Wheat in Archaeological Discovery: An Introduction
Wheat is a high-yield crop in dry land and the most important food crop in northern China. The history of wheat development in China has always been a concern of academic circles. This is not only because of its significance in the study of agricultural history, but also because of its significance in the study of archaeological culture. With the in-depth study of the process of ancient civilization, the study of the relationship between population, resources and environment in prehistoric times has become a hot issue for archaeologists. Existing archaeological data show that it is in a critical period of civilization? During the ㎜ Longshan period, wheat remains generally appeared in archaeological sites, which may imply that the great changes of human society at that time were related to agriculture, especially wheat planting (1). The direct influence of agriculture on the development of archaeological culture is also obvious in the prehistoric culture in eastern North America (2). Due to the limitation of archaeological data, there are still many vague understandings about the historical process of the emergence and development of wheat as an important food crop in China. Through systematic collection of published archaeological data, this paper systematically summarizes and analyzes the wheat remains unearthed from archaeological sites in pre-Qin China (III), and on this basis, probes into the historical process of wheat production and development, and puts forward some ideas for future research.
Wheat in Archaeological Discovery —— Archaeological Discovery of Early Wheat Remains in China
According to the general view of academic circles, after the Western Han Dynasty, wheat has become one of the main food crops in northern China. The period from the Neolithic Age to the Pre-Qin period is a crucial period to explore the emergence and early development of this crop in China. So, in this article? Morning? It refers to the Qin Dynasty and the period before it. The study of early wheat in China has always been attached importance by botanists, agronomists and ancient philologists, but there is a lack of archaeological research. In fact, archaeological materials play a very key role in studying this problem.
After systematically searching the publicly reported archaeological remains of wheat, it is found that so far, the related reports of archaeological remains of wheat are not only small in number, but also low in reliability of some materials. We divide the collected relevant materials into two categories, one is published in official archaeological reports, and the other is reprinted or published in non-archaeological reports. The first kind of data can also be subdivided into two types according to whether the specimens have been identified by professionals.
As can be seen from the table, the earliest wheat remains are wheat plant impressions about 7000 years ago in Miaodigou, Shan County, Henan Province. This information was not reported in the official report, but only mentioned in the explanatory article; Think so? Wheat impression? It is not clear whether it is wheat or barley or other wheat. Prehistoric period unearthed in Wangjiawan, Baode, Shaanxi Province? Wheat grain mark? , neither seen in the official report, nor clear wheat or barley (23). The remains found at the local pier site of Shirenzi, Barkun County, Xinjiang, reported in the 1960s, are also? Mai? It is not clear whether it is wheat or barley. In view of the above, we have doubts about these three materials for the time being, that is, we do not use these materials when analyzing the temporal and spatial distribution of early wheat remains in China. In addition, there are no references to the few remaining materials mentioned in reference 20, except for two towns in Rizhao, Shandong, Gleditsia sinensis in Luoyang, Henan, Joo Won? in Shaanxi and Diaoyutai in Bo County, Anhui. Naturally, the discovery of Xinmizhai in Yanshi Mall in Henan Province in the early Shang Dynasty and the discovery in the late Yin Ruins cannot be regarded as official data. As for the dating of the remains, we give priority to the dating results of carbonized wheat, but the dating of the carbonized remains itself has only recently been concerned, and most of the reports we have seen have not dated the carbonized remains themselves; Therefore, if the relationship between wheat remains and clear archaeological cultural remains is certain, its age will be adopted; The age of the three remains found in Xinjiang is determined according to the age of the archaeological cultural remains, but the problem is that the age of archaeological culture is also uncertain, such as Xinjiang? Including painted pottery types? There is no clear statement about the age of the tombs in the lower reaches of Peacock River, and the age of these three remains is only speculation. There are also some doubts in this paper, at least new data are needed to confirm it.
