Water management and labour in the origins and dispersal of Asian rice
Abstract
Asian rice occurs in two wild types with differing ecologies that would have necessitated rather different systems of exploitation among early hunter-gatherers and cultivators. The monsoon-adapted ancestors of indica-like rice were readily gathered, whether unmanaged or managed through simple burning regimes, and as such might be expected to have long been gathered or cultivated without domestication. By contrast the perennial wetland rice that was ancestral to japonica necessitated more intensive forms of management, especially in terms of water regimes, for its productivity to be increased. This encouraged water-management systems that increased in complexity and labour requirements over time and can be linked to the evolution of domestication traits in Yangzte rice between 6000 and 4000 bc. The spread of rice from its Yangzte core seems to have occurred after the development of paddy-field cultivation systems. Meanwhile in India the spread of rice out of the Ganges towards South India, mainly after 1000 bc, may also have occurred only after more intensive irrigated systems of cultivation had developed. These are inferred from the archaeological weed flora of north India to have developed during the Chalcolithic to Iron Age (after 1400 bc). We suggest that the spread of rice, which has played an important role in models of Neolithic population dispersal in Southeast Asia, may have been triggered by the development of more intensive management systems and thus have required certain social changes towards hierarchical societies rather than just rice cultivation per se.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
There is evidence for proto-indica rice management by hunter-fisher-gatherers in the middle Ganges plains predating ∼2000 BCE.
“While there is evidence for proto-indica rice management by hunter–fisher–gatherers in the middle Ganges plains predating ∼2000 BCE (102, 104, 105)”
From The biocultural origins and dispersal of domestic chickens (2022) · cites this paper as [102]
In South Asia at that time, domesticated rice, wheat, barley, and other grain crops began to dominate the economy.
“domesticated rice, wheat, barley, and other grain crops began to dominate the economy (102, 103).”
From The biocultural origins and dispersal of domestic chickens (2022) · cites this paper as [102]
This domesticated indica rice was typically rainfed in more extensive systems with periods of fallow.
“was typically rainfed in more extensive systems with periods of fallow (102, 106)”
From The biocultural origins and dispersal of domestic chickens (2022) · cites this paper as [102]
Cites
Phytoliths: a comprehensive guide for archaeologists and paleoecologists
(2006) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.44-0942 · Cited by 1,349 · see citing works
Genetic Structure and Diversity in Oryza sativa L.
Garris, A. J., Tai, T. H., Coburn, J., Kresovich, S., & McCouch, S. (2005) · Genetics · doi:10.1534/genetics.104.035642 · Cited by 1,137 · see citing works
An SNP Caused Loss of Seed Shattering During Rice Domestication
Konishi, S., Izawa, T., Lin, S. Y., Ebana, K., Fukuta, Y., Sasaki, T., & Yano, M. (2006) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1126410 · Cited by 929 · see citing works
Rice Domestication by Reducing Shattering
Li, C., Zhou, A., & Sang, T. (2006) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1123604 · Cited by 904 · see citing works
Prehistory of the Indo-Malaysian Archipelago
Bellwood, P. S. (2007) · ANU Press eBooks · doi:10.22459/pima.03.2007 · Cited by 752 · see citing works
Londo, J. P., Chiang, Y., Hung, K.-H., Chiang, T., & Schaal, B. A. (2006) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0603152103 · Cited by 707 · see citing works
Anderson, M. K. (2005) · University of California Press eBooks · doi:10.1525/9780520933101 · Cited by 704 · see citing works
Prehistory of the Indo-Malaysian Archipelago
Bellwood, P. S. (1997) · University of Hawaii Press eBooks · doi:10.1515/9780824874681 · Cited by 702 · see citing works
The Domestication Process and Domestication Rate in Rice: Spikelet Bases from the Lower Yangtze
