The emergence, development and regional differences of mixed farming of rice and millet in the upper and middle Huai River Valley, China

Abstract

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.

Osteobiography of a seventh-century potter at the Oupan kiln, China by osteological and multi-isotope approach

“…Since the Neolithic period (~8000–4000BP), the millet and rice mixed agriculture had formed in the Huanghuai Plain 63,64 . According to ancient Chinese historical documents, such as Sishizuanyao (四時纂要) 65 and Xintangshu (新唐書·食貨志) 66 , the agriculture in Huanghuai Plain during early Tang Dynasty included cultivation of millets (a C 4 crop), wheats (a C 3 crop), and rice (a C 3 crop), but varied to some extents in the north and in the south 67–70 .…”

Evolution of human–environmental interactions in China from the Late Paleolithic to the Bronze Age

“…In northwest China, in different phases of the Majiayao culture, humans adapted subsistence strategies to climate change between 5300 and 4000 BP (Dong et al, 2013b). This also occurred in Neolithic Guanzhong basin in middle Yellow River valley and upper-mid Huai river valley (Qu et al, 2017;Yang et al, 2016). In the lower Yangtse River delta, humans developed a fire-irrigation paddy cultivation system to facilitate rice cultivation and thus guaranteed food production in the Neolithic period (Hu et al, 2013).…”

An investigation into the strategy of pig husbandry combining zooarchaeological and stable isotopic approaches at Neolithic Houjiazhai, China

“…On the contrary, hunting and fishing activities were constantly active throughout the Neolithic period. By the late Neolithic Age, millet remains were sporadically discovered suggesting the onset of mixed farming along the middle and lower Huai River Vallyes (Yang et al, ). Nevertheless, millet cultivation was not widely practiced in this region until the late Dawenkou Cultural period (Cheng, ; Cheng, Yang, Yuan, et al, ; Yin, ; Zhao, ), and it was linked to a long term of flood events (Cheng, ; Huang et al, ).…”

“…As a geographical and cultural transitional zone between the north and the south of China, the Huai River Valley has attracted a great deal of attention from archaeological researchers on issues relating to Neolithic subsistence strategies, including crop cultivation and livestock husbandry. According to the archaeobotanical evidence including macrobotanical, phytolith, and starch grains, the agricultural pattern along the Huai River Valley transitioned from one focused on rice to combined rice and millet during the middle Neolithic Age (Figure ; Wang & Xu, ; Yan, : 148–174; Yang et al, ).…”