If you don't consider the above-mentioned doubtful wheat remains for the time being, you can make Figure L. From the figure, you can clearly see that the earliest wheat remains were in Longshan period, and the spatial distribution was from Xishanping site in Tianshui, Gansu Province (4800 years ago) to Donghui Mountain in Minle, Gansu Province (5000 years ago? In 4000), Zhao Jialai (4400? 4000), Qishan Joo Won?, to Shandong (24) chiping Jiaochangpu, Jiaozhou Zhaojiazhuang, Rizhao and other towns; There are not only wheat remains, but also barley remains in Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, including Wang Chenggang in Dengfeng, Henan, Gleditsia sinensis in Luoyang, Erlitou in Yanshi (Erlitou Culture Phase III) in Erlitou Culture, Erlitou in Yanshi, Henan, Joo Won? in Qishan, Shaanxi, Changguogou in Tibet in Shang Dynasty, Diaoyutai in Bo County, Anhui Province, and Fengtai in Qinghai in Zhou Dynasty.
The above data show that during the Longshan period, wheat suddenly appeared on a large scale in the Yellow River basin of China, and from the morphology of carbonized wheat unearthed from Zhaojiazhuang and other sites in Jiaozhou, it is obviously fully domesticated and mature wheat, which has been far away from the initial stage of wheat planting activities. However, we found that there was no trace of wheat in Longshan period in Henan Province. Later, in the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the spatial distribution of wheat remains expanded. If we compare this archaeological discovery with the wheat yield recorded in the literature of Shang Dynasty, we find that they are extremely disproportionate. At the same time, it recognizes the development of archaeological culture in Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, especially the rapid development of social economy, which is inconsistent with the small number of wheat remains discovered by archaeology. Based on this, we speculate that the wheat remains found in Longshan period are quite different from those found in Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, that is, there will be wheat remains in the archaeological site of Longshan period in Henan Province (25), and the quantity and distribution of wheat remains in Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties may far exceed what we have found now.
Wheat in Archaeological Discovery: Research Status of Early Wheat in China
The origin of wheat in China has always been a topic of interest in academic circles. Generally speaking, to explore the origin and development of a certain crop cultivation in a country or region, we must first understand the temporal and spatial scope of its development. The earliest place or region is often considered as origin, and the time in that place is the time of origin. China planted common hexaploid wheat in ancient times. There are two basically opposite views on the source of early wheat in China. One view is that the early wheat in China spread from West Asia to Central Asia (26), while the other view is that the wheat in China originated locally. Some people claim that it originated in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River and its plateau area (27), while others claim that it originated in the lower reaches of the Yellow River in Shandong Province (28).
The view that common wheat spread from West Asia is mainly based on the fact that China does not have the species conditions of common wheat. Common wheat (namely, hexaploid wheat) is a species formed by naturally crossing two cultivated wheat and four cultivated Aegilops, and the hybrid chromosomes are naturally doubled (29). China has never planted two grains of wheat in history, and there are no wild two grains of wheat in nature. Therefore, although Aegilops tauschii, as a natural vegetation component, is distributed in Ili Valley of Xinjiang and exists as a weed in the middle reaches of the Yellow River in Shaanxi and Henan provinces, China does not have the objective conditions for natural hybridization between Aegilops tauschii and Erzhong wheat, that is, it does not have the conditions for the formation of common wheat varieties. At present, archaeological data show that around 5000 BC, one kind of common wheat (hulled Spelta wheat) was unearthed in many archaeological sites in Central and Eastern Europe, while around 4000 BC, another kind of common wheat appeared in Central Asia, central Anatolia Plateau, India and Middle East Europe, which may be the wheat variety (30) introduced to China later, while the common wheat in China was only around 5000 years old. Of course, in fact, common wheat, as a species, although not formed in China, has undergone many variations since it spread to China, which is the result of adapting to the environment. These changes include? Yunnan wheat? (Ordinary wheat. Yunnan king)? Tibet semi-wild wheat? Weeds in the field. Tibet Shao)? Xinjiang wheat? (ordinary wheat petropavlovshiyidong) and so on. The center of species origin and diversity are two different concepts; The origin center refers to the place where a species forms. When a species undergoes long-term natural selection and artificial cultivation under new environmental conditions, it may form many new variations and produce some new species. This place with rich variation is called center of diversity, which is also called the center of diversity or secondary origin. China has the largest variety of common wheat in the world, and China is the center of diversity, diversity and secondary origin of common wheat.
