![]() ![]() Archaeological research in this area has developed at an increasing pace and has revealed that farmers who practiced millet agriculture and pig husbandry first settled in this region circa 3500 calibrated years (cal) B.C. Until recently, relatively little was known about the prehistory of highland southwest China. We argue that in highland eastern Tibet these crops became an important facet of economic subsistence shortly after their introduction and that this region may have played a crucial role in the establishment of these crops as staples across the vast region of East Asia. ![]() We present archaeobotanical evidence from the Ashaonao site situated in high-altitude Eastern Tibet of the early use of wheat and barley as staple crops ( Fig. We argue that risk reduction may have been a key factor in the translocation of these crops across highland southwest China, particularly after the end of the Holocene climatic optimum. Using these models and data from the southeastern Tibetan Plateau, we demonstrate that wheat and barley were crucial in allowing agriculture to become established in highland China following the end of the Holocene climatic optimum ( 3, 4, 6). These models formed a basis for the argument in a recent paper that tests this hypothesis on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau (NETP) ( 6). To this end, we have created crop niche models that are capable of predicting the changing niches of crops over time ( 4, 5). We have argued that it is not sufficient to consider growing season length rather, it is crucial to examine other agronomic characteristics such as growing-degree days (GDD) ( 4, 5). ![]() Others have focused on cultural factors and argued that resistance in food-preparation techniques delayed the incorporation of wheat and barley as staples in subsistence strategies ( 3). Initially it was argued that wheat and barley agriculture were able to move into East Asia and become staple crops only after a long delay because of their short growing seasons ( 2). In recent years, there has been much debate as to the timing of the arrival of Western Eurasian domesticates in East Asia and their modes of adoption ( 1). ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |