Rice (Oryza sp.) agriculture sustains vast numbers of people and, despite great advancements made in recent years, questions about its origins and spread throughout Asia remain unanswered. This study uses sedimentary biomarker, stable carbon isotope and palynological analyses to investigate early rice agriculture in the Yangtze delta, a region where rice agriculture emerged at least 7000 years ago. Accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) 14C dating reveals the age of sedimentary section to be between c. 6000 and 1800 cal. BP. Widespread clearing of forest vegetation c. 2400 cal. BP, is the earliest major human influence detected in the Qingpu record. Following this, rice agriculture probably dominated the Qingpu area. Evidence supporting rice agriculture after c. 2400 cal. BP is provided by increased Poaceae and Cereal-type taxa, which occur with high concentrations of plant wax n-alkanes with a dominant C3 plant origin (C27—C31 with odd/even preference, δ 13C —29.8‰ to —36.3‰). Also, high concentrations of a C20 highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) thought to be from epiphytic algae associated with rice agriculture occur after c. 2400 cal. BP. 13C-depleted diploptene (in high concentrations) and 13C-depleted C31 3b-methyl-hopanes of methanotrophic bacterial origin also occur after c. 2400 cal. BP. The strong methane cycle detected in the trench sediment may have provided an alternative CO2 source for plants and algae associated with rice agriculture.
Allen, R.2004: Agricultural productivity and rural incomes in England and the Yangtze delta, c. 1620—c. 1820. Unpublished Mimeo, University of Oxford.
2.
Ariosa, Y., Quesada, A., Aburto, J., Carrasco, D., Carreres, R., Leganés, F. and Valiente, E.F.2004: Epiphytic cyanobacteria on Chara vulgaris are the main contributors to N2 fixation in rice fields. Applied and Environmental Microbiology70, 5391—97.
3.
Bellwood, P.2005: First farmers: the origins of agricultural societies. Blackwell Publishing.
4.
Chen, Z.1999: Geomorphology and coastline change of the lower Yangtze delta plain, China. In Miller, A. and Gupta, A., editors, Varieties of fluvial form. John Wiley and Sons, 427—43.
5.
Chen, Z. and Stanley, D.J.1995: Quaternary subsidence and river channel migration in the Yangtze delta plain, Eastern China. Journal of Coastal Research11, 927—45.
6.
Cvefic, J.H., Bodrossy, L., Kovacs, K.L. and Rohmer, M.2000: Bacterial triterpenoids of the hopane series from the methanotrophic bacteria Methylocaldum spp.: phylogenetic implications and first evidence for an unsaturated aminobacteriohopanepolyol. FEMS Microbiology Letters182, 361—65.
7.
De Vries, B. and Goudsblom, J., editors 2002: Mappae Mundi. Amsterdam University Press.
8.
Deines, P.1980: The isotopic composition of reduced organic carbon. In Fritz, P. and Fontes, J.-Ch., editors, Handbook of environmental isotope geochemistry. Volume 1: the terrestrial environment. Elsevier , 329—406.
9.
Domros, M. and Gongbing, P.1988: The climate of China. Springer-Verlag .
10.
Eglinton, G. and Hamilton, R.J.1967: Leaf epicuticular waxes. Science156, 1322—34.
11.
Ehleringer, J.R. and Monson, R.K.1993: Evolutionary and ecological aspects of photosynthetic pathway variation. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics24, 411—39.
12.
Elvin, M.2004: The retreat of the elephants. Yale University Press.
13.
Fisher, E., Oldfield, F., Wake, R., Boyle, J., Appleby, P. and Wolff, G.A.2003: Molecular marker records of land use change. Organic Geochemistry34, 105—19.
14.
Fuller, D.2002: Fifty years of archaeobotanical studies in India: laying a solid foundation. In Settar, S. and Korisettar, R., editors, Indian archaeology in retrospect 3. Manohar, 247—363.
15.
