Abstract
Identifying prehistoric irrigated rice fields and characterizing the beginning of paddy soil development are important for a better understanding of human development and agricultural history. In 2003, paddy soils and irrigated rice fields buried at a depth of 100–130 cm were excavated at Chuo-dun-shan in the Yangtze River Delta, close to Suzhou, China. The fields of sizes between 1.4 and 16 m2 were surrounded with ridges that were connected to ditches/ponds via outlets to control the water level within the fields. Many carbonized and partly carbonized rice grains with an age of 3,903 B.C.(measured 14C age 5,129±45 a BP) were recovered. The surface layers of these buried paddy fields showed a high content of soil organic matter and a considerable high density of rice opals. The latter were identified to derive from Oryza spp. Solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy revealed aromatic carbon (C) as the predominant organic C form in the fossil surface layer. This is expected, if the major source represents burnt rice and straw. In summary, our data are in agreement with new evidences indicating that in China, paddy soils and irrigated rice cultivation were initiated and developed more than 6,000 years ago.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the NSFC for their grant No. 40335047 and the Sino-German Center (DFG-NSFC) for the support of international collaboration. Sincere thanks to Prof. H. L. Sun at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China and Prof. Dr. B. Sattelmacher at the Universität Kiel, Germany for their supportive encouragement and academic advices. Greatly appreciated is the 14C dating analysis by Dr. Y. H. Wu. Friends from the Kunshan Institute of Archeology and the Soil and Fertilizer Station of Suzhou are graciously thanked for their help with sampling.
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Cao, Z.H., Ding, J.L., Hu, Z.Y. et al. Ancient paddy soils from the Neolithic age in China’s Yangtze River Delta. Naturwissenschaften 93, 232–236 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-006-0083-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-006-0083-4