Fuller, D. Q., Qin, L., Zheng, Y., Zhao, Z., Chen, X., Hosoya, L. A., & Sun, G. (2009) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1166605 · Cited by 619 · see citing works
Self-citationBellwood, P. S., Gamble, C., LeBlanc, S. A., Pluciennik, M., Richards, M. B., & Terrell, J. E. (2007) · Cambridge Archaeological Journal · doi:10.1017/s0959774307000078 · Cited by 585 · see citing works
New insights into the history of rice domestication
Kovach, M. J., Sweeney, M. T., & McCouch, S. R. (2007) · Trends in Genetics · doi:10.1016/j.tig.2007.08.012 · Cited by 521 · see citing works
The Complex History of the Domestication of Rice
Sweeney, M. T., & McCouch, S. R. (2007) · Annals of Botany · doi:10.1093/aob/mcm128 · Cited by 519 · see citing works
The Archaeology of Ancient China
Chang, K. (1987) · Yale University Press eBooks · doi:10.37862/aaeportal.00207 · Cited by 492 · see citing works
Fire and flood management of coastal swamp enabled first rice paddy cultivation in east China
Zong, Y., Chen, Z., Innés, J. B., Chen, C., Wang, Z., & Wang, H. (2007) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature06135 · Cited by 445 · see citing works
The evolving story of rice evolution
Vaughan, D. A., Lu, B., & Tomooka, . (2008) · Plant Science · doi:10.1016/j.plantsci.2008.01.016 · Cited by 414 · see citing works
First Farmers: The Origins of Agricultural Societies
Clement, C. R. (2006) · Economic Botany · doi:10.1663/0013-0001(2006)60[395:fftooa]2.0.co;2 · Cited by 413 · see citing works
Agricultural Origins and Frontiers in South Asia: A Working Synthesis
Fuller, D. Q. (2006) · Journal of World Prehistory · doi:10.1007/s10963-006-9006-8 · Cited by 387 · see citing works
Self-citationUnconscious Selection and the Evolution of Domesticated Plants
Zohary, D. (2004) · Economic Botany · doi:10.1663/0013-0001(2004)058[0005:usateo]2.0.co;2 · Cited by 360 · see citing works
New evidence of Lateglacial cereal cultivation at Abu Hureyra on the Euphrates
Hillman, G. C., Hedges, R. E. M., Moore, A. M. T., Colledge, S., & Pettitt, P. (2001) · The Holocene · doi:10.1191/095968301678302823 · Cited by 321 · see citing works
Early Holocene cultivation before domestication in northern Syria
Willcox, G., Fornite, S., & Herveux, L. (2007) · Vegetation History and Archaeobotany · doi:10.1007/s00334-007-0121-y · Cited by 320 · see citing works
Fuller, D. Q., Karoune, E., & Qin, L. (2007) · Antiquity · doi:10.1017/s0003598x0009520x · Cited by 313 · see citing works
Self-citationPlants and people from the Early Neolithic to Shang periods in North China
Lee, G., Crawford, G. W., Li, L., & Chen, X. (2007) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.0609763104 · Cited by 292 · see citing works
The wild relatives of rice: a genetic resources handbook.
Vaughan, D. A. (1994) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 286 · see citing works
Polyphyletic origin of cultivated rice: based on the interspersion pattern of SINEs.
Cheng, C.-Y., Motohashi, R., Tsuchimoto, S., Fukuta, Y., Ohtsubo, H., & Ohtsubo, E. (2003) · Molecular biology and evolution · doi:10.1093/molbev/msg004 · Cited by 283 · see citing works
Global Dissemination of a Single Mutation Conferring White Pericarp in Rice
Sweeney, M. T., Thomson, M. J., Cho, Y. G., Park, Y., Williamson, S., Bustamante, C. D., & McCouch, S. R. (2007) · PLoS Genetics · doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.0030133 · Cited by 276 · see citing works
The Origins of Agriculture and Crop Domestication
Damania, A. B., Valkoun, J., Willcox, G., & Qualset, C. (1999) · HAL · Cited by 264 · see citing works
Agricultural Origins and Frontiers in South Asia: A Working Synthesis
Fuller, D. Q. (2007) · Journal of World Prehistory · doi:10.1007/s10963-006-9007-7 · Cited by 232 · see citing works
Self-citationThe Human Past: World Prehistory and the Development of Human Societies
Scarre, C. (2009) · Durham Research Online (Durham University) · Cited by 184 · see citing works
The Puzzle of Rice Domestication
Sang, T., & Ge, S. (2007) · Journal of Integrative Plant Biology · doi:10.1111/j.1744-7909.2007.00510.x · Cited by 181 · see citing works
Evidence for the early beginning (c. 9000 cal. BP) of rice domestication in China: a response
Li, L., Lee, G., Jiang, L., & Zhang, J. (2007) · The Holocene · doi:10.1177/0959683607085121 · Cited by 179 · see citing works
The Archaeology of Food Preference
