Cited by 146Archaeology and ancient environmental studiesRice Cultivation and Yield ImprovementPacific and Southeast Asian Studies

Modelling the Geographical Origin of Rice Cultivation in Asia Using the Rice Archaeological Database

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Silva, Fabio, Stevens, Chris J., Weisskopf, Alison, Castillo, Cristina, Qin, Ling, Bevan, Andrew, Fuller, Dorian Q.·2015·PLOS ONE

Abstract

We have compiled an extensive database of archaeological evidence for rice across Asia, including 400 sites from mainland East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia. This dataset is used to compare several models for the geographical origins of rice cultivation and infer the most likely region(s) for its origins and subsequent outward diffusion. The approach is based on regression modelling wherein goodness of fit is obtained from power law quantile regressions of the archaeologically inferred age versus a least-cost distance from the putative origin(s). The Fast Marching method is used to estimate the least-cost distances based on simple geographical features. The origin region that best fits the archaeobotanical data is also compared to other hypothetical geographical origins derived from the literature, including from genetics, archaeology and historical linguistics. The model that best fits all available archaeological evidence is a dual origin model with two centres for the cultivation and dispersal of rice focused on the Middle Yangtze and the Lower Yangtze valleys.

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Crossref · 10.1371/journal.pone.0137024

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  • Rice and millet cultivating communities dispersed from the Yangtze valley into southern China by the mid-third millennium BCE, and from there into peninsular Southeast Asia.

    “An analysis of the material culture (including pottery decoration) associated with these agriculturalists suggests that rice and millet cultivating communities dispersed from the Yangtze valley (89–92) into southern China, where they arrived by the mid-third millennium BCE (90, 93). From there, they continued into peninsular Southeast Asia, where people following distinct dispersal pathways emph”

    From The biocultural origins and dispersal of domestic chickens (2022) · cites this paper as [90]

    The Discussion identifies the wider Yangtze valley as an origin of rice farming and models the dispersal of cultivated rice from that region. The cited paper does not establish that rice-and-millet cultivating communities followed the stated route, arrived in southern China by the mid-third millennium BCE, or continued into peninsular Southeast Asia. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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Research works printed but not linked: 5

  1. [4]Oka HI. Origins of Cultivated Rice. Oxford, New York and Tokyo: Japan Scientific Societies Press and Elsevier; 1988.
  2. [23]Bellwood P. First Farmers. Oxford: Blackwell; 2005.
  3. [43]Connolly J, Lake M. Geographic Information Systems in Archaeology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2006.
  4. [67]Edwards AWF. Likelihood Expanded edition. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press; 1992.
  5. [73]Ribeiro PJ Jr, Diggle PJ. geoR: a package for geostatistical analysis. R-NEWS 2001; 1(2): 15– 18.

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Authors
Silva, F., Stevens, C. J., Weisskopf, A., Castillo, C., Qin, L., Bevan, A., & Fuller, D. Q.
Affiliations
  • University College London (GB)
  • Peking University (CN)
Venue
PLOS ONE
Published
2015-09-01
Volume
10
Issue
9
Pages
e0137024
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W1825971118
Cited by
146
References
90
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 18 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 28 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 3
FWCI
12.39
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Bournemouth University Research Online (Bournemouth University) (acceptedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Natural Environment Research Council (NE/G005540/1, NE/K003402/1, NRCF010002)
  • FP7 Ideas: European Research Council (323842)
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 cultivation, archaeological site, archaeobotany, power-law regression, fast marching method, East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, crop domestication
MeSH terms
Archaeology, Asia, Geography, Models, Theoretical, Oryza, Databases, Factual

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