene fire activity and its controls. The results showed that there was higher fire activity during the early and late Holocene and less fire activity during the mid‐Holocene. More frequent fire occurred from c. 10 000–7000 cal. a BP and was primarily caused by abundant biomass and high seasonal flammability due to increased annual temperature and precipitation and warm but dry winter climate. Fire occurrences between c. 7000–2000 cal. a BP remained at a low level, except for the periods c. 5900–5600 cal. a BP and c. 5300 cal. a BP, which may have been caused by extreme climate events. The impact of fire caused by human activity was significantly enhanced during the last two millennia.

Maritime adaptation plays a significant role in the dispersal of modern humans and the transition of subsistence strategies. The real timing of the worldwide intensification of maritime adaptation has been debated mainly because of the presumed inundation of archaeological sites (prior to 7000 cal yr BP) by early Holocene sea-level rise. In this study, we present a coastal shell midden submerged -8 m below the present sea level at the Jingtoushan site, containing robust evidence of the earliest Neolithic occupation and maritime adaptation on the West Pacific. Bayesian modelling of 15 14C dates, cultural deposits, and microfossils (pollen, phytolith, and diatom) indicated that the Jingtoushan site was an anthropogenic deposit originally accumulated on the coastline during the stable sea-level period (8000-7600 cal yr BP) and subsequently submerged by sea-level jumps. In addition to being largely dependent on marine food resources, humans also utilised the stable sealevel window of meltwater pulses and began rice cultivation. This study not only pushed back the timing of maritime adaptation to 8000 cal yr BP but also provides promise for future investigations of coastal underwater settlements, shedding new light on the understanding of the West Pacific coastal environment and cultural succession.

Millet agriculture, i.e., broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) and foxtail millet (Setaria italica), initially originated in northern China and provided the basis for the emergence of the first state in the Central Plains. However, owing to the lack of a comprehensive archaeobotanical dataset, when, where, and how these two millet types evolved across different regions and periods remains unclear. Here, we presented a dataset of archaeobotanical macroremains (n=538) spanning the Neolithic and Bronze ages in northern China and suggested a significant spatiotemporal divergence of millet agriculture in the subhumid mid-lower Yellow River (MLY) and semiarid agro-pastoral ecotone (APE). The key timing of the diffusion and transition of millet agriculture occurred around 6000 cal. a BP, coinciding with the Holocene Optimum (8000–6000 cal. a BP) and Miaodigou Age (6200–5500 cal. a BP). It spread westward and northward from the MLY to APE and underwent a dramatic transition from low-yield broomcorn millet to high-yield foxtail millet. The combined influence of warm-wet climate, population pressure, and field management may have promoted the intensification, diffusion, and transition of millet agriculture around 6000 cal. a BP. Thereafter, the cropping patterns in the MLY were predominated by foxtail millet (∼ 80 %), while those in APE focused on both foxtail (∼ 60 %) and broomcorn millet under a persistent drying trend since the mid-Holocene. This study provided the first quantitative spatiotemporal cropping patterns during the Neolithic and Bronze ages in northern China, which can be used for evaluating prehistoric human subsistence, discussing past human–environment interaction, and providing a valuable perspective of agricultural sustainability for the future. The dataset is publicly available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6669730 (He et al., 2022).

The origin and subsequent development of rice agriculture enabled humans to transition from hunter-gatherers to farmers, thereby profoundly changing human society. However, less attention is focused on when and how rice cultivation practices began to alter the landscape. In this study, sediment from the reservoir inside the Mifenglong dam, Liangzhu hydraulic system was sampled. Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating results revealed that the duration of the Mifenglong reservoir ranged from 4900 cal BP to 1500 cal BP. The results showed that between 2500 cal BP and 1500 cal BP, intensive rice farming practices transformed the surrounding vegetation and landscapes through deforestation and changes in herbaceous plant structure. This study provides an insight into the impact of human activities and how they influenced the environment on a local scale, as well as contributing to a deeper understanding of the relationships between agricultural development and landscape changes.

