In the past 10 years, flotation techniques have been introduced and implemented in Chinese archaeology. As a result, a tremendous quantity of plant remains have been recovered from archaeological ...sites located all over China. These plant remains include crops that might have been domesticated in China—such as rice, foxtail millet, broomcorn millet, and soybean—as well as crops that were introduced into China from other parts of world—such as wheat and barley. The new archaeobotanic data provide direct archaeological evidence for the study of the origins and development of agriculture in China. This paper attempts a synthesis of these new archaeobotanic data while presenting some new ideas about the origins and development of ancient agriculture in China, including the rice agriculture tradition that originated around the middle and lower Yangtze River areas; the dry-land agriculture tradition, with millets as major crops, centered in North China; and the ancient tropical agriculture tradition located in the tropical parts of China, where the major crops seem to be roots and tubers, such as taro.
Rice (Oryza sativa) is one of the most important cereal grains in the world today and serves as a staple food source for more than half of the world’s population. Research into when, where, and how ...rice was brought into cultivation and eventually domesticated, along with its development into a staple food source, is thus essential. These questions have been a point of nearly continuous research in both archaeology and genetics, and new information has continually come to light as theory, data acquisition, and analytical techniques have advanced over time. Here, we review the broad history of our scientific understanding of the rice domestication process from both an archaeological and genetic perspective and examine in detail the information that has come to light in both of these fields in the last 10 y. Current findings from genetics and archaeology are consistent with the domestication of O. sativa japonica in the Yangtze River valley of southern China. Interestingly, although it appears rice was cultivated in the area by as early 8000 BP, the key domestication trait of nonshattering was not fixed for another 1,000 y or perhaps longer. Rice was also cultivated in India as early as 5000 BP, but the domesticated indica subspecies currently appears to be a product of the introgression of favorable alleles from japonica . These findings are reshaping our understanding of rice domestication and also have implications for understanding the complex evolutionary process of plant domestication.
China was one of the major centers for the origin of agriculture in the world. The origins of agriculture in China, especially the origin of rice agriculture, made a significant contribution not only ...to the occurrence of Chinese civilization but also to the development of world history. Recently, the study on the origin of rice agriculture has attracted the attention of the academic community due to the dramatic development of archaeobotanical research in China. In recent years, the flotation technique has widely implemented in archaeological excavations in China. As the result, a tremendous amount of plant remains have been recovered from archaeological sites, including those much related to the study of early rice agriculture. The new data provide direct archaeological evidence for, and raise some new issues about, the origin of rice agriculture in China. For example, the rice remains from the Shangshan site, dated to ca. 10,000 cal. B.P., suggest the beginning of rice cultivation regardless of whether that rice was domesticated or not. The quantitative analysis of plant remains recovered by floatation from the Jiahu site, dated to ca. 8,000 cal. B.P., revealed that the subsistence of the Jiahu people mainly relied on fishing/hunting/gathering, while the products of rice cultivation and animal husbandry were only a supplement to their diet. The ongoing excavation, with floatation and water-sieving, at the Tianluoshan site, dated to 6,000 to 7,000 cal. B.P., suggests that rice farming, though important, was only part of a broader subsistence pattern of the Hemudu Culture, and rice domestication culminated after 6,500 B.P and the beginning of rice domestication remain unclear.
Many of today's major food crops are distributed worldwide. While much of this ‘food globalisation’ has resulted from modern trade networks, it has its roots in prehistory. In this paper, we examine ...cereal crops that moved long distances across the Old World between 5000 and 1500 BC. Drawing together recent archaeological evidence, we are now able to construct a new chronology and biogeography of prehistoric food globalisation. Here we rationalize the evidence for this process within three successive episodes: pre-5000 BC, between 5000 and 2500 BC, and between 2500 and 1500 BC. Each episode can be characterized by distinct biogeographical patterns, social drivers of the crop movements, and ecological constraints upon the crop plants. By 1500 BC, this process of food globalisation had brought together previously isolated agricultural systems, to constitute a new kind of agriculture in which the bringing together of local and exotic crops enables a new form of intensification.
