From Foraging to Farming in Western and Eastern Asia

doi:10.1017/CBO9781139019514.006

3 - From Foraging to Farming in Western and Eastern Asia

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012

Ofer Bar-Yosef

Edited by

Paul Gepts ,

Thomas R. Famula ,

Robert L. Bettinger ,

Stephen B. Brush ,

Ardeshir B. Damania ,

Patrick E. McGuire and

Calvin O. Qualset

Show author details

Paul Gepts: Affiliation:
University of California, Davis
Thomas R. Famula: Affiliation:
University of California, Davis
Robert L. Bettinger: Affiliation:
University of California, Davis
Stephen B. Brush: Affiliation:
University of California, Davis
Ardeshir B. Damania: Affiliation:
University of California, Davis
Patrick E. McGuire: Affiliation:
University of California, Davis
Calvin O. Qualset: Affiliation:
University of California, Davis

Book contents

Get access

Summary

The transition from foraging to farming is a process that began during the Late Pleistocene and continued for several millennia during the Holocene in various parts of the Old and New Worlds. From a global evolutionary viewpoint this seems to be just a short time span, but for the individuals who participated in the yearly unfolding of events in their communities, whether they voluntarily adopted farming or were coerced into it, farming probably would not have been an easy adaptation. The advent of farming brought about dramatic socio-economic shifts that we incorporate under the label of the Neolithic Revolution. To understand the great impact of this shift, it is best to compare it to the impact of the Industrial Revolution, just with a slower pace of technological achievement.

The causes of the Neolithic or Agricultural Revolution are highly debated and will not be discussed in detail in this chapter. Suffice it to say that while it was compulsory during the Holocene (Richerson et al. 2001), it was already a possible option during the Bølling–Ållerød (c. 14,500 to 12,800 BP), a sub-period that punctuated the post-Late Glacial Maximum (LGM) when “demographic pressures” were rapidly building up (Bar-Yosef 1998 and references therein). Thus, the crisis of the cold and dry Younger Dryas (YD) event (12,800 to 11,700/500 BP) forced several territorially coerced populations of hunter–gatherers to initiate a “low level food production” (Smith 2001). The newly initiated or intensified subsistence strategy found its full success during the early millennia of the Holocene.

Type: Chapter
Information: Biodiversity in Agriculture
Domestication, Evolution, and Sustainability
, pp. 57 - 91

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139019514.006 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Abbo, SZezak, ISchwartz, E 2008 Wild lentil and chickpea harvest in Israel: Bearing on the origins of Near Eastern farmingJournal of Archaeological Science 35 3172CrossRef Google Scholar

Alley, RBMayewski, PASowers, T 1997 Holocene climatic instability: A prominent, widespread event 8200 yr agoGeology 25 4832.3.CO;2>CrossRef Google Scholar

Anderson, PC 1998 History of harvesting and threshing techniques for cereals in the prehistoric Near East145Damania, ABValkoun, JWillcox, GQualset, COThe Origins of Agriculture and Crop DomesticationAleppo, SyriaICARDAGoogle Scholar

Araus, JLSlafer, GARomagosa, IMolist, M 2001 Estimated wheat yields during the emergence of agriculture based on the carbon isotope discrimination of grains: Evidence from a 10th millenium BP site on the EuphratesJournal of Archaeological Science 28 341CrossRef Google Scholar

Auffrey, JCTchernov, ENevo, E 1988 Origine du commensalisme de la souris domestique () vis-à-vis de l'hommeComptes Rendus de l'Academie des Sciences, Paris 307 517Google Scholar

Bar-Matthews, MAyalon, AKaufman, AWasserburg, GJ 1999 The Eastern Mediterranean paleoclimate as a reflection of regional events: Soreq cave, IsraelEarth and Planetary Science Letters 166 85CrossRef Google Scholar

Bar-Oz, G 2004 Epipalaeolithic Subsistence Strategies in the Levant: A Zooarchaeological PerspectiveBoston, MABrillGoogle Scholar

Bar-Yosef, Mayer DE 2005 The exploitation of shells as beads in the Palaeolithic and Neolithic of the LevantPaléorient 31 176CrossRef Google Scholar

Bar-Yosef, Mayer DE 2008 Archaeomalacological research in Israel: The current state of researchIsrael Journal of Earth Science 56 191CrossRef Google Scholar

Bar-Yosef, O. 1998 The transition to agriculture in the Old WorldThe Review of Archaeology 19

