World’s ‘Oldest’ Rice Found in South Korea
Ancient Leftovers: ‘Oldest’ Rice Grains
Oct. 22, 2003 — South Korean archaeologists said Wednesday they had found the world’s oldest known domesticated rice, pushing back by thousands of years the recorded origins of Asia’s staple food.
Radioactive dating of the 59 burnt grains of rice found in central South Korea has pushed back the date for the earliest known cultivation of the plant to somewhere between 14,000 and 15,000 years ago, they said.
“This discovery challenges the accepted view about where rice originated and how it evolved,” said Professor Lee Yung-Jo of Chungbuk National University in Cheongju.
Carbonized rice grains, which were found near the Yellow River and Yangtze River in China and were considered to be the world’s oldest rice, were dated between 10,500 and 11,000 years ago, he explained.
“It suggests that rice may have also evolved in areas which are far north from there,” he said.
The rice grains were found by Lee and his colleague Woo Jong-Yoon of the same university in Sorori in the central province of North Chungcheong, which is located between 36 and 37 degrees of latitude north.
According to Lee, the excavations were made between 1997 and 1998 and again in 2001.
The rice is genetically different from modern varieties, which will allow researchers to trace its evolution, he added.
Rice is the staple food for more than half the world’s population and Asia accounts for about 90 percent of its production and consumption of rice.
Source: Discovery Channel
Find out more about the excavated oldest rice grains (japonica and indica types) discovered at Sorori, see The oldest Sorori Rice Cyber Museum and Excavation of the Sorori Palaeolithic site and its significance.
Related references:
Excavation of the Sorori Palaeolithic site and its significance (4th International Rice Genetics Symposium, Manilla, Philipines, Oct. 22-27, 2000) by LEE, Yung-jo & WOO, Jong-yoon (Carbon isotope dating was obtained from well-stratified upper Pleistocene layers. As carbonized rice age in the Sorori site is the world’s oldest, it will be important for understanding origin and evolution of rice species.)
Where was Cultivated Rice Born? By Sato Yo-Ichiro and Fujiwara Hiroshi Southeast Asian Studies, Vol.30, No.1(19920600) pp. 59-68 ISSN:05638682 Vol. 30 Kyoto University
Evidence for the early beginning (c. 9000 cal. BP) of rice domestication in China: a response by Li Liu The Holocene, Vol. 17, No. 8, 1059-1068 (2007) DOI: 10.1177/0959683607085121
The Oldest Rice Cultivation: 7,700 Years Old – In Eastern China
China’s 7,000-year-old crop – rice by Hu Baoxin
Cord Impressed Ware and rice cultivation in South Asia, China and Japan: possibilities of inter-links by Jeewan S. Kharakwal, Azusa Yano, Yoshinori Yasuda, V. S. Shinde and Toshiki Osada Quaternary International
Volumes 123-125, 2004
Other related rice links:
The god who stole rice Inari-sama
Obayashi Taryo “Rice in myth and legend”. UNESCO Courier. Dec 1984. FindArticles.com. 07 Jul. 2008.
The Super Rice Challenge by Jodon, Nelson Apr. 1995. v. 45 Bioscience
A Household god – rice in Korea
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