The response of population and agriculture to abrupt climate events remains a matter of heated debates, especially the societal collapses related to the 4.2 ka event. Long-term interaction between regional demography and millet-rice agriculture in China provide a unique opportunity to study this issue. Here using a newly database of radiocarbon dates and archaeobotanical data spanning the Neolithic-Bronze Age from different regions in China, we address the response and resilience of demography and agri-culture to the 4.2 ka event. Regional populations show an antipodal pattern of boom in north and northwest (NW) and bust in south and southeast (SE) China during 4300-3500 cal a BP. This pattern coincided with the prosperity and breakdown of millet and rice agricultures contemporaneously, respectively. Our study reveals that drought-induced enlargement of farmland and trans-Eurasian cul-tural exchange promoted the sustainability of millet agriculture and population in NW China, and combined effects of cooling and flooding events and social crises caused a decline in rice agriculture and population in SE China. The diverse response and resilience of human societies to the 4.2 ka event has been attributed to both climatic anomalies and cultural exchange across different regions. In sum, the complex societies with high stratification and hierarchies were more vulnerable to abrupt climate events than low stratified societies open to exchanges during the middle to late Holocene.(c) 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Human activity has transformed the Earth’s landscapes pervasively for thousands of years, and the most important anthropogenic alteration was the clearing of forests and the establishment of agriculture. As a center of rice domestication and early population growth, the lower Yangtze River has been extensively transformed in the Holocene. However, the timing, extent, and process of deforestation and its relationship with the intensification of rice cultivation remain controversial. Here, four representative archaeological sites ranging from 8,100 to 4,300 cal a BP, that is, Jingtoushan, Hemudu, Yushan, and Xiawangdu sites, were selected for detailed palynological analysis, and evidence of anthropogenic deforestation and subsistence strategy were also synthesized to investigate dynamic human–forest interaction. Although natural vegetation had already been altered at the Jingtoushan site around 8,000 cal a BP, it was more likely to be the management of acorns by limiting burning to open habitats and increasing yield. As the subsistence shifted from acorn exploitation toward rice cultivation after 6,000 cal a BP, real deforestation for agriculture may occur at the Yushan and Xiawangdu sites due to conflict on labor input and land use. However, these deforestations were just confined to the archaeological sites at local scale, and no consistent vegetation change occurred at regional scales induced by human activities until the last 3,000 years.

Legumes and cereals, which provide different nutrients, are cultivated as coupled crops in most centers of plant domestication worldwide. However, as the only legume domesticated in China, the spatio-temporal distribution of soybeans and its status in the millet- and rice-based agricultural system of the Neolithic and Bronze Ages remains elusive. Here, archaeobotanical evidence of soybeans (n=254), millet (n=462), rice (n=482), and zooarchaeological evidence of fish (n=138) were synthesized to elucidate the phenomenon of coupled or decoupled cereals and legumes in prehistoric China. During the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, soybeans was mostly confined to northern China and rarely found in southern China, serving as a companion to millet. In contrast, fish remains have been widely found in southern China, indicating a continuous reliance on fish as a staple food besides rice. Thus, an antipodal pattern of millet-soybeans and rice-fish agricultural systems may have been established in northern and southern China since the late Yangshao period (6000-5000 cal BP) respectively. These two agricultural systems were not only complementary in terms of diet, but they also exhibited positive interactions and feedback in the coculture system. Consequently, these two systems enabled the sustainable intensification of agriculture and served as the basis for the emergence of complex societies and early states in the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers.

How various peoples crossed geographical barriers,were affected by climate change and human-made technologies comprise some of the most interesting quandaries in the history of cultures.This paper con-siders the Hu line,which is a major boundary between population centres and different environments in China.The boundary became evident approximately 11,400 years ago;however,evidence suggests that people crossed through at 5200,3800,and 2800 cal a BP,facilitating the increases of the trans-Eurasian exchange.The timings of the crossings correspond to the weakening of the East Asian summer monsoon that triggers seesaw changes of precipitation in western and eastern China.This analysis demonstrates that climate change on a millennial-to-centennial scale can have a profound influence on population dis-tribution with long-term consequences.

Dataset of archaeobotanical macroremains includes a total of 538 flotation results from 381 sites with millets excavated during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages in northern China. Two steps of screening have been applied to eliminate inapplicable sites. The dataset only consisted of staple crops according to traditional Chinese agriculture: foxtail millet (Setaria italica), broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum), rice (Oryza sativa), wheat and barley (Triticum aestivum and Hordeum vulgare), and soybean (Glycine max). Informations of absolute counts and weights of staple crops, percentage of counts and weights for each site together with their locations and ages were assembled.

