Gary W. Crawford

Plants and people from the Early Neolithic to Shang periods in North China

An assemblage of charred plant remains collected from 26 sites in the Yiluo valley of North China as part of an archaeological survey spans the period from the sixth millennium to 1300 calibrated calendrical years (cal) B.C. The plant remains document a long sequence of crops, weeds, and other plants in the country. The results also demonstrate the effectiveness of sediment sampling as part of an archaeological survey. Ten accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) radiocarbon dates on crop remains inform an assessment of the sequence of agricultural development in the region. Foxtail millet (Setaria italica subsp. italica) was grown during the Early Neolithic period and was the principal crop for at least four millennia. Broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) was significantly less important throughout the sequence. Rice (Oryza sativa) was introduced by 3000 cal B.C. but apparently was not an important local crop. Wheat became a significant crop between 1600 and 1300 cal B.C. The weed flora diversified through time and were dominated by annual grasses, some of which were probably fodder for domesticated animals. The North China farming tradition that emphasized dry crops (millets, wheat, and legumes) with some rice appears to have been established at the latest by the Early Shang (Erligang; 1600–1300 B.C.) period.

The Origins of Agriculture: An International Perspective

The eight case studies in this book -- each a synthesis of available knowledge about the origins of agriculture in a specific region of the globe -- enable scholars in diverse disciplines to examine humanitys transition to agricultural societies. Contributors include: Gary W. Crawford, Robin W. Dennell, and Jack R. Harlan.

The origins of rice agriculture: recent progress in East Asia

Knowledge of rice domestication and its archaeological context has been increasing explosively of late. Nearly 20 years ago rice from the Hemudu and Luojiajiao sites (FIGURE 1) indicated that rice domestication likely began before 5000 BC (Crawford 1992; Lin 1992; Yan 1990). By the late 1980s news of rice from the south-central China Pengtoushan site a thousand years older than Hemudu began to circulate (Bellwood et al. 1992; Hunan 1990; Pei 1989). Undocumented news of sites having a median date of 11,500 BP with domesticated rice has recently made the rounds (Normile 1997). In addition, the first domesticated rice in Southeast Asia, once thought to be to be older than the first rice in China, is not as old as once thought (Glover & Higham 1996: 422; Higham 1995). Finally, wild rice ( Oryza rufipogon ) was reported to be growing in the Yangzi valley, well outside its purported original range, making domestication there plausible (Yan 1989; 1990; 1997). Significant progress continued to be made in the 1990s and unlike research on other major crops, the literature is generally not accessible to western scholars, with some exceptions (Ahn 1993; Crawford 1992; Glover & Higham 1996; Higham 1995; MacNeish et al . 1997; Underhill 1997).

Agricultural origins in the Korean Peninsula

The authors report the first direct scientific evidence for the beginnings of agriculture in the Korean peninsula.

Advances in Understanding Early Agriculture in Japan

Six episodes—the Jomon, Yayoi, Tohoku Yayoi, Satsumon and Ainu, Okhotsk, and Gusuku—of agricultural development are examined. These events involve both indigenous adaptations as well as migration and diffusion to and within the Japanese archipelago. All but Jomon subsistence adaptations began as a result of migration and diffusion. Jomon populations engaged in niche construction/anthropogenesis that ranged from annual plant encouragement and probably management, lacquer tree (Toxicodendron verniciflua) and nut tree (Castanea crenata and Aesculus turbinata) management, and probable domestication of barnyard millet and soybean as well as cultivation of bottle gourd and hemp and possible cultivation of Perilla and adzuki. These characteristics place the Jomon in a middle ground that is neither hunting and gathering nor traditionally conceptualized agriculture. A brief comparison with China shows late Upper Paleolithic and Early Neolithic/Early Jomon similarities that can inform discussions about agricultural origins. The Okhotsk raised pigs, grew a few crops, hunted and gathered; this culture also does not fit traditional definitions of an agricultural economy. The other episodes involve forms of agriculture similar to those found in mainland East Asia.

Dating the entry of corn (Zea mays) into the Lower Great Lakes region

Five accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) dates on corn (maize or Zea mays) from the Grand Banks site, Ontario, range from cal A.D. 540 to 1030. These are the earliest directly dated corn samples in the Lower Great Lakes region. The presence of corn during the Princess Point Complex, a transitional Late Woodland phase preceding the Ontario Iroquoian Tradition, is confirmed as is an early presence of the Princess Point culture in Ontario. Maize appears to have spread rapidly from the Southeast and/or Midwest to Ontario. The corn cupules and kernel remains are fragmentary, as they are elsewhere in the Eastern Woodlands during this period. The limited morphological data indicate that the corn is a diminutive form of Eastern Eight-Row, or Eastern Complex, maize.