•‘Food globalisation’ has its roots in prehistory.•Before 5000 BC, communities utilized foothill, alluvial and catchment locations.•Between 5000 and 2500 BC, Tibetan Plateau and the Asian monsoons, separate east and west, north and south.•Between 2500 and 1500 BC, translocations brought crops to novel thermal and hydrologic context. Previously isolated agricultural systems were brought together.•Perpetual needs of the poor and ephemeral cultural choices of the powerful.
Thirty-five years ago, the idea of a young Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau was proposed based on a comprehensive investigation on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. This hypothesis suggested that the plateau began ...to rise from a planation surface （relict surface） that was less than 1000 m high formed during the Miocene to Pliocene. The fast uplift, i.e., the Qingzang Movement, began since -3.6 Ma, evidenced by massive molasse deposits around the plateau margin and the synchronous occurrence of faulted basins within the plateau. However, later studies challenged this idea and suggested earlier （8, 14 or 35 Ma） formation of the huge plateau topography. Here we reevaluate the Qingzang Movement on the basis of our previous results and in light of new studies in the recent decades. The plateau margin has been subjected to intensive incision by very large drainages and shows the landscape characteristics of an ＂infant＂ stage of the geomorphological cycle. However, these drainages were not formed until 1.7-1.9 Ma; headwater erosion has not yet reached the hinterland of the plateau, so the interior of Tibet is free of significant erosion despite its lofty elevation, and remains an ＂old stage＂ landform. If the mean erosion rate is equivalent to the sum of clastic and soluble discharges of the modern rivers draining the Tibetan Plateau, it should have been worn down to a lowland within 8.6 Ma, ignoring tectonic uplift and isostasy. The massive conglomerate around the plateau margin began to deposit at about 3.6 Ma, indicating an increased relief after that time. Furthermore, the Hipparion fauna sites were widely distributed, and elephants, giraffes, and rhinos were abundant in the Qaidam Basin until the early Pliocene. Cenozoic climate change alone is not able to account for the dense occurrence of Hipparion fauna, unless the paleo-elevation of Tibet was lowered. The rise of Tibet since the Qingzang Movement has had a great influence on the Asian interior aridification.
China's historiographical traditions tell of the successful control of a Great Flood leading to the establishment of the Xia dynasty and the beginning of civilization. However, the historicity of the ...flood and Xia remain controversial. Here, we reconstruct an earthquake-induced landslide dam outburst flood on the Yellow River about 1920 BCE that ranks as one of the largest freshwater floods of the Holocene and could account for the Great Flood. This would place the beginning of Xia at ∼1900 BCE, several centuries later than traditionally thought. This date coincides with the major transition from the Neolithic to Bronze Age in the Yellow River valley and supports hypotheses that the primary state-level society of the Erlitou culture is an archaeological manifestation of the Xia dynasty.
The earliest direct dates of wheat in East Asia come from Donghuishan in Gansu Province, China. Few other dates of wheat in East Asia are direct dates. The previous direct dates at Donghuishan were ...obtained from wheat without secure context. New samples were taken from a stratigraphic profile at Donghuishan and directly dated. The wheat remains are earlier than any other directly dated wheat east of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, but considerably later than the previously dated specimen from the same site. These new dates, from the early second millennium BC, are the earliest evidence of significant wheat and barley production and show that the Hexi Corridor played a critical role in the introduction of wheat to China.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The application of plant dyes in the textile industry has been very limited due to their limited sources, incomplete color space, and narrow color gamut, etc. Therefore, studies of the color ...properties and color gamut of natural dyes and the corresponding dyeing processes are essential for completing the color space of natural dyes and their application. In this study, water extract from the bark of
(
) was used as a dye. Dyeing properties, color gamut, and color evaluation of dyed cotton fabrics were studied, and optimal dyeing conditions were obtained. The results showed that the optimal dyeing process was pre-mordanting with liquor ratio at 1:50,
dye concentration at 5.2 g/L, mordant concentration (aluminum potassium sulfate) at 5 g/L, dyeing temperature at 70 °C, dyeing time of 30 min, mordanting time of 15 min, and pH 5. Through the optimization of the dyeing process, a maximum color gamut range was obtained with lightness
value from 74.33 to 91.23,
value from -0.89 to 2.96,
value from 4.62 to 34.08, chroma
value from 5.49 to 34.09, and hue angle
° value from 57.35° to 91.57°. Colors from light yellow to dark yellow were obtained, among which 12 colors were identified according to the Pantone Matching Systems. The color fastness against soap-washing, rubbing, and sunlight on the dyed cotton fabrics all reached grade 3 level or above, further expanding the applicability of natural dyes.
