For nearly half a century, there have been many theories about the origin of rice, such as "India theory", "the upper reaches of the Pearl River" and "the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River". It is reported that the rice remains unearthed in Mahagara, India in the 1980s are about 6570 years ago. According to the theory of the upper reaches of the Pearl River, in 7400, the rice in the fourth cultural layer of Hemudu Village in Yuyao County, Zhejiang Province was about 7000 years ago, while the rice remains unearthed in Pengtoushan Site in Lixian County, Hunan Province were 9 100 years ago. ?
In order to solve the mystery of the origin of rice, in June last year165438+1early October, the Sino-US joint archaeological team of "Archaeological Research on the Origin of Rice in China", which was composed of Harvard University, Peking University and Hunan Institute of Archaeology, brought together more than 20 experts at home and abroad to excavate Yuchanyan in Daoxian County. In 1990s, four rice husks 12000 years ago were unearthed here. The focus of this excavation is on a soil exploration area with a length of 4 meters and a width of 0.5 meters. By means of sampling and flotation, experts found five carbonized brown rice grains dating back to 12000 on June 65438+1October/9. According to preliminary analysis, Yuchanyan site is the best preserved and earliest remains of ancient cultivated rice in the world. ?
1993165438+10. In October, the Yuchan Rock was first excavated by Hunan Institute of Archaeology, and ancient cultivated rice and primitive pottery pieces were found. 1995 10, the archaeological team excavated Yuchan Rock again and made a scientific judgment on the specimens. It is confirmed that the world's earliest original cultivated rice and original pottery pieces unearthed here are between 12000 and 14000. In March, 200 1 year, Yuchanyan site was listed as "100 Major Archaeological Discovery in 20th Century China" by China Academy of Social Sciences.