Smith, M. L. (2006) · American Anthropologist · doi:10.1525/aa.2006.108.3.480 · Cited by 155 · see citing works
Early cultivated wheat and broadening of agriculture in Neolithic China
Li, X., Dodson, J., Zhou, X., Zhang, H., & Masutomoto, R. (2007) · The Holocene · doi:10.1177/0959683607078978 · Cited by 151 · see citing works
Indus ethnobiology: new perspectives from the field
(2004) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.41-5993 · Cited by 144 · see citing works
Atahan, P., Itzstein‐Davey, F., Taylor, D. M., et al. (2008) · Quaternary Science Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2007.11.003 · Cited by 140 · see citing works
Current research in phytolith analysis : applications in archaeology and paleoecology
Pearsall, D. M., & Piperno, D. R. (1993) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 140 · see citing works
Early rice farming and anomalous methane trends
Ruddiman, W. F., Guo, Z., Zhou, X., Wu, H., & Yu, Y. (2008) · Quaternary Science Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2008.03.007 · Cited by 132 · see citing works
Ancient paddy soils from the Neolithic age in China’s Yangtze River Delta
Cao, Z., Ding, J., Hu, Z., Knicker, H., Kögel‐Knabner, I., Yang, L., Yin, R., Lin, X. G., & Dong, Y. (2006) · Die Naturwissenschaften · doi:10.1007/s00114-006-0083-4 · Cited by 123 · see citing works
Weeds Reported in Rice in South and Southeast Asia
Moody, K. (1989) · Cited by 108 · see citing works
Yasuda, Y., Fujiki, T., Nasu, H., et al. (2004) · Quaternary International · doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2004.02.016 · Cited by 101 · see citing works
Fifty Years of Archaeobotanical Studies in India: Laying a Solid Foundation
Fuller, D. (2002) · UCL Discovery (University College London) · Cited by 98 · see citing works
Self-citationWild or domesticated: DNA analysis of ancient water buffalo remains from north China
Yang, D. Y., Li, L., Chen, X., & Speller, C. (2008) · Journal of Archaeological Science · doi:10.1016/j.jas.2008.05.010 · Cited by 93 · see citing works
The Occurrence of Cereal Cultivation in China
Lu, T. L. D. (2006) · Asian perspectives · doi:10.1353/asi.2006.0022 · Cited by 90 · see citing works
Non-human genetics, agricultural origins and historical linguistics in South Asia
Fuller, D. Q. (2007) · Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology Series · doi:10.1007/1-4020-5562-5_18 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
Self-citationCharacteristics of the short rachillae of rice from archaeological sites dating to 7000 years ago
Zheng, Y., Sun, G., & Chen, X. (2007) · Chinese Science Bulletin · doi:10.1007/s11434-007-0258-1 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
Ceramics, seeds and culinary change in prehistoric India
Fuller, D. Q. (2005) · Antiquity · doi:10.1017/s0003598x00114917 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Self-citationSaxena, A., Prasad, V., Singh, I. B., Chauhan, M. S., & Hasan, R. (2006) · Cited by 81 · see citing works
A Holocene environmental record from the southern Yangtze River delta, eastern China
Tao, J., Chen, M., & Xu, S. (2005) · Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology · doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2005.07.015 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Possehl, G. L. (1999) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 75 · see citing works
Neolithic correlates of ancient Tibeto-Burman migrations
van Driem, G. L. (2010) · Taylor & Francis eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203202913_chapter_2 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
Onishi, K., Takagi, K., Kontani, M., et al. (2007) · Genome · doi:10.1139/g07-051 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Julia, A. S., Sutcliffe, J. V., Lloyd-Smith, L., Schwenninger, J., Chauhan, M. S., Misra, O. P., & Karoune, E. (2007) · Asian perspectives · doi:10.1353/asi.2007.0011 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Meat-acquisition patterns in the Neolithic Yangzi river valley, China
Jing, Y., Flad, R. K., & Luo, Y. (2008) · Antiquity · doi:10.1017/s0003598x0009685x · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Identifying Pre-domestication Cultivation Using Multivariate Analysis.
