Early cultivated wheat and broadening of agriculture in Neolithic China

TLDR

Evidence of cultivated wheat at Xishanping in northwest China dating to 4650–4300 cal. yr BP indicates a broadening agricultural society. The study questions why early Chinese crops did not spread westward and how agricultural blending influenced Chinese civilization. The authors used archaeobotanical evidence and radiocarbon dating to establish the wheat presence.

Abstract

Evidence for cultivated wheat at 4650 cal. yr BP, as part of a broadening agricultural-based society (4650—4300 cal. yr BP), is presented from Xishanping in northwest China. This was established from archaeobotanical evidence and radiocarbon dating. Crops from SW Asia had therefore been adopted in China about 2500 years earlier than previously thought, and long before the `Silk Road' route was known to be used. The data show that the early infiltration and blending of agriculture involving rice, buckwheat, barley, millet and wheat occurred in this region. This raises questions as to why crops from China do not appear further westward at this time and how the blending of agricultural practices contributed to the development of Chinese civilization.