Herbs and fungi, which have always been the principal form of medicine in developing countries, have regained popularity in the developed world as people strive to stay healthy in the face of chronic stress and pollution and treat illnesses with medicines that work in concert with body’s defense. There are several age-old books originating from various countries that record diversified herbal medicine. In China, the earliest text to record medicinal herbs and fungi is the “Shennong’s Herbal Classic”, which appeared more than 2500 years ago. The saying “Shennong tasted one hundred herbs” comes from the ancient China and the famous “Divine Husbandman” known as “Shennong” who is said to be the first to collect and use medicinal plants in China. Shennong is esteemed for transmission and emergence of ancient China’s agricultural practices dating back to 4000–5000 BC, although there is evidence for the use of medicinal plants dating back up to 60000 years before present. However, owing to the lack of reliable archaeological evidence, it has been highly debated when prehistoric farmers began utilizing wild herbal medicine and how long it took for this practice to spread. Here, we examined the morphology of spores excavated from 5 Ganoderma samples (G1−G5) in three archaeological sites located in Tianluoshan, Yuhangnanhu, and Qianjintadi that date back to the Neolithic era. Dating using ¹⁴C isotope revealed that the use of G1sample began about 6817±44 years BP in the Hemudu society, G2 sample began about 5379±59 years BP and G5 sample began about 4508±50 years BP in the Hemudu society and liangchu society. The comparison of morphological characteristics of spores from the prehistoric samples and spores of the present-day, modern Ganoderma species confirmed that the G1–G5 samples belong to the genus Ganoderma. Hemudu society is one of the birthplaces of Chinese civilization, and people had started using reed mats and planted tea and rice. The prehistoric Ganoderma was unearthed with the cultural relics, such as wood carving headornaments, jade articles, and so on. It was speculated that the witch had been using Ganoderma at that time. The earliest dates for the lower Yangtze River areas Neolithic indicate that it expanded the archaeobotanical records of herbal medicine (Ganoderma) exploitation in China to 6800 years BP. With the formation of early agriculture, people have continued exploration and utilization of fungi with Ganoderma appearance. In the course of the history, the ancient Chinese people gradually documented its value and extolled its purpose. This opinion is related to the legendary events of “Xuanyuan gifted with Ganoderma” and “Shennong gathers Ganoderma” in the mythological era of China. Further research in this region should help clarify the trajectory of herbal medicine origination in China.

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