The Liangzhu Culture (5300–4300 cal. a BP) has been regarded as the culmination of the Neolithic Age in the Yangtze Delta and as an archaic state. However, the reason behind the collapse of the Liangzhu Culture remains controversial. Some scholars attributed it to social conflicts or foreign invasions, while others suggested that environmental deterioration, such as cold episodes, inundation and palaeo-typhoon events, disrupted the civilization. Notably, the yellowish silty sediments widely overlying the Liangzhu group sites have been presumed to be one of the vital clues to resolving these issues. The process and cause of their formation are key to understanding the decline in the Liangzhu Culture. In this study, two typical profiles composed of the Liangzhu cultural layer and yellowish silty sediments were collected in Liangzhu Ancient City. Multiple proxies, including pollen, phytoliths and diatoms, along with radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence dating and synthesized geochemical evidence from different sediments, were applied to reconstruct ecological and hydrological changes and discuss their linkage to cultural collapse. The regional ecology was typical freshwater wetlands during 4800–4400 cal. a BP, which facilitated rice farming and large-scale architectural engineering in Liangzhu Ancient City. Evidence from microfossils and dating of the yellowish silty sediments indicated that Liangzhu Ancient City was significantly affected by seawater after abandonment during 4300–3400 cal. a BP. Furthermore, geochemical evidence, including trace element and Sr-Nd isotopic compositions, suggested that the primary provenance of the yellowish silt was a mixture of sediments from the Qiantang River, East China Sea, Yangtze River and Yellow River, which had been transported to Liangzhu Ancient City by the Yellow Sea Coastal Current and a marine transgression. Therefore, based on evidence from archaeological sites and numerical simulation in the Yangtze Delta, it was supposed that the short-term accelerated relative sea-level rise at approximately 4400 cal. a BP caused a marine transgression around Taihu Lake, formed a large range of yellowish silty sediments, destroyed rice farming production, and ultimately led to the collapse of the Liangzhu Culture.

良渚文化(5300～4300cal a BP)是长江三角洲地区新石器文化发展的巅峰,其社会发展水平已进入古国文明时期.然而,对于良渚文化衰亡的原因,目前仍然存有较大争议.部分学者将其归因于社会矛盾或外族入侵,但也有观点认为是寒冷、洪水或台风等极端环境恶化事件造成了文明的间断.解决这些争议的重要线索之一,就在于广泛叠压在良渚遗址文化层上的黄色粉砂土沉积,有关其形成的过程和原因,是深入理解良渚文化衰亡原因的关键.本研究选择了良渚古城遗址内包含良渚文化层和黄色粉砂土沉积的两处典型剖面,通过碳十四、光释光测年和孢粉、植硅体及硅藻等微体化石分析,结合不同沉积物地球化学证据,重建区域生态环境和人类活动演变过程,并讨论其与良渚文化衰亡的联系.研究显示,区域生态环境在4800～4400cal a BP期间为典型的淡水湿地,促进了稻作农业的发展和良渚古城大规模工程建设.黄色粉砂土沉积的测年和微体化石证据显示,良渚古城遗址在废弃后的4300～3400cal a BP期间受到海水的显著影响.微量元素和Sr-Nd同位素的证据进一步揭示,黄色粉砂土的物源可能是来自钱塘江、东海、长江和黄河的沉积混合物,经由黄海沿岸流和海水入侵搬运到良渚古城遗址.综合长江三角洲地区考古遗址和数值模拟结果,推测约4400cal a BP相对海平面短期快速上升造成环太湖地区海水入侵,形成大范围黄色粉砂土沉积,破坏了稻作农业生产,最终导致了良渚文化的衰亡.

Wetlands were important resources for the hunting–gathering and early farming communities in coastal areas in the Neolithic. However, the relationship between the development of the wetland environment and the human population remains unclear due to the lack of successive wetland environmental changes throughout the Holocene in coastal areas. Here, the summed probability distributions (SPD) of radiocarbon dates of peat were used as an indicator and combined with archaeological radiocarbon dates to reconstruct the wetland environmental and demographic changes during the Neolithic in the lower Yangtze region. The results showed that the shifts in demographic centers and population development were related to wetland environment with peat formation. The first shift of the demographic center was from the hilly regions to the coastal plain and occurred during ca. 8,300–8,000 cal yr BP, which might be caused by the attractiveness of survival resources offered by the coastal wetland environment and the 8.2 ka event. The second shift occurred from the Ningshao Plain to the Taihu region and might be attributed to the widespread waterlogged environment in the Ningshao Plain. The peak of demographic development coincided with the peak of peat formation during the middle Holocene in the lower Yangtze region, indicating that the wetland environment facilitated changes in human societies. The formation of peat might be related to the sea-level and El Niño-Southern Oscillation events; however, further studies are required for deep comprehension. The present study is an attempt at identifying the past impacts of the wetland environment on demographic development and can form the basis for a more comprehensive understanding of the interactions between the humans and their living environment.