Bar-Yosef, O 2001 From sedentary foragers to village hierarchies: The emergence of social institutions1Runciman, GThe Origin of Human Social InstitutionsOxfordOxford University PressGoogle Scholar

Bar-Yosef, O 2008 Farming, herding, and the transformation of human landscapes in southwestern Asia315David, BThomas, JHandbook of Landscape ArchaeologyWalnut Creek, CALeft Coast PressGoogle Scholar

Bar-Yosef, O.Belfer-Cohen, A 1989 The origins of sedentism and farming communities in the LevantJournal of World Prehistory 3 447CrossRef Google Scholar

Bar-Yosef, O.Belfer-Cohen, A 1992 From foraging to farming in the Mediterranean Levant21Gebauer, ABPrice, TDTransitions to Agriculture in PrehistoryMadison, WIPrehistory PressGoogle Scholar

Barkai, R 2005 Flint and Stone Axes as Cultural Markers: Socio-Economic Changes as Reflected in the Holocene Flint Tool Industries of the Southern LevantBerlinex oriente e.VGoogle Scholar

Barton, LNewsome, SDChen, F-H 2009 Agricultural origins and the isotopic identity of domestication in northern ChinaProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 106 5523CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Belfer-Cohen, ABar-Yosef, O 2000 Early sedentism in the Near East: A bumpy ride to village life19Kuijt, ILife in Neolithic Farming Communities: Social Organization, Identity, and DifferentiationNew York, NYPlenum PressGoogle Scholar

Belfer-Cohen, AHovers, E 2005 The groundstone assemblages of the Natufian and Neolithic societies in the Levant – A brief reviewJournal of the Israel Prehistoric Society 35 299Google Scholar

Bellwood, P 2005 The First Farmers: Origins of Agricultural SocietiesMalden, MABlackwell PublishingGoogle Scholar

Berger, JFGuilaine, J 2008 The 8200 cal BP abrupt environmental change and the Neolithic transition: A Mediterranean perspectiveQuaternary International 200 31CrossRef Google Scholar

Bettinger, RLBarton, LRicherson, PJ 2007 The transition to agriculture in northwestern China83Madsen, DBChen, FGao, XLate Quaternary Climate Change and Human Adaptation in Arid ChinaAmsterdamElsevierCrossRef Google Scholar

Boaretto, EWu, XYuan, J 2009 Radiocarbon dating of charcoal and bone collagen associated with early pottery at Yuchanyan Cave, Hunan Province, ChinaProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 106 9537CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Bocquet-Appel, J-PBar-Yosef, O 2008 The Neolithic Demographic Transition and its ConsequencesLondonSpringerCrossRef

Brown, TAJones, MKPowell, WAllaby, RG 2008 The complex origins of domesticated crops in the Fertile CrescentTrends in Ecology and Evolution 24 103CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Byrd, BF 1994 Public and private, domestic and corporate: The emergence of the southwest Asian villageAmerican Antiquity 59 639CrossRef Google Scholar

Cauvin, J 2000 The Beginnings of Agriculture in the Near East: A Symbolic InterpretationCambridgeCambridge University PressGoogle Scholar

Chang, KC 1981 The affluent foragers in the coastal areas of China: Extrapolation from evidence on transition to agriculture177Koyama, SThomas, DHAffluent ForagersOsakaNational Museum of EthnologyGoogle Scholar

Chang, KC 1986 The Archaeology of Ancient ChinaNew Haven, CTYale University PressGoogle Scholar

Chen, C 1984 The Microlithic in ChinaJournal of Anthropological Archaeology 3 79CrossRef Google Scholar

Chen, C 2007 Techno-typological comparison of microblade cores from East Asia and North America7Kuzmin, YVKeates, SGShen, COrigin and Spread of Microblade Technology in Northern Asia and North AmericaBurnaby, BC, CanadaArchaeology Press, Simon Fraser UniversityGoogle Scholar

Cohen, DJ 1998 The origins of domesticated cereals and Pleistocene–Holocene transition in East AsiaReview of Archaeology 19 22Google Scholar

Cohen, DJ 2003 Microblades, pottery, and the nature and chronology of the Palaeolithic–Neolithic transition in ChinaReview of Archæology 24 21Google Scholar

Colledge, SConolly, J 2007 The Origins and Spread of Domestic Plants in Southwest Asia and EuropeWalnut Creek, CALeft Coast Press