—— 2003: An agricultural perspective on Dravidian historical linguistics . In Bellwood, P. and Renfrew, C., editors, Examining the farming/language dispersal hypothesis. McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, 191—215.
16.
Grimm, E.C.1992: Tilia software. Illinois State Museum .
17.
Guha, P.1995: Exploring ecological control of Chara. Crop Protection14, 527—28.
18.
Itzstein-Davey, F., Atahan, P., Dodson, J., Taylor, D. and Zheng, H.2007: Environmental and cultural changes during the terminal Neolithic: Qingpu, Yangtze delta, eastern China. The Holocene in press.
19.
Jaffe, R., Mead, R., Hernandex, M.E., Peralba, M.C. and DiGuida, O.A.2001: Origin and transport of sedimentary organic matter in two subtropical estuaries: a comparative, biomarker-based study. Organic Geochemistry32, 507—26.
20.
Juggins, S.2003: User guide: C2 software for ecological and palaeoecological data analysis and visualization. Department of Geography, University of Newcastle.
21.
Kajale, M.D.1991: Current status of Indian palaeoethnobotany. In Renfrew, J., editor, New light on early farming: recent developments in palaeothnobotany. Edinburgh University Press, 155—89.
22.
Lu, T.1998: The transition to foraging and farming and the origin of agriculture in ChinaOxfordBAR International Series 774.
23.
Moore, P.D., Webb, J.A. and Collinson, M.E.1991: Pollen analysis. Blackwell Scientific Publications.
24.
Okuda, M., Sato, Y., Tang, L.H., Takahashi, M., Toyama, S., Yano, A., Kitagawa, H. and Yasuda, Y.2003: Late Holocene vegetation and environment at Cauduntou, west of Yangtze Delta, SW Jiangsu Province, East China. Quaternary International105, 39—47.
25.
Pelzer, E.T. and Gagosian, R.B.1989: Organic geochemistry of aerosols over the Pacific Ocean . In Riley, J.P., Chester, R. and Duce, R.A., editors, Chemical oceanography, volume 10. Academic Press, 281—338.
26.
Raghoebarsing, A.A., Smolders, A.J.P., Schmid, M.C., Rijpstra, W.I.C., Wolters-Arts, M., Derksen, J., Jetten, M.S.M., Schouten, S., Sinningh Damsté, J.S., Lamers L.P.M., Roelofs, J.G.M., Op den Camp, H.J.M. and Strous, M.2005: Methanotrophic symbionts provide carbon for photosynthesis in peat bogs. Nature436, 1153—56.
27.
Rieley, G., Collister, J.W., Stern, B. and Eglinton, G.1993: Gas chromatography/isotope ratio mass spectrometry of leaf wax n-alkanes from plants of differing carbon dioxide metabolisms. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry7, 488—91.
28.
Rowland, S.J., Yon, D.A., Lewis, C.A. and Maxwell, J.R.1985: Occurrence of 2,6,10-trimethyl-7-(3-methylbutyl)-dodecane and related hydrocarbons in the green alga Enteromorpha prolifera and sediments . Organic Geochemistry8, 207—13.
29.
Ruddiman, W.F. and Thomson, J.S.2001: The case for human causes of increased atmospheric CH4 over the last 5000 years. Quaternary Science Reviews20, 1769—77.
30.
Sage, R.F., Wedin, D.A. and Li, M.1999: The biogeography of C4 photosynthesis: patterns and controlling factors. In Sage, R.F. and Monson, R.K., editors, C4 plant biology. Academic Press, 313—76.
31.
Singh, R.P.1990: Agriculture in protohistoric India. Pratibha Prakashan.
32.
Sinninghe Damste, J.S., Baas, M., Geenevasen, J.A.J. and Kenig, F.2005: Structural identification of sedimentary C21 and C22 highly branched isoprenoid alkanes. Organic Geochemistry36, 511—17.
33.
Smith, B.D.1995: The emergence of agriculture. Scientific American Library.
34.