Understanding the process of domestication and its relationship with environmental changes is fundamental to rice domestication research. The lower Yangtze region in China, with varied coastal environments and a flourishing Neolithic culture, was one of the major rice domestication centers in Asia. Here we present the results of 348 phytolith and 87 diatom samples from a 43.88-m-long core HMD1401 in the Ningshao Plain, southern part of the lower Yangtze. The results show that the study site was in a marine condition during the interval of -10,000?7000 cal. yr BP. Marine regressed after -7000 cal. yr BP, with occasional influences by sea water and flood. Rice was being domesticated in the Ningshao Plain at -9600 cal. yr BP, and rice domestication experienced a protracted process that lasted for over 3500 years. The influence of marine condition might contribute to the prolonging of rice domestication. Relatively stable terrestrial condition and intensive human activities promoted rice domestication in the Ningshao Plain. The results provide an improved understanding of the interrelations between early rice domestication and Holocene environmental changes in East Asia. Understanding the process of domestication and its relationship with environmental changes is fundamental to rice domestication research. The lower Yangtze region in China, with varied coastal environments and a flourishing Neolithic culture, was one of the major rice domestication centers in Asia. Here we present the results of 348 phytolith and 87 diatom samples from a 43.88-m-long core HMD1401 in the Ningshao Plain, southern part of the lower Yangtze. The results show that the study site was in a marine condition during the interval of-10,000?7000 cal. yr BP. Marine regressed after-7000 cal. yr BP, with occasional influences by sea water and flood. Rice was being domesticated in the Ningshao Plain at-9600 cal. yr BP, and rice domestication experienced a protracted process that lasted for over 3500 years. The influence of marine condition might contribute to the prolonging of rice domestication. Relatively stable terrestrial condition and intensive human activities promoted rice domestication in the Ningshao Plain. The results provide an improved understanding of the interrelations between early rice domestication and Holocene environmental changes in East Asia. ? 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Rice is among the world’s most important and ancient domesticated crops. However, the spatial and temporal pattern of the early rice domestication process remains unclear due to the lack of systematic study of wild/domesticated rice remains and corresponding dates during the early Holocene. Here, we collected 248 samples from five typical Shangshan cultural sites in the lower Yangtze region where is the most likely origin place of rice for phytolith analysis. The results showed the following. (1) Rice bulliform phytoliths from the five sites all present domestication traits, suggesting that the rice domestication process had begun across the region by the early stage of the Holocene. (2) The relative domestication rates reflected by the rice bulliform phytoliths were different between sites, the sites with higher domestication rates were distributed closer to the mainstream river. (3) The rice domestication process revealed by bulliform phytoliths can be divided into three periods during the early Holocene: from 10 to 9 ka, rice domestication began and stayed at a low level under 35%; from 9 to 8.5 ka, rice domestication level increased to 50%; and from 8.5 to 8 ka, rice domestication level was in a fluctuating state. (4) By 9 ka BP, rice double-peaked phytoliths from glume cells are present in most of the studied sites, which imply the presence of crop dehusking processing. This study reconstructed the spatial and temporal patterns of rice domestication during the early Holocene, which will improve our knowledge of early crop domestication and enhance our understanding of changes in rice status.

The Middle Holocene period witnessed significant environmental and cultural transitions regarding the deceleration of sea‐level rise and the emergence of early agriculture, which profoundly moulded human–environment interactions in coastal regions. The Hemudu Culture (7000–5000 cal. a BP) is primarily distributed in eastern China coastal plains and marks a milestone in the origin of rice agriculture, and thus serves as an ideal case for examining these dramatic transitions. However, most existing studies have only focused on one particular aspect of the interactions amongst cultural evolution, subsistence strategies and sea‐level fluctuations in the Yaojiang Valley, and comprehensive understanding of cultural responses to Middle Holocene sea‐level fluctuations across the Ningshao Plain remains ambiguous. In this multi‐proxy study, pollen, phytolith and diatom remains from a high‐resolution profile of the Xiawangdu site (Hangzhou Bay, eastern China), along with a systematic collection of archaeological sites and radiocarbon dates for the Hemudu and Liangzhu cultures, were employed to assess human adaptation to the coastal environment. Coinciding with the cultural interruption between 6200 and 5600 cal. a BP, induced by Middle Holocene sea‐level transgression, Hemudu Culture diffused from the Yaojiang Valley northward to the Zhoushan Islands and southward to the Ningbo Plain, e.g. the Xiawangdu site. The regional ecological environment has experienced an evolutionary sequence from marine transgression (6200–5600 cal. a BP), to coastal lagoon (5600–5300 cal. a BP), through to freshwater wetland (5300–4300 cal. a BP). Settlements of pile dwellings and terraces were constructed to adapt to the hydrological transition from coastal lagoon to freshwater wetland around 5300 cal. a BP. In addition, evidence of both rice phytoliths and Poaceae pollen suggests that rice had already been domesticated by 5600 cal. a BP. Thus, the dispersal, settlement and subsistence of Hemudu Culture in the coastal lowlands of eastern China were largely dependent upon sea‐level fluctuations.