Scholars who advocate that common wheat originated in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River and its plateau areas are mainly based on the fact that in the 1950s, Aegilops tauschii, which is related to hexaploid common wheat, was discovered in Lushi County, Henan Province, Sanmenxia, Luoyang, Baoji, Xi 'an and other places. In the 1970s, hexaploid wild wheat. 1 1 month) was found in Tibet. According to these findings, some scholars put forward the view that common wheat originated in China, and even claimed that China wheat spread from east to west (32) until Europe (33). However, even if Aegilops tauschii was found in China, if it can't be proved that Aegilops tauschii was cultivated in China, the conclusion that hexaploid common wheat is a cross between cultivated Aegilops tauschii and Aegilops tauschii has not been corrected, and it can't be proved that common wheat may have originated in China. As for it? Unique from China? Yunnan wheat? In ordinary wheat? It is not difficult to find a similar natural evolutionary pedigree of hexaploid common wheat from wild type to cultivated type. This statement not only does not conform to the current understanding of the formation conditions of common wheat (hexaploid common wheat is a hybrid of cultivated emmer wheat and Aegilops tauschii), but also needs to be proved. Only by finding the similar natural evolution pedigree of hexaploid common wheat from wild type to cultivated type in Yunnan wheat and other common wheat through experiments can we further speculate that common wheat may have originated in China, and on this basis, archaeological evidence is needed. In fact, the archaeological remains of carbonized wheat do not support this view. At present, the remains of early carbonized wheat found in the middle, upper and lower reaches of the Yellow River are basically the same age, and there is no evidence of early carbonized wheat found in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River.
The view that wheat originated in Shandong and then spread to surrounding areas is mainly based on ancient documents. The credibility of ancient documents is a cliche. Moreover, it must be noted that the most densely distributed place of carbonized wheat remains in Longshan culture period is in Shandong, which may imply that wheat planting in Shandong Province has developed to a certain extent during Longshan culture period. Moreover, from the morphological characteristics of carbonized wheat remains, the carbonized wheat remains in Longshan culture period in Shandong Province have been far from the origin stage of cultivated wheat and have the characteristics of a certain development stage. So, if only according to the ancient literature and archaeological data, it is concluded that ordinary wheat originated in eastern China? In Shandong province, the evidence is obviously insufficient. Moreover, it is impossible to study the origin of a certain crop without the participation of modern biological research. At present, not only in Shandong province, but also in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, there is no trace of Aegilops tauschii.
Generally speaking, the above viewpoints are flawed, that is, they fail to prove the exact source of wheat. If we look at the archaeological remains of carbonized wheat listed in the figure and table again, we will find that this situation is logical, that is, the current archaeological discoveries and related research (referring to the paleobotanical analysis related to wheat and other remains, etc.). ) does not support us to make a scientific conclusion about the history of early wheat in China, and we can only speculate based on some data. In other words, it is far from time to draw a conclusion about the origin of early wheat in China. Referring to the historical process of the study on the origin of wheat in West Asia and rice in East Asia, we think that the study on the history of early wheat in China needs to accumulate a lot of archaeological data, and at the same time, we should carry out research on wild plant resources and other related fields.
Wheat in Archaeological Discovery —— Some Thoughts on Early Wheat Research in China
We believe that the early wheat planting research in China should be systematically analyzed from archaeological discoveries, planting environmental conditions and wild plant resources (34).
1. Archaeological discovery of wheat remains
These two views on the origin of wheat in China need to be improved by systematically analyzing modern plants and archaeological remains. Our research needs to accumulate data and explore methods. We agree to adopt a new viewpoint to study the origin of rice farming in China (35). Archaeological remains should first accumulate data, and then conduct a comprehensive study of morphology.