Cosford, JQing, HEglington, B 2008 East Asian monsoon variability since the Mid-Holocene recorded in a high-resolution, absolute-dated aragonite speleothem from eastern ChinaEarth and Planetary Science Letters 275 296CrossRef Google Scholar

Crawford, GW 2008 The Jomon in early agriculture discourse: Issues arising from Matsui, Kanehara and PearsonWorld Archaeology 40 445CrossRef Google Scholar

Crawford, GW 2009 Agricultural origins in North China pushed back to Pleistocene-Holocene boundaryProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 106 7271CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Crawford, GWChen, XWang, J 2006 Houli culture rice from the Yuezuhuang site, JinanEast Asia Archaeology 3 247Google Scholar

Dykoski, CAEdwards, LCheng, H 2005 A high-resolution absolute dated Holocene and deglacial Asian monsoon record from Dongge cave, ChinaEarth and Planetary Science Letters 233 71CrossRef Google Scholar

Evershed, RPPayne, SSherratt, AG 2008 Earliest date for milk use in the Near East and southeastern Europe linked to cattle herdingNature 455 528CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Feldman, MKislev, ME 2007 Domestication of emmer wheat and evolution of free-threshing tetraploid wheatIsrael Journal of Plant Sciences 55 207CrossRef Google Scholar

Flad, RKYuan, JLi, S 2007 Zooarchaeological evidence for animal domestication in northwest China167Madsen, DBChen, FGao, XLate Quaternary Climate Change and Human Adaptation in Arid ChinaAmsterdamElsevierCrossRef Google Scholar

Fuller, DQ 2007 Contrasting patterns in crop domestication and domestication rates: Recent archaeobotanical insights from the Old WorldAnnals of Botany 100 903CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Fuller, DQHarvey, EQin, L 2007 Presumed domestication? Evidence for wild rice cultivation and domestication in the fifth millennium BC of the Lower Yangtze regionAntiquity 81 316CrossRef Google Scholar

Fuller, DQQin, LZheng, T 2009 The domestication process and domestication rate in rice: Spikelet bases from the Lower YangtzeScience 323 1607CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Garfinkel, YVered, ABar-Yosef, O 2006 The domestication of water: The Neolithic well at Sha'ar Hagolan, Jordan Valley, IsraelAntiquity 80 686CrossRef Google Scholar

Garrod, DAE 1957 The Natufian culture: The life and economy of a Mesolithic people in the Near EastProceedings of the British Academy 43 211Google Scholar

Gebel, HGK 2002 Walls. Loci of forces119Gebel, HGKHermansen, BDJensen, CHMagic Practices and Ritual in the Near Eastern NeolithicBerlinGoogle Scholar

Gebel, HGKHermansen, BDJensen, CH 2002 Magic Practices and Ritual in the Near Eastern NeolithicBerlin

Gopher, A 1994 Arrowheads of the Neolithic LevantWinona Lake, INEisenbraunsGoogle Scholar

Goring-Morris, AN 1991 A PPNB settlement at Kfar Hahoresh in Lower Galilee: A preliminary report of the 1991 seasonJournal of the Israel Prehistoric Society 24 77Google Scholar

Goring-Morris, AN 1995 Complex hunter-gatherers at the end of the Paleolithic (20,000???10,000 BP)141Levy, TEThe Archaeology of the Holy LandLondonLeicester University PressGoogle Scholar

Goring-Morris, AN 2000 The quick and the dead: The social context of aceramic Neolithic mortuary practices as seen from Kfar Hahoresh103Kuijt, ILife in Neolithic Farming Communities: Social Organization, Identity, and DifferentiationNew York, NYPlenum PressGoogle Scholar

Goring-Morris, NBelfer-Cohen, A 1997 The articulation of cultural processes and Late Quaternary environmental changes in CisjordanPaléorient 23 71CrossRef Google Scholar

Grosman, LMunroa, NDBelfer-Cohen, A 2008 A 12,000-year-old Shaman burial from the southern Levant (Israel)Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 105 17,665CrossRef Google Scholar

Harris, DR 2007 Agriculture, cultivation and domestication: Exploring the conceptual framework of early food production16Denham, TIriarte, JVrydaghs, LRethinking Agriculture: Archaeological and Ethnoarchaeological PerspectiveWalnut Creek, CALeft Coast PressGoogle Scholar