Recent increases in archaeobotanical and genetic evidence offer insights into agricultural origins and plant domestication, which suggest a protracted process taking thousands of years that began by 10,000 cal a BP or in the late Pleistocene. Compared to the cereal domestication that was accomplished in the early Holocene in Southwest Asia and Mesoamerica, the reasons for the delay in rice domestication in China until the middle Holocene remain unclear. In the present study, the dynamic influence of environmental change on rice domestication was revealed by evidence from sedimentary facies and phytolith analysis of the high-resolution HMD1602 core from the Hemudu site. Rice phytoliths were recovered from beneath the neritic sediment at this site for the first time, which pushes the history of human activities and the process of rice domestication in the Yaojiang Valley back to 8200-7600 cal a BP. The process of rice domestication at the Hemudu site developed discontinuously with an obvious interruption during 7600-7100 cal a BP, which was significantly influenced by marine transgression and palaeo-typhoon events. Furthermore, synthesis of palaeoenvironmental and archaeobotanical records suggests that rice exploitation and domestication was interrupted three times during 13,000-10000, 7900-7400 and 6400-5600 cal a BP, respectively. The first interruption of rice exploitation was induced by the Younger Dryas, which triggered the onset of cultivation at approximately 10,000 cal a BP in Southwest Asia and China, while the second two interruptions of rice domestication were caused by marine transgressions, which postponed the domestication of only rice. Therefore, the delayed accomplishment of rice domestication until the middle Holocene resulted from an unstable climatic environment and sea-level fluctuations, which ultimately led to the discontinuous process of rice domestication. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The eastern coastal zone of China is densely populated and widely recognized as a center of rice domestication, which has undergone dramatic sea-level fluctuation during the Holocene epoch. Hemudu culture is distributed mainly in the eastern coastal area and was once presumed as a mature agricultural economy based on rice, making it an ideal case for examining the remarkable human-environment interaction in the Lower Yangtze River. Though numerous studies have been conducted on the cultural evolution, ecological environment, and rice domestication of Hemudu culture, the impact of sea-level fluctuation on human settlement and food production remains controversial. In this study, we report high-resolution pollen, phytolith, and diatom records, and accurately measured elevation from the Yushan site, which is the closest site of Hemudu culture to the modern coastline. Based on the data gathered, we suggest that the Hemudu culture and subsequent Liangzhu culture developed in the context of regression and were interrupted by two transgressions that occurred during 6300-5600 BP and 5000-4500 BP. The regional ecological environment of the Yushan site alternated between intertidal mudflat and freshwater wetlands induced by sea-level fluctuations in the mid-late Holocene. Though rice was cultivated in the wetland as early as 6700 BP, this cultivation was subsequently discontinued due to the transgression; thus, full domestication of rice did not occur until 5600 BP in this region. Comprehensive analysis of multiple proxies in this study promote the understanding of the relationship between environmental evolution, cultural interruption, and rice domestication.

Phytolith remains of rice (Oryza sativa L.) recovered from the Shangshan site in the Lower Yangtze of China have previously been recognized as the earliest examples of rice cultivation. However, because of the poor preservation of macroplant fossils, many radiocarbon dates were derived from undifferentiated organic materials in pottery sherds. These materials remain a source of debate because of potential contamination by old carbon. Direct dating of the rice remains might serve to clarify their age. Here, we first validate the reliability of phytolith dating in the study region through a comparison with dates obtained from other material from the same layer or context. Our phytolith data indicate that rice remains retrieved from early stages of the Shangshan and Hehuashan sites have ages of approximately 9,400 and 9,000 calibrated years before the present, respectively. The morphology of rice bulliform phytoliths indicates they are closer to modern domesticated species than to wild species, suggesting that rice domestication may have begun at Shangshan during the beginning of the Holocene.