Agronomical and archaeological investigations on origin of cultivated rice and rice culture in ancient China

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The earliest archaeological finds of ancient rice, together with other the remains of rice culture ; agricultural implements for cultivation, earthenware of cookers and containers, and bones of cattle and wild animals, were obtained from the excavations on the lower basin of the Yangtze or the alluvial lowland area facing Hangzhou bay (***). The dates based on radiocarbon measurement were around 4000-5000 BC. The distributions of the earliest prehistoric remain of rice culture in China were concentrated along the central and lower basin of the Yangtze, which covered more than 70% of all the remains excavated in the country.On the other hand, in the Yunnan Province, from where original rice cultivation has been insisted by some researchers to have occurred and spread over downstream to the lower basins of the Yangzte or other some great Rivers, some eight remains of rice culture were excavated and the dates of the prehistoric remains were found to be much newer than those from the lower basin of the Yangtze. The earliest one of those carbon-dated back to ca.1000-2000 BC in the area was Baiyangcun dated 1820 + 85 BC (***, ***, ***) and followed by Dadungzi dated 1470 + 55 BC (* **, ***, ***).Grain dimensions of rice excavated from the ancient archaeologiacal sites(remains or dynastic tombs) in China(18 sites), Korea(two sites) and Japan(12 sites) were measured by scaled photographs.