Hauptmann, H 1999 The Urfa Region65Özdoğan, MBaşgelen, NNeolithic in Turkey: The Cradle of Civilization. New DiscoveriesIstanbulArkeoloji ve Sanat YayinlariGoogle Scholar

Henry, DO 1989 Foraging to Agriculture: The Levant at the End of the Ice AgePhiladelphia, PAUniversity of Pennsylvania PressCrossRef Google Scholar

Hillman, G 2000 Abu Hureyra 1: The Epipalaeolithic327Moore, AMTHillman, GCLegge, AJVillage on the Euphrates: From Foraging to Farming at Abu HureyraOxfordOxford University PressGoogle Scholar

Hillman, G 2003 Investigating the start of cultivation in Western Eurasia: Studies of plant remains from Abu Hureyra on the Euphrates75Ammerman, AJBiagi, PThe Widening Harvest: The Neolithic Transition in Europe – Looking Back, Looking ForwardBoston, MAArchaeological Institute of AmericaGoogle Scholar

Hillman, GCDavies, MS 1992 Domestication rates in wild wheats and barley under primitive cultivation113Anderson-Gerfaud, PCPrehistoire de l'Agriculture: Nouvelles Approches Experimentales et EthnographiquesParisCentre de Rercherches Arch??ologiques, CNRSGoogle Scholar

Hillman, GCHedges, RMoore, AColledge, SPettitt, P 2001 New evidence of Lateglacial cereal cultivation at Abu Hureyra on the EuphratesHolocene 11 383CrossRef Google Scholar

Hunan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology 2006 Pengtoushan and BashidangBeijingScience PressGoogle Scholar

Hu, CHuang, JFang, N 2005 Absorbed silica in stalagmite carbonate and its relationship to past rainfallGeochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 69 2285CrossRef Google Scholar

Jiang, LLiu, L 2006 New evidence for the origins of sedentism and rice domestication in the Lower Yangzi River, ChinaAntiquity 80 355CrossRef Google Scholar

Kajiwara, H 2008 Microlithization in Eurasia: A brief review on the microblade revolution technology and its significance as behavioural threshold of Modern humansBulletin of Tohoku Fukushi University 32 207Google Scholar

Keeley, LK 1996 War Before CivilizationNew York, NYOxford University PressGoogle Scholar

Kislev, ME 1997 Early agriculture and paleoecology of Netiv Hagdud209Bar-Yosef, OGopher, AAn Early Neolithic Village in the Jordan ValleyCambridge, MAPeabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard UniversityGoogle Scholar

Kislev, MENadel, DCarmi, I 1992 Epi-Palaeolithic (19,000 B.P.) cereal and fruit diet at Ohalo II, Sea of Galilee, IsraelReview of Palaeobotany and Palynology 71 161CrossRef Google Scholar

Kislev, MEHartmann, ABar-Yosef, O 2006 Early domesticated fig in the Jordan ValleyScience 312 1372CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Kuijt, I 2000 People and space in early agricultural villages: Exploring daily lives, community size, and architecture in the Late Pre-Pottery NeolithicJournal of Anthropological Archaeology 19 75CrossRef Google Scholar

Kuijt, I 2002 Reflections on ritual and the transmission of authority in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of the Southern Levant81Gebel, HGKHermansen, BDJensen, CHMagic Practices and Ritual in the Near Eastern NeolithicBerlinex oriente e. VGoogle Scholar

Kuzmin, YVKeates, SGShen, C 2007 Origin and Spread of Microblade Technology in Northeastern Asia and North AmericaBurnaby, BC CanadaArchaeology Press, Simon Fraser University

Lee, G-ACrawford, GWLiu, LChen, X 2007 Plants and people from the Early Neolithic to Shang Periods in North ChinaProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 104 1087CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Lev-Yadun, SGopher, AAbbo, S 2000 The cradle of agricultureScience 288 1602CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Lin, GChen, XFu, Z 2007 Temporal-spatial diversities of long-range correlation for relative humidity over ChinaPhysica A 383 585CrossRef Google Scholar

Liu, DWang, YCheng, H 2008 A detailed comparison of Asian Monsoon intensity and Greenland temperature during the Allerod and Younger Dryas eventsEarth and Planetary Science Letters 272 691CrossRef Google Scholar

Liu, LLee, G-AJiang, LZhang, J 2007 Evidence for the early beginning (c. 9000 cal. BP) of rice domestication in China: A responseHolocene 17 1069Google Scholar

