Seven methods of spatial interpolation were compared to determine their suitability for estimating daily mean wind speed surfaces, from data recorded at nearly 190 locations across England and Wales. The eventual purpose of producing such surfaces is to help estimate the daily spread of pathogens causing crop diseases as they move across regions. The interpolation techniques included four deterministic and three geostatistical methods. Quantitative assessment of the continuous surfaces showed that there was a large difference between the accuracy of the seven interpolation methods and that the geostatistical methods were superior to deterministic methods. Further analyses, testing the reliability of the results, showed that measurement accuracy, density, distribution and spatial variability had a substantial influence on the accuracy of the interpolation methods. Independent wind speed data from ten other dates were used to confirm the robustness of the best interpolation methods.  Crown

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Mixed farming of rice and millet is one of the basic agricultural modes in the upper and middle Huai River Valley (HRV). According to the latest data, this agricultural mode appeared during the middle and late Peiligang Culture (7.8-7.0 ka BP) in the upper HRV, and then became a common subsistence economy in the end of the Neolithic (5.0-4.0 ka BP) in both the upper and middle HRV. However, it is still not clear how this mixed farming developed in the upper HRV after its occurrence, nor are the regional differences in the development of mixed farming between the upper and middle HRV during the Neolithic completely understood. In this paper, flotation and starch analyses were conducted on samples from eight archaeological sites in the upper and middle HRV. The results indicate that the mixed farming of rice and millet first appeared in the later phase of the middle Neolithic in the regions of the Peiligang Culture, then developed quite rapidly in the late Neolithic (6.8-5.0 ka BP), finally becoming the main subsistence economy at the end of the Neolithic in the upper HRV. However, there are obvious differences in the emergence and development of agriculture between the middle and upper HRV. Rice farming was the only agricultural system during the middle Neolithic, lasting until the end of the Neolithic, when mixed farming appeared in the middle HRV. Furthermore, although mixed farming appeared in both the upper and middle HRV during the end of the Neolithic, the roles of rice, foxtail millet and broomcorn millet in the subsistence economy were not the same. In general, millet was more widely cultivated than rice in the upper HRV, but rice occupied the same or a slightly more prominent position in the middle HRV at the end of the Neolithic. These results are significant for understanding the process of agricultural development and transformation, as well as human adaptation to climatic and cultural variability duringthe Neolithic.

The upper-middle Huai River valley (HRV) is located in the transition zone in the middle of eastern China. Previous studies have shown that the past populations in the upper HRV obtained plant food through gathering and cultivation of both rice and millet during the middle Neolithic. However, for the middle HRV it is not very clear what methods were used by humans to obtain plant food in that time. In this paper, starch grain analysis was carried out on 17 stone tools and 29 cauldron pottery sherds unearthed at Shunshanji (8.5-7.0 kyr BP), which is known as the earliest Neolithic site in the middle HRV excavated so far. Here, ancient starches from Coix lacryma-jobi, Triticeae, Oryza sativa, Trichosanthes kirilowii and one unidentified specie were recovered. This study contributes to the limited knowledge of food strategies as observed in the middle HRV. It demonstrates that both gathering and cultivation of rice took place during the middle-Neolithic. Among the identified species, Coix lacryma-jobi appears to have been the main plant food at Shunshanji. Moreover, it is clear that Oryza sativa was not consumed as much as other plant species according to the occurrence frequency of different starch grains. Starch grains were also found on the used surfaces of grinding stone implements as well as pestles, which means that these stone tools were used for food processing. In addition, axes from Shunshanji may also have been used for food processing as well as wood working because starches were also found on the edge of axes. Information about subsistence strategies and tool use at Shunshanji will also be helpful to understanding the utilization of plants and agricultural development in the middle HRV during the early-middle Neolithic period.

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