The first part sorts out and analyzes the wheat remains found at present. The results show that among those reliable materials, the earliest wheat remains belong to the early Longshan period, that is, about 4800 years ago, and various quantities of wheat remains were found in the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Since the Longshan period, wheat has been widely distributed in the Yellow River basin, and has been found in both upstream and downstream. Henan in the middle reaches of the Yellow River has not been found, which may be due to work. In fact, the archaeological discovery of wheat in China still has great limitations. First of all, the number of sites that have been investigated and excavated is quite different from the actual number of archaeological sites, and there are still many blank areas in space. Although it is impossible to predict how many sites with wheat remains can be found if plant remains are extracted from more sites at present, at least there will be some breakthrough discoveries, otherwise the sudden appearance of wheat universality in Longshan culture period cannot be explained. Second, only a few of the sites that have been investigated and excavated have undergone flotation. Assuming that more than 50% of the excavated sites have undergone flotation and scientific sampling, we find that the number of wheat remains will also increase exponentially. While accumulating the data of wheat remains, we must also pay attention to related data, including the remains of weeds and farmland related to early wheat cultivation, the research of tools related to wheat cultivation and harvest, and the discovery and research of irrigation system. In the above research work, we should comprehensively use the analysis of large plant remains (carbonized plant seeds, plant debris, etc.) and other plant archaeological means. ) and microscopic residues (pollen, phytolith and starch granules, etc. ).
To explore the relationship between wheat planting in China and West Asia, Xinjiang and Tibet should be paid attention to. The carbonized wheat in the Neolithic age or pre-Qin period in Xinjiang needs systematic sampling and analysis. Systematic sampling and analysis of plant archaeology in northwest China may be the only way to clarify the history of wheat planting in China.
According to the analysis of plant archaeological discoveries in Shandong in recent years (36), there are many wheat in the sites that have undergone systematic flotation. We have reason to believe that if systematic plant archaeological analysis is carried out in the Yellow River basin, it is possible to obtain more and earlier wheat remains in the whole Yellow River basin and even in ancient sites in northern China. In this context, if we discuss the origin and development of early wheat in China, we will certainly get more reliable evidence. Of course, we still need to think from the theory and mode according to the research and discovery at home and abroad, so as to prepare for the comprehensive research. If wheat spread from the northwest to Shandong, we need to find more evidence from the study of archaeological culture, because the spread of this agricultural technology should be achieved through the exchange of personnel.
In addition, we need to analyze and study the wheat remains in different time and space. At present, only the carbonized wheat unearthed in Jiazui, Zhou Yuanwang, Shaanxi Province has been determined and analyzed, and the result is 12 1 grain, in which 1 grain belongs to Longshan culture period; Wheat has typical characteristics, such as cylindrical shape, bulging back and deep abdominal ditch. Among them, 20 grains were randomly selected and measured, and the average length and width were 3.39 and 2.6 1 mm respectively, which was slightly smaller than that of modern wheat. The wheat remains unearthed in the tombs on the north bank of the lower reaches of Peacock River in Xinjiang have been more than 4,000 years ago, and their grains are obviously smaller than those unearthed in Shirenzeng local mound site in Bakun County, Xinjiang (37).