Lu, HLiu, ZWu, N 2002 Rice domestication and climatic change: Phytolith evidence from East ChinaBoreas 31 378CrossRef Google Scholar

Lu, HZhang, JLiu, K-b 2009 Earliest domestication of common millet () in East Asia extended to 10,000 years agoProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 106 7367CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Lu, TLD 1999 The Transition from Foraging to Farming and the Origin of Agriculture in ChinaOxfordArchaeopressGoogle Scholar

Lu, TLD 2002 A green foxtail () cultivation experiment in the Middle Yellow River Valley and some related issuesAsian Perspectives 41 1CrossRef Google Scholar

Lu, TLD 2006 The occurrence of cereal cultivation in ChinaAsian Perspectives 45 129CrossRef Google Scholar

MacNeish, RSCunnar, GZhao, ZLibby, J 1998 Revised Second Annual Report of the Sino-American (PRC) Origin of Rice Project (SAJOR)Andover, MASAJORGoogle Scholar

McCorriston, J 1997 The fiber revolution: Textile extensification, alienation, and social stratification in ancient MesopotamiaCurrent Anthropology 38 517CrossRef Google Scholar

Miller-Rosen, A 2007 Civilizing Climate: Social Response to Climate Change in the Ancient Near EastNew York, NYAltamira PressGoogle Scholar

Molleson, T 2007 Times of stress at ??ataloyuk140Faerman, MHorwitz, LKKahana, TZilberman, UFaces from the Past. Diachronic Patterns in the Biology of Human Populations from the Eastern MediterraneanOxfordArchaeopressGoogle Scholar

Moore, A 2000 The excavation of Abu Hureyra 1105Moore, AMTHillman, GCLegge, AJVillage on the Euphrates: From Foraging to Farming at Abu HureyraOxfordOxford University PressGoogle Scholar

Nadel, D 2004 Continuity and change: The Ohalo II and the Natufian dwelling structures (Jordan Valley, Israel)137Delage, CThe Last Hunter-Gatherers in the Near EastOxfordArchaeopressGoogle Scholar

Nishiaki, YNakada, HAoki, M 2006 The 2005 excavations at Dederiyeh Cave, SyriaKouchi Kouka Daigaku Kiyou [Research Bulletin, Kochi University of Technology] 3 135Google Scholar

Özdoğan, A 1999 ??ay??n??35Özdoğan, MBaşgelen, NNeolithic in Turkey: The Cradle of Civilization: New DiscoveriesIstanbulArkeoloji ve Sanat YayinlariGoogle Scholar

Peters, JHelmer, Dvon den Driesch, ASaña Segui, M 1999 Early animal husbandry in the Northern LevantPaléorient 25 27CrossRef Google Scholar

Peters, JSchmidt, K 2004 Animals in the symbolic world of Pre Pottery Neolithic Göbekli Tepe, southeastern Turkey: A preliminary assessmentAnthropozoologica 39 179Google Scholar

Piperno, DRWeiss, EHolst, INadel, D 2004 Processing of wild cereal grains in the Upper Palaeolithic revealed by starch grain analysisNature 430 670CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Prendergast, MEYuan, JBar-Yosef, O 2009 Resource intensification in the Late Upper Paleolithic: A view from southern ChinaJournal of Archaeological Science 36 1027CrossRef Google Scholar

Ren, GBeug, H-J 2002 Mapping Holocene pollen data and vegetation of ChinaQuaternary Science Reviews 21 1395CrossRef Google Scholar

Richerson, PJBoyd, RBettinger, RL 2001 Was agriculture impossible during the Pleistocene but mandatory during the Holocene? A climate change hypothesisAmerican Antiquity 66 387CrossRef Google Scholar

Rollefson, GO 2000 Ritual and social structure at Neolithic ???Ain Ghazal165Kuijt, ILife in Neolithic Farming Communities: Social Organization, Identity, and DifferentiationNew York, NYPlenumGoogle Scholar

Roscoe, P 2009 Social signaling and the organization of small-scale society: The case of contact-era New GuineaJournal of Archaeological Method and Theory 16 69CrossRef Google Scholar

Rosenberg, M 1999 Hallan ??emi25Özdoğan, MBaşgelen, NNeolithic in Turkey: The Cradle of Civilization: New DiscoveriesIstanbulArkeoloji ve Sanat YayinlariGoogle Scholar