Colledge, S. (1998) · UCL Discovery (University College London) · Cited by 54 · see citing works
Phytoliths of Rice detected in the Neolithic Sites in the Valley of the Taihu Lake in China
Zheng, Y., Matsui, A., & Fujiwara, H. (2003) · Environmental Archaeology · doi:10.1179/env.2003.8.2.177 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Origins of a civilization: The prehistory and early archaeology of South Asia
Allchin, B., & Allchin, F. R. (1997) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Neolithic rice paddy from the Zhaojiazhuang site, Shandong, China
Jin, G., Yan, S., Udatsu, T., et al. (2007) · Chinese Science Bulletin · doi:10.1007/s11434-007-0449-9 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
India an Archaeological History
Chakrabarti, D. K. (2009) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198064121.001.0001 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
White, J. C. (1995) · ScholarSpace (University of Hawaii at Manoa) · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Early Agriculture in Orissa: Some Archaeobotanical Results and Field Observations on the Neolithic
Karoune, E., Fuller, D. Q., Mohanty, R. N., & Mohanta, B. K. (2006) · UCL Discovery (University College London) · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Self-citationShaw, J., & Sutcliffe, J. V. (2003) · South Asian Studies · doi:10.1080/02666030.2003.9628622 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Early agricultural communities in northern and eastern India: an archaeobotanical investigation.
Harvey, E. L. (2007) · OpenGrey (Institut de l'Information Scientifique et Technique) · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Pollen and Phytolith Analyses of Ancient Paddy Fields at Chuodun Site, the Yangtze River Delta
Li, C., Zhang, G., Yang, L., et al. (2007) · Pedosphere · doi:10.1016/s1002-0160(07)60027-7 · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Immature rice and its archaeobotanical recognition: a reply to Pan
Fuller, D. Q., & Qin, L. (2008) · Antiquity Project Gallery 2002–2016 · doi:10.15184/s2978855200903652 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Self-citationPollen and Phytolith Analyses of Ancient Paddy Fields at Chuodun Site, the Yangtze River Delta
-, L., Chunhai, Zhang, et al. (2007) · Acta Scientiarum Naturalium Universitatis Sunyatseni · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Phytoliths of Rice detected in the Neolithic Sites in the Valley of the Taihu Lake in China
Zheng, Y., Matsui, A., & Fujiwara, H. (2003) · Environmental Archaeology · doi:10.1179/146141003790734604 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Research on the Husks Ancient Rice in the Shixia Ruins
Dong-fang, X. (2007) · Journal of Guangxi University for Nationalities · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Ancient Rice from Shixia Ruins at Maba of Qujiang in Guangdong Province
Zhang, W., & Li, Q. (2006) · ACTA AGRONOMICA SINICA · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Extensive global wetland loss over the past three centuries
Fluet-Chouinard, E., Stocker, B. D., Zhang, Z., Malhotra, A., Melton, J. R., Poulter, B., Kaplan, J. O., Goldewijk, K. K., Siebert, S., Minayeva, T., et al. (2023) · Nature · doi:10.1038/s41586-022-05572-6 · Cited by 964 · see citing works
Fuller, D. Q., van Etten, J., Manning, K., Castillo, C., Kingwell-Banham, E., Weisskopf, A., Qin, L., Sato, Y.-I., & Hijmans, R. J. (2011) · The Holocene · doi:10.1177/0959683611398052 · Cited by 235 · see citing works
Self-citationEast Africa and Madagascar in the Indian Ocean world
Boivin, N., Crowther, A., Helm, R., & Fuller, D. Q. (2013) · Journal of World Prehistory · doi:10.1007/s10963-013-9067-4 · Cited by 232 · see citing works
Self-citationDiachronous beginnings of the Anthropocene: The lower bounding surface of anthropogenic deposits
Edgeworth, M., deB Richter, D., Waters, C., Haff, P., Neal, C., & Price, S. J. (2015) · The Anthropocene Review · doi:10.1177/2053019614565394 · Cited by 181 · see citing works
Modelling the Geographical Origin of Rice Cultivation in Asia Using the Rice Archaeological Database
Silva, F., Stevens, C. J., Weisskopf, A., Castillo, C., Qin, L., Bevan, A., & Fuller, D. Q. (2015) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0137024 · Cited by 146 · see citing works
Self-citationEffect of per-capita land use changes on Holocene forest clearance and CO2 emissions
Ruddiman, W. F., & Ellis, E. C. (2009) · Quaternary Science Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.05.022 · Cited by 141 · see citing works