2. Analysis of planting conditions
Most agronomists or agroclimatologists claim that there is no condition for growing wheat in northern China without irrigation system (38). The main reason is that wheat planting needs snow water to conserve moisture in winter and spring, and the climatic conditions in North China cannot meet this demand. Without irrigation system, it is difficult to grow wheat. Then, we need to answer two questions: (1) How different were the climatic conditions in Longshan period or earlier? This question needs to be studied in paleoclimate and environment, and it is not yet possible to give an exact answer. However, the published research results of Holocene climate show that the climate was much warmer and wetter during the Holocene to Yangshao period, while the Longshan period experienced a process of cooling and drying (39), while the existing archaeological findings show that rice was still widely planted in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River during the Longshan period (40), which may indicate that even during the Longshan period, the temperature and precipitation conditions were better than those in modern times. Therefore, in the early Holocene, the Yellow River basin may have the temperature and precipitation conditions for growing wheat. (2) Is there an irrigation system in the Yellow River basin in Longshan period or earlier, or is there the possibility of an irrigation system? The answer to this question is yes. First of all, rice has been widely planted in Yangshao era, and rice planting needs irrigation system, so it is objectively qualified to build wheat irrigation facilities; Secondly, the wells that appeared around 7000 years ago in Longshan period may be related to the irrigation system (4 1). Therefore, although the archaeological remains of irrigation system have not been found yet, there should be no doubt that irrigation system existed in Longshan culture even earlier. Here, we should also consider the great difficulty in preserving the irrigation system in prehistoric times, because China is an ancient agricultural country, which has been engaged in farming activities for generations, and later generations have destroyed or reformed the irrigation system of the previous generation, which objectively made it difficult for us to find the irrigation system in prehistoric times.
The above analysis shows that the Yellow River basin had the climatic conditions for growing wheat even earlier in Longshan period, and there may be irrigation systems, which can meet the needs of wheat planting objectively.
4. Study on wild plant resources
Agriculture is the relationship between people and plants. About the origin of a crop cultivation, it is only possible in areas where the wild ancestors of this crop are distributed. Only the diversity center of wild ancestors can be the origin center, which has been confirmed by the origin research institute of rice and wheat in West Asia. Therefore, to study the history of early wheat planting in China, it is necessary not only to systematically extract and analyze the archaeological remains of plants, but also to carry out research on plant ecology, and the first task is to carry out botanical investigation. In this regard, there have been some foundations. In 1950s, Aegilops crassipes was first discovered in Sanmenxia County and Lushi County, Shaanxi Province, Henan Province. Later, it was found that it was widely distributed in many places in the Yellow River basin, even in Xinyuan pastoral area of Xinjiang. Experiments have proved that it is one of the parents of synthetic hexaploid common wheat, and it is called? China wheat grass? (42); Discovered in Yunnan one after another? Iron shell wheat? Yunnan wheat is a transitional type from wild species to synthetic hexaploid wheat.
With further investigation and study, we can make efforts in two aspects and make a breakthrough. Firstly, in the area where the earliest wheat remains were found (43), the wild plant resources were systematically investigated, the wheat seed morphology and possible agricultural areas were analyzed, and their relationship with the earliest common wheat remains in West Asia was discussed. This research result will be an important reference for us to understand the origin of early wheat in China. Secondly, systematically analyze the ecological environment characteristics of the existing wild ancestors of wheat in China, study the vegetation reconstruction in the surrounding areas since Holocene, and look for plant resources related to wheat domestication in the early Neolithic period. This result will be an important supplement to the first study.
Pre-Qin period was the initial development stage of wheat planting in China.
Existing archaeological data show that wheat planting in the Yellow River basin has been common since the Longshan period, and wheat planting may have maintained a sustained development momentum in Erlitou culture and Shang and Zhou dynasties, while literature records can prove that wheat has become a very important food crop in northern China since the Western Han Dynasty (44).
Traditionally, wheat was discovered in the lower reaches of the Yellow River in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties (45). Now it seems that this view definitely needs to be revised. During the Longshan culture period, wheat was not only planted in Shandong province in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, but also may become more common. The position of wheat in crops may be second only to rice or millet and millet, but it is definitely more valued than soybean. Traces of carbonized wheat were found in four sites of Longshan culture period in Shandong province, which may indicate that local wheat cultivation was quite common at that time. Of course, to prove this problem, it is necessary to carry out plant archaeological research on more Longshan cultural sites. The same is true in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River. At present, the earliest wheat remains found in China are carbonized wheat unearthed from Xishanping site in Tianshui, Gansu Province, which is 4600 years ago and the Donghuishan site in Minle, Gansu Province is 5000 years ago. Four thousand years. Whether the data of this era shows that wheat planting in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River appeared earlier than that in the lower reaches of the Yellow River is still inconclusive, and more archaeological evidence is needed.
