[Paper] Early Holocene exploitation of taro and yam among southern East Asian hunter-gatherers

via Antiquity, 04 June 2024: Research by Wang et al. indicates that southern East Asian hunter-gatherers, specifically the Dingsishan cultural group, exploited taro and yam around 9030–6741 BP. Starch grains found in dental calculus and on tools suggest these staples supported population growth before rice and millet farming. Findings from sites in Guangxi and Vietnam show an Early Holocene economy based on indigenous tubers, nuts, and palms, establishing the region as an early center for taro exploitation.

Increases in population size are associated with the adoption of Neolithic agricultural practices in many areas of the world, but rapid population growth within the Dingsishan cultural group of southern China pre-dated the arrival of rice and millet farming in this area. In this article, the authors identify starch grains from taros (Colocasia) and yams (Dioscorea) in dental calculus and on food-processing tools from the Dingsishan sites of Huiyaotian and Liyupo (c. 9030–6741 BP). They conclude that the harvesting and processing of these dietary staples supported an Early Holocene population increase in southern East Asia, before the spread of rice and millet farming.

Source: Early Holocene exploitation of taro and yam among southern East Asian hunter-gatherers | Antiquity | Cambridge Core