Savard, MNesbitt, MJones, MK 2006 The role of wild grasses in subsistence and sedentism: New evidence from the northern Fertile CrescentWorld Archaeology 38 179CrossRef Google Scholar

Schmidt, K 2006 Animals and a headless man at Gobekli TepeNeo-Lithics 2/06 38Google Scholar

Shelach, G 2000 The earliest Neolithic cultures of northeast China: Recent discoveries and new perspectives on the beginning of agricultureJournal of World Prehistory 14 363CrossRef Google Scholar

Shizitan Archaeological Team 2002 The excavation of the Paleolithic site, Shizitan (Loc. S14), Ji county, Shanxi province (in Chinese)Archaeology (Tiayuan) 4 1Google Scholar

Sinha, ACannariato, KGStott, LD 2005 Variability of Southwest Indian summer monsoon precipitation during the Bølling–ÅllerødGeology 33 813CrossRef Google Scholar

Smith, DB 2001 Low level food productionJournal of Archaeological Research 9 1CrossRef Google Scholar

Smith, PEL 1976 Reflections on four seasons of excavations at Tapeh Ganj Dareh11Bagherzadeh, FProceedings of the IVth Annual Symposium on Archaeological Research in IranTehranIranian Centre for Archaeological ResearchGoogle Scholar

Stordeur, DAbbés, F 2002 Du PPNA au PPNB: Mise en lumière d'une phase de transition à Jerf el Ahmar (Syrie)Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Française 99 563CrossRef Google Scholar

Tanno, KWillcox, G 2006 How fast was wild wheat domesticated?Science 311 1886CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Tchernov, E 1984 Commensal animals and human sedentism in the Middle East91Clutton-Brock, JGrigson, CAnimals and Archaeology 3. Early Herders and Their FlocksOxfordArchaeopressGoogle Scholar

Tchernov, E 1994 An Early Neolithic Village in the Jordan ValleyCambridge, MAPeabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard UniversityGoogle Scholar

Underhill, AP 1997 Current issues in Chinese Neolithic ArchaeologyJournal of World Prehistory 11 103CrossRef Google Scholar

Valla, FR 1991 Les Natoufiens de Mallaha et l'Espace111Bar-Yosef, OValla, FRThe Natufian Culture in the LevantAnn Arbor, MIInternational Monographs in PrehistoryGoogle Scholar

Valla, FR 2000 La sedentarisation au Proche Orient: La Culture Natoufienne13Guilane, JPremiers Paysans du Monde. Naissance des AgriculturesParisEditions ErranceGoogle Scholar

Valla, FR 2004 Natufian behaviour in the Hula Basin: The question of territoriality207Goren-Inbar, NSpeth, JDHuman Paleoecology in the Levantine CorridorOxfordOxbow BooksGoogle Scholar

Valla, FRKhalaily, HValladas, H 2007 Les fouilles de Ain Mallaha (Eynan) de 2003 à 2005: Quatrième rapport préliminaireJournal of The Israel Prehistoric Society 37 135Google Scholar

van Zeist, W 1986 Some aspects of Early Neolithic plant husbandry in the Near EastAnatolica 15 49Google Scholar

Vigne, J-D 2008 Zooarchaeological aspects of the Neolithic diet transition in the Near East and Europe, and their putative relationships with the Neolithic demographic transition179Bocquet-Appel, J-PBar-Yosef, OThe Neolithic Demographic Transition and its ConsequencesNew York, NYSpringerCrossRef Google Scholar

Vigne, J-DCucchi, T 2005 Premiéres navigations au Proche-Orient: Les informations indirectes de ChyprePaléorient 31 186CrossRef Google Scholar

Vigne, J-DDollfus, GPeters, J 1999 The beginnings of herding in the Near East: New data and new ideasPaléorient 25 9Google Scholar

Wang, YCheng, HEdwards, RL 2008 Millennial- and orbital-scale changes in the East Asian monsoon over the past 224,000 yearsNature 451 1090CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Wang, YJCheng, HEdwards, RL 2001 A high-resolution absolute-dated Late Pleistocene monsoon record from Hulu Cave, ChinaScience 294 2345CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Weiss, EKislev, MEHartmann, A 2006 Autonomous cultivation before domesticationScience 312 1608CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed

Willcox, G 2005 The distribution, natural habitats and availability of wild cereals in relation to their domestication in the Near East: Multiple events, multiple centresVegetation History and Archaeobotony 14 534CrossRef Google Scholar