Smith, B.N. and Brown, W.V.1973: The kranz syndrome in the Gramineae as indicated by carbon isotopic ratios. American Journal of Botany60, 505—13.
35.
Stanley, D.J. and Chen, Z.1996: Neolithic settlement distributions as a function of sea level-controlled topography in the Yangtze delta, China. Geology24, 1083—86.
36.
—— 2000: Radiocarbon dates in China's Holocene Yangtze Delta: record of sediment storage and reworking, not timing of deposition. Journal of Coastal Research16, 1126—32.
37.
Stanley, D.J. and Hait, A.K.2000: Deltas, radiocarbon dating, and measurements of sediment storage and subsidence. Geology28, 295—98.
38.
Stuiver, M., Reimer, P.J., Bard, E., Beck, J.W., Burr, G.S., Hughen, A., Kromer, B., McCormac, G., van-der Plicht, J. and Spurk, M.1998: INTCAL 98 radiocarbon age calibration, 24,000—0 cal BP. Radiocarbon40, 1041—83.
39.
Summons, R.E. and Jahnke, L.L.1992: Hopenes and hopanes methylated in ring-A: correlation of the hopanoids from extant methylotrophic bacteria with their fossil analogues . In Moldowan, J.M., Albrecht, P and Philp, R.P. , editors, Biological markers in sediments and petroleum . Prentice Hall, 182—200.
40.
Summons, R.E., Jahnke, L.L. and Roksandic, Z.1994: Carbon isotope fractionation in lipids from methanothrophic bacteria: relevance for interpretation of the geological record of biomarkers . Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta58, 2853—63.
41.
Tareq, S.M., Tanoue, E., Tsuji, H., Tanaka, N. and Ohta, K.2005: Hydrocarbon and elemental carbon signatures in a tropical wet-land: biogeochemical evidence of forest fire and vegetation changes. Chemosphere59, 1655—65.
42.
Twiss, P.C.1992: Predicted world distributions of C3 and C4 grass phytoliths . In Rapp, G. and Mulholland, S.C., editors, Phytolith systematics: emerging issues. Plenum Press, 113—28.
43.
Volkman, J.K., Barrett, S.M., Blackburn, S.I., Mansour, M.P., Sikes, E.L. and Gelin, F.1998: Microalgal biomarkers: A review of recent research developments . Organic Geochemistry29, 1163—79.
44.
Wang, K., Zhang, Y., Jiang, H. and Han, X.1986: Palynological assemblages from the Holocene sediments of the Changjiang (Yangtze) river delta and its implications. Chinese Journal of Oceanology and Limnology4, 196—210.
45.
Xu, Z., Xu, J., Deng, X., Huang, J., Uchida, E. and Rozelle, S.2006: Grain for green versus grain: conflict between food security and conservation set-aside in China. World Development34, 130—48.
46.
Yasuda, Y., editor 2002: The origins of pottery and agriculture. Roli Press.
47.
Yi, S., Saito, Y., Zhao, Q. and Wang, P.2003: Vegetation and climate changes in the Changjiang (Yangtze River) Delta, China, during the past 13,000 years inferred from pollen records . Quaternary Science Reviews22, 1501—19.
48.
Zhang, J. and Wang, X.K.1998: Notes on the recent discovery of ancient cultivated rice at Jiahu, Henan Province. Antiquity72, 897—901.
49.
Zhao, S. and Wu, W.-T.1987: Early Neolithic Hemodu culture along the Hangzhou estuary and the origin of domestic paddy rice in China. Asian Perspectives27, 29—34.
50.
Zhao, Z.1998: The Middle Yangtze region in China is one place where rice was domesticated: phytolith evidence from the Diaotonghuan Cave, northern Jiangxi. Antiquity72, 885—97.
51.
Zundel, M. and Rohmer, M.1985: Prokaryotic triterpenoids 1. 3betamethylhopanoids from Acetobacter species and Methylococcus capsulatus. European Journal of Biochemistry150, 23—27.
