Dating rice remains through phytolith carbon-14 study reveals domestication at the beginning of the Holocene

Abstract

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.

High-resolution Introgressive Region Map Reveals Spatiotemporal Genome Evolution in Asian Rice Domestication

“…5) . This is consistent with the Asian rice domestication timeline: It was initially domesticated in the early Holocene period 5,36 and has been maintained for at least about 2,000 years 32,33 .…”

“…Archeological evidence indicates that Asian rice was first domesticated in the early Holocene period ca. 9000 5,36 , but Asian rice domestication and its origin is still a matter of ongoing debate in both archeological and genetic research areas 5-20 . Plant scientists have expected that the availability of whole-genome sequences of domesticated Asian rice, its wild relatives, and ancient rice 37 , would provide a resolution to this long-standing debate, yet the controversy is ongoing, because the genetic structure of rice genomes turned out to be more complex than expected.…”

The origins of specialized pottery and diverse alcohol fermentation techniques in Early Neolithic China

“…The domestication processes of millet and rice probably initiated in the Yellow River and Yangzi River valleys, respectively, around 10000 cal. BP (53,54), predating the first appearance of globular jars. In north China, domesticated millets, both broomcorn and foxtail, became widespread by 8000 cal.…”

When the carbon being dated is not what you think it is: Insights from phytolith carbon research

“…Although the measured phytolith age was over 10,000 years older than the expected age, this article has been frequently cited as a proof-ofconcept of the reliability of phytC 14 C dating (e.g. Kelly et al, 1991;Sullivan et al, 2008;Sullivan and Parr, 2013;Carter, 2009;Piperno, 2006Piperno, , 2016aZuo et al, 2017). In an attempt to reconstruct the American Great Plains paleo-vegetation, Kelly et al (1991) measured d 13 C and 14 C in fossil phytoliths.…”