Willcox, GBuxo, RHerveux, L 2009 Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene climate and the beginnings of cultivation in northern SyriaHolocene 19 151CrossRef Google Scholar

Willcox, GFornite, SHerveux, L 2008 Early Holocene cultivation before domestication in northern SyriaVegetational History and Archaeobotany 17 313CrossRef Google Scholar

Wright, KI 2000 The social origins of cooking and dining in early villages of Western AsiaProceedings of the Prehistoric Society 66 89CrossRef Google Scholar

Wünnenman, BHartmann, KJannssen, MZhang, HC 2007 Response of Chinese desert lakes to climate instability during the past 45,000 years11Madsen, DBChen, FGao, XLate Quaternary and Human Adaptation in Arid ChinaAmsterdamElsevierCrossRef Google Scholar

Yang, HLiu, GTang, C 2007 The Origins of Jade in East AsiaHong KongThe Chinese University of Hong KongGoogle Scholar

Yi, SSaito, Y 2004 Latest Pleistocene climate variation of the East Asian monsoon from pollen records of two East China regionsQuaternary International 121 75CrossRef Google Scholar

Yu, CLuo, YSun, X 2008 A high resolution pollen records from Ha'ni Lake, Jilin, Northeast China showing climate changes between 13.1 cal BP and 4.5 BPQuaternary Sciences (in Chinese) 28 929Google Scholar

Yu, GChen, XNi, J 2000 Palaeovegetation of China: A pollen data-based synthesis for the mid-Holocene and last glacial maximumJournal of Biogeography 27 635CrossRef Google Scholar

Yuan, J 2002 Rice and pottery 10,000 yrs. BP at Yuchanyan, Dao County, Hunan Province157Yasuda, YThe Origins of Pottery and AgricultureNew DelhiRoli Books/Lustre PressGoogle Scholar

Yuan, JFlad, RK 2002 Pig domestication in Ancient ChinaAntiquity 76 724Google Scholar

Yuan, JFlad, RLuo, Y 2008 Meat-acquisition patterns in the Neolithic Yangzi river valley, ChinaAntiquity 82 351Google Scholar

Zeder, MA 2006 Central questions in the domestication of plants and animalsEvolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews 15 105CrossRef Google Scholar

Zhang, C 1999 The excavations at Xianrendong and Diaotonghuan, JiangxiIndo-Pacific Prehistory Association Bulletin 18 97CrossRef Google Scholar

Zhang, CHung, H-C 2008 The Neolithic of Southern China – Origin, development, and dispersalAsian Perspectives 47 291Google Scholar

Zhang, JXiao, XLee, YK 2004 The early development of music: Analysis of the Jiahu bone flutesAntiquity 78 769CrossRef Google Scholar

Zhao, Z 1998 The Middle Yangtze region in China is one place where rice was domesticated: Phytolith evidence from the Diaotonghuan cave, northern JiangxiAntiquity 72 885Google Scholar

Zhao, Z 2004 Study of the origin of dry farming in North China – New evidence from the flotation results of the Xinglonggou siteAntiquities of Eastern Asia A 188Google Scholar

Zhao, Z 2005 New data for study on the origin of agriculture in China86Yanjiusuo, ZSKKChinese Archaeology in the New CenturyBeijingKexue chubansheGoogle Scholar

Zhejiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology 2005 KuaHuQiaoBeijingWenwu chubanshe [Cultural Relics Publishing House]Google Scholar

Zheng, Y-FJiang, LPZheng, JM 2004 Study on the remains of ancient rice from Kuahuqiao site in ZhejiangChinese Journal of Rice Science 18 119Google Scholar

Zheng, Y-FSun, G-PChen, X-G 2007 Characteristics of the short rachillae of rice from archaeological sites dating to 7000 years agoChinese Science Bulletin 52 1654CrossRef Google Scholar

Zhou, HJianxin, ZFeng, Y 2008 Distinct climate change synchronous with Heinrich event one, recorded by stable oxygen and carbon isotopic compositions in stalagmites from ChinaQuaternary Research 69 306CrossRef Google Scholar

Zohary, DHopf, M 2001 Domestication of Plants in the Old World: The Origin and Spread of Cultivated Plants in West Asia, Europe and the Nile ValleyOxfordOxford University PressGoogle Scholar

Zong, YChen, ZInnes, JB 2007 Fire and flood management of coastal swamp enabled first rice paddy cultivation in east ChinaNature 449 459CrossRef Google Scholar PubMed