At present, the number of wheat-related remains found in Xia Dynasty is small, and they are mainly concentrated in Luoyang, Henan Province, which may be related to the short duration of Xia Dynasty and the lack of systematic plant archaeology research in archaeological sites. At present, remains related to wheat have been found, such as carbonized wheat in Erlitou culture period in Dengfeng, Wang Chenggang, carbonized wheat and barley in Erlitou culture period in Luoyang, and the third phase of Erlitou culture in Yanshi, Henan Province is equivalent to pottery tablets engraved with wheat ears, and the wheat grains are full and long (there is another rice ear fragment).
The number of remains related to wheat in Shang and Zhou archaeological sites has increased, and the distribution range has obviously expanded. In the late Shang Dynasty, there were mainly carbonized wheat in Erlitou site of Yanshi, Henan Province. About 1370 BC (3500 years ago), barley, wheat, millet, naked oats and peas were unearthed at the Neolithic site in Changguogou, Tibet. More than 2,000 carbonized plant seeds were obtained by flotation in Fengtai Kaga Cultural Site, Qinghai Province, among which barley (H. vulgate), wheat (T.aestivum) and millet (S.italica) were the main ones, with barley accounting for more than 90% and more weed seeds in farmland, which may indicate that local farming activities are relatively large (49). Carbonized wheat (50) was stored at the Diaoyutai site in Tao Ge in Hao County, Anhui Province, during the Western Zhou Dynasty. The quantity of wheat in Joo Won? accounts for 1.7% of the unearthed grain, and the unearthed probability has not been announced. The quantity of wheat in early Zhou accounted for13% of the grain unearthed in the same period; It may indicate that Zhou people have planted wheat on a large scale.
According to the existing archaeological data, it is not mature to analyze the proportion of crops in the pre-Qin period in China, mainly because the number of sites that have been systematically analyzed by plant archaeology is too small, and the results are not statistically significant. However, the statistical significance of crop remains found by accident is even more doubtful because they are accidental. However, what we found in the Longshan cultural site in Shandong can give some enlightenment, because in the four sites that have been systematically studied in plant archaeology, four crops have been found, namely millet, millet, rice and wheat. Although it is impossible to determine whether the discovered legumes are artificially cultivated, their universality implies that the possibility of artificial cultivation is very high, at least in people's food at that time. We also noticed that even in Shandong, the proportion of all kinds of food crops in different places is different (5 1), which may reflect the influence of environment on crop composition to some extent. Because even in today's highly developed agricultural science and technology, the regional characteristics of agriculture are very obvious. We also noticed an obvious question, that is, does the wheat remains unearthed from the archaeological sites of the Neolithic Age mean that wheat was planted locally? Mr. Yan Wenming thinks that in the late Neolithic period (Daxi culture, Beiyin Ying Ying culture, Xuejiagang culture, Hemudu culture, Majiabang culture and Songze culture), agriculture is likely to dominate the industrial economy of the major cultural areas in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and trade activities are also very active in economic activities (52). If we admit that the Yellow River basin has the same level of development, then the wheat remains in archaeological sites may not necessarily reflect the wheat planting activities. The problem raised here is that in the process of studying ancient wheat farming activities, we must pay attention to the search and confirmation of wheat fields. Of course, the same is true for other crops such as rice and millet. The study of ancient farmland is a key step in the study of ancient agriculture.
To sum up, although there were natural conditions for growing wheat in the Neolithic culture of the Yellow River valley in China, and the earliest wheat remains in the archaeological discovery era were in Longshan period, whether the wheat in China was native to the local area is still a scientific problem that needs multidisciplinary cooperation to prove. Moreover, the study of ancient wheat planting in China will also become a common concern of archaeology and agriculture.