The Transition from Foraging to Farming and the Origin of Agriculture in China

Book excerpt: This book explores the origins of agriculture in China. It includes archaeological data from the terminal Pleistocene to the early Holocene found in the Yellow and Yangzi River valleys, botanical data on wild millet and wild rice, data on palaeoclimates and palaeoenvironments, and comparative ethnographic data. Lithic evidence indicates cultural continuity through this period, and archaeological discoveries illustrate that wild cereal exploitation was practised prior to the emergence of agriculture. As the dry and cold palaeoclimate forced prehistoric people to search for new sources of food, intensive cereal exploitation might have resulted in a sedentary way of life. Increasing population size triggered attempts to increase the productivity of food. It is also argued that the invention of pottery was prompted by the need to boil cereal grains. As cereals became staple foods, demands for increased production triggered cereal cultivation and domestication.