Target We executed a Mendelian randomization (MR) investigation employing two distinct cohorts of genetic instrumental variables to elucidate the causal nexus between age at menarche (AAM) and the ...incidence of disparate breast cancer (BC) subtypes, in addition to the incidence of BC among first-degree kin. Methods We aggregated statistical data pertaining to AAM and BC from various consortia representing a homogenous population cohort. MR analysis was conducted employing inverse variance weighted (IVW) methodology as the principal approach, complemented by weighted median and MR-Egger regression techniques for an exhaustive evaluation. To evaluate the presence of pleiotropy, we applied the MR-Egger intercept test, MR-PRESSO, and leave-one-out sensitivity analysis. Results Upon exclusion of confounding SNP, an increment of one standard deviation in AAM was inversely correlated with the incidence of BC. (odds ratio OR 0.896, 95% confidence interval CI 0.831–0.968)/(OR 0.998, 95% CI 0.996–0.999) and estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) BC incidence (OR 0.895, 95% CI 0.814–0.983). It was also associated with reducing the risk of maternal BC incidence (OR 0.995, 95% CI 0.990–0.999) and sibling BC incidence (OR 0.997, 95% CI 0.994–0.999). No significant association was found between AAM and estrogen receptor-negative (ER-) BC incidence (OR 0.936, 95% CI 0.845–1.037). Conclusion Our study substantiated the causal relationship between a delayed AAM and a diminished risk of BC in probands, as well as in their maternal progenitors and siblings. Furthermore, the analysis suggests that AAM exerts a considerable potential causal influence on the risk of developing Luminal-a/b subtype of BC.
Proper adjustments of metabolic thermogenesis play an important role in thermoregulation in endotherm to cope with cold and/or warm ambient temperatures, however its roles in energy balance and fat ...accumulation remain uncertain. Our study aimed to investigate the effect of previous cold exposure (10 and 0 °C) on the energy budgets and fat accumulation in the striped hamsters (Cricetulus barabensis) in response to warm acclimation. The body mass, energy intake, resting metabolic rate (RMR) and nonshivering thermogenesis (NST), serum thyroid hormone levels (THs: T3 and T4), and the activity of brown adipose tissue (BAT), indicated by cytochrome c oxidase (COX) activity and uncoupling protein 1 (ucp
) expression, were measured following exposure to the cold (10 °C and 0 °C) and transition to the warm temperature (30 °C).
The hamsters at 10 °C and 0 °C showed significant increases in energy intake, RMR and NST, and a considerable reduction in body fat than their counterparts kept at 21 °C. After being transferred from cold to warm temperature, the hamsters consumed less food, and decreased RMR and NST, but they significantly increased body fat content. Interestingly, the hamsters that were previously exposed to the colder temperature showed significantly more fat accumulation after transition to the warm. Serum T3 levels, BAT COX activity and ucp
mRNA expression were significantly increased following cold exposure, and were considerably decreased after transition to the warm. Furthermore, body fat content was negatively correlated with serum T3 levels, BAT COX activity and UCP
expression.
The data suggest that the positive energy balance resulting from the decreased RMR and NST in BAT under the transition from the cold to the warm plays important roles in inducing fat accumulation. The extent of fat accumulation in the warm appears to reflect the temperature of the previous cold acclimation.
PDF