Agricultural origins in North China pushed back to the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary

Two grains, common (proso or broomcorn) millet (Panicum miliaceum) (Fig. 1) and foxtail millet (Setaria italica), were fundamental to the development of agricultural societies that eventually evolved into the first urban societies of China between 4500 and 3800 calibrated years (cal.) B.P. (1). Today, these grains are important mainly in parts of Russia, South Asia, and East Asia. How, when, and in what settings these millets initially evolved is not well known (2). One hypothesis holds that common millet was domesticated rapidly in the central Wei river basin shortly after ca. 8000 cal. B.P. (3). Another hypothesis proposes that common millet was domesticated in the Northeast China Liao river basin around the same time (4). In reality, archaeological data have simply not been adequate to resolve the issues surrounding the domestication of millet and the development of the first agricultural communities in North China. Complicating the problem, common millet is also present in Europe ca. 8000–7500 cal. B.P. (2), so this timing opens the possibility that the crop was domesticated more than once. Otherwise, its origins must predate 8000 cal. B.P. The Early Holocene Cishan site in North China is one of several sites considered key to understanding millet domestication and the origin of dry-land agriculture in China, yet the dating and identity of the crops recovered there have never been adequately documented. The study published in this issue of PNAS (5) revisits Cishan, located on a terrace on the western edge of the North China Plain ≈9 km from where the Nanming river emerges from the Taihang mountains. Two outstanding issues regarding the early archaeological record of millet at Cishan first reported nearly 30 years ago (6, 7), their dating and identification, are resolved in the new study.

Archaeological Soybean (Glycine max) in East Asia : Does Size Matter?

The recently acquired archaeological record for soybean from Japan, China and Korea is shedding light on the context in which this important economic plant became associated with people and was domesticated. This paper examines archaeological (charred) soybean seed size variation to determine what insight can be gained from a comprehensive comparison of 949 specimens from 22 sites. Seed length alone appears to represent seed size change through time, although the length×width×thickness product has the potential to provide better size change resolution. A widespread early association of small seeded soybean is as old as 9000–8600 cal BP in northern China and 7000 cal BP in Japan. Direct AMS radiocarbon dates on charred soybean seeds indicate selection resulted in large seed sizes in Japan by 5000 cal BP (Middle Jomon) and in Korea by 3000 cal BP (Early Mumun). Soybean seeds recovered in China from the Shang through Han periods are similar in length to the large Korean and Japanese specimens, but the overall size of the large Middle and Late Jomon, Early Mumun through Three Kingdom seeds is significantly larger than any of the Chinese specimens. The archaeological record appears to disconfirm the hypothesis of a single domestication of soybean and supports the view informed by recent phyologenetic research that soybean was domesticated in several locations in East Asia.

The Jomon in early agriculture discourse: issues arising from Matsui, Kanehara and Pearson

Abstract Two articles in World Archaeology (2006) raise issues regarding the long-standing classification of the Jomon as collectors and affluent foragers. Crops and food production have not played a significant role in understanding Jomon settlement systems, population density, complexity and their regional variation despite the reports of crops from numerous Jomon sites. A misunderstanding of one of my publications provides an opportunity to assess why the Jomon is understood the way it is in some circles. I also critically assess the affluent forager/collector model and the role that analogies with the Ainu play in the model. Agricultural origins theory tends to eschew classifying people as hunter-gatherers/foragers or agricultural and I argue that such should be the case for the Jomon. By acknowledging a significant role for food/resource production among Jomon populations we may arrive at a better understanding of Jomon populations and how they interacted with the environment. The comparative potential of the Jomon in the context of agricultural archaeology can also be realized.

The age of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in the northern Eastern Woodlands of North America

This study addresses the lack of chronometric research on the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) to establish precisely the timing of its adoption and spread across the northern Eastern Woodlands of North America. Bean and directly associated maize samples were subjected to accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dating. The results show that the common bean apparently spread rapidly upon its introduction to the region, becoming archaeologically visible from the Illinois River valley to southern New England in the calibrated late 13th century AD, some 200–300 years later than previously thought.