The biocultural origins and dispersal of domestic chickens
Peters, J., Lebrasseur, O., Irving-Pease, E. K., Paxinos, P. D., Best, J., Smallman, R., Callou, C., Gardeisen, A., Trixl, S., Frantz, L., et al. (2022) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.2121978119 · Cited by 139 · see citing works
“sive systems with periods of fallow (102, 106), and thus more”
BackgroundSelf-citationNew radiocarbon evidence on early rice consumption and farming in South China
Yang, X., Wang, W., Zhuang, Y., Li, Z., Ma, Z., Ma, Y., Cui, Y., Wei, J., & Fuller, D. Q. (2017) · The Holocene · doi:10.1177/0959683616678465 · Cited by 105 · see citing works
Self-citationFuller, D. Q., & Qin, L. (2010) · Environmental Archaeology · doi:10.1179/146141010x12640787648531 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
Self-citationWhy Rice Farmers Don’t Sail: Coastal Subsistence Traditions and Maritime Trends in Early China
Qin, L., & Fuller, D. Q. (2019) · The Archaeology of Asia-Pacific Navigation · doi:10.1007/978-981-32-9256-7_9 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
Self-citationRice in Thailand: The Archaeobotanical Contribution
Castillo, C. (2011) · Rice · doi:10.1007/s12284-011-9070-2 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Shifting cultivators in South Asia: Expansion, marginalisation and specialisation over the long term
Kingwell-Banham, E., & Fuller, D. Q. (2012) · Quaternary International · doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2011.05.025 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
Self-citationSocial responses to climate change in Iron Age north-east Thailand: new archaeobotanical evidence
Castillo, C. C., Higham, C. F. W., Miller, K., Chang, N., Douka, K., Higham, T. F. G., & Fuller, D. Q. (2018) · Antiquity · doi:10.15184/aqy.2018.198 · Cited by 61 · see citing works
Self-citationPathways of rice diversification across Asia
Fuller, D. Q., Weisskopf, A. R., & Castillo, C. C. (2016) · Archaeology International · doi:10.5334/ai.1915 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Self-citationApproaching rice domestication in South Asia: New evidence from Indus settlements in northern India
Bates, J., Petrie, C. A., & Singh, R. N. (2017) · Journal of Archaeological Science · doi:10.1016/j.jas.2016.04.018 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Neolithic−Early historic (2500–200 BC) plant use: The archaeobotany of Ganga Plain, India
Pokharia, A. K., Sharma, S., Tripathi, D., Mishra, N., Pal, J. N., Vinay, R., & Srivastava, A. (2017) · Quaternary International · doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2016.09.018 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Silva, F., Weisskopf, A., Castillo, C., Murphy, C., Kingwell-Banham, E., Qin, L., & Fuller, D. Q. (2018) · The Holocene · doi:10.1177/0959683618788634 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Self-citation4 The origins and spread of cereal agriculture in Mainland Southeast Asia
Fuller, D. Q., & Cobo Castillo, C. (2021) · The Languages and Linguistics of Mainland Southeast Asia · doi:10.1515/9783110558142-004 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Self-citation
- Authors
- Fuller, D. Q., & Qin, L.
- Affiliations
- University College London (GB)
- Peking University (CN)
- Venue
- World Archaeology
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2009-03
- Volume
- 41
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 88-111
- ISSN
- 0043-8243 (ISSN-L)
- 1470-1375
- OpenAlex
- W2059638792
- Cited by
- 296
- References
- 67
- Citations by year
- 2026: 15 · 2025: 54 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 13 · 2019: 39 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 30 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 9.11
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- World Archaeology (publishedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- British Academy
- Peking University
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Archaeology and ancient environmental studies
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Rice Cultivation and Yield Improvement
- Social Sciences › Geography, Planning and Development › Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies
- Keywords
- rice, rice domestication, water management, labour, Indica rice, Oryza sativa subsp. japonica, rice cultivation, irrigation, weed flora, hunter-gatherers, social hierarchy, India, South Asia, Southeast Asia
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
