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Identifying prehistoric irrigated rice fields and characterizing the beginning of paddy soil development are important for a better understanding of human development and agricultural history. In 2003, paddy soils and irrigated rice fields buried at a depth of 100-130 cm were excavated at Chuo-dun-shan in the Yangtze River Delta, close to Suzhou, C...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... a depth of 100 to 120 cm, in a layer assigned to the Majiabang culture (4,000 BC), a settlement was discovered with house remains, wall foundations, post hole, and door ways. The kitchen included a fire place, drinking wells, and cooking utilities such as a rice cooker, backing pots, and earthenware pots. Additionally, animal bones and ash pile as well as 29 tombs with five skeletons were excavated (Jiaxing Culture Bureau 2004). Approximately 1 to 20 m away from the settlement, a total of 46 prehistoric rice fields containing fossil rice grains were revealed within an area of 500 m 2 (Fig. 1). The approximate size of the fields ranged from 1.4 to 16 m 2 with almost round, round- rectangular, or irregular shapes. The surface layer was marshy meadows with a soft dark grayish color. Each rice field was surrounded with ridges (consisting of parent material) in yellowish and white color. Outlets of the ridges, most tentatively constructed to control the water levels, connected the paddies and ditches and/or small ponds for water diversion and/or drainage from the ...
Context 2
... large amount of carbonized rice grains was sieved out from the surface soils of these prehistoric rice fields. For instance, more than 200 fossil rice grains were found in 0.04 m 3 soil sample taken from the field S27 (Fig. 1). Their measured 14 C age is 5,123±45 a BP, which corresponds to an calibrated age of 5,907 a BP. Morphologically, the fossil rice grains were larger than that of wild rice. Double breast peaks, the shallow valley in the surface as well as the round shape of the grain showed that the recovered fossil rice grains differed from wild rice (Gu 1998;Thompson 1996) and belonged to the type of "Japonica" rice. This is in agreement with the results from the first excavation at Cao- xie-shan ( Fujiwara and Ding 1996;Gu 1998) and the rice opal analysis above. Depending on the duration of irrigated rice domestication/cultivation, the paddy soils of these prehistoric irrigated rice fields had developed to a cultivated horizon of a height between 20 and 50 cm above the parent material. Table 1 gives a description and some analytical data of a buried prehistoric paddy soil profile in the field S27 at the depth of 100 to 200 cm. Because no marine fish bones and shells were observed throughout the whole profile, it was concluded that this area was far enough from the coast to have not been affected by ocean deposition at that ...
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Citations
... Investigating N storage and use dynamics over the long term could enhance our understanding of N cycling dynamics in paddy fields and paddy soil biogeochemistry. Archaeological and archaeobotanical studies have identified prehistoric (Neolithic age) paddy soils at the Chuodun site in the Yangtze Delta, China (Cao et al. 2006;Li et al. 2007), which have provided case studies of sequences of up to four buried ancient and modern paddy soils (MPS) in two adjacent soil pedons, with a focus on combustion-derived organic matter (Cao et al. 2006), and, in the present case, soil organic N dynamics over a long-term scale. ...
... Investigating N storage and use dynamics over the long term could enhance our understanding of N cycling dynamics in paddy fields and paddy soil biogeochemistry. Archaeological and archaeobotanical studies have identified prehistoric (Neolithic age) paddy soils at the Chuodun site in the Yangtze Delta, China (Cao et al. 2006;Li et al. 2007), which have provided case studies of sequences of up to four buried ancient and modern paddy soils (MPS) in two adjacent soil pedons, with a focus on combustion-derived organic matter (Cao et al. 2006), and, in the present case, soil organic N dynamics over a long-term scale. ...
... The northern part of Chuodun site is at a low altitude, and therefore, was reclaimed for rice cultivation. Chuodun site, considered an ancient paddy soil, was excavated and identified in 2003 (Cao et al. 2006). ...
Purpose
Soil organic nitrogen (SON) biochemistry trends in paddy soils are poorly understood on a long-term scale.
Methods
To explore the effect of land use on SON sequestration, SON and amino acid (AA) fractions were investigated in soil profiles comprising recent and buried paddy soil (BPS) and buried non-paddy soils (BNS). Two ancient paddy soils from Chuodun ruin site, China, were distinguished based on colour and rice phytolith abundance. ¹⁴C abundance in soil organic carbon was used to estimate the age of carbonized rice and ancient paddy soil via a liquid scintillation analysis method, dating to 3800–5500 and 960–4000 BC.
Results
The proportions of D-AAs and acidic AAs in BPS, up to 6.13% and 7.73%, respectively, were higher than those in modern paddy soils. D-alanine (and the D-/L- ratio), aspartate, and glutamate increased with soil depth in BPS, and the amount of D-aspartate was linearly and significantly positively correlated with soil depth (p < 0.05). Based on phytolith stability and abundance, the N sequestration rate (NSR: residual N content as a proportion of initial N content) was proposed to indicate the residual N content varied with time. The NSR was estimated as 10.8–91.2% in BPS with a phytolith stability factor of 0.5–0.9.
Conclusion
These data suggest that intermittent continuous high-intensity rice cultivation could increase soil N sequestration potential over the long term, and that N sequestration is not only associated with AA aging in the organic N fraction, but also with biogeochemical processes in BPS and paddy management. In addition, high-intensity rice cultivation can increase N loss risks, and in turn result in large fluctuations in N sequestration.
... The non-paddy soils were mainly cropped with vegetables, rape (Brassica sp.), and wheat . Organic fertilization (including animal manure, rice straw and other crop residues, often fermented with sediments taken from the river or channel, but also charred residues), liming, and mineral fertilizer were applied in these fields (Gong, 1983;Cao et al., 2006;Kögel-Knabner et al., 2010). We cannot guarantee that a constant management was conducted at all the sites during the 2000 years of paddy and 700 years of non-paddy soil developments. ...
Soil phosphorus (P) is usually hardly present in soluble forms as most of it is strongly bound to minerals. Therefore, transformations of soil colloidal P can play a key role in enhancing soil fertility. Here, we examined water extracts from a chronosequence of soils with 2000 years of paddy rice and 700 years of non-paddy cropping, and fractionated them into <1200 nm, <450 nm, and <3 kDa size fractions using sequential ultrafiltration. Asymmetric-flow field-flow fractionation (AF4) coupled to an organic carbon detector (OCD) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used for organic carbon and elemental screening in the 3 kDa-450 nm colloidal size range. We found that P increased in all colloidal fractions both with long-term paddy rice and non-paddy managements. Furthermore, P in soil colloids of 3 kDa-450 nm size, as fractionated by AF4, peaked in three size ranges: nanoparticles (NP, ∼3 kDa-20 nm), fine colloids (FC, ∼20–225 nm), and medium-sized colloids (MC, ∼225–450 nm). The NP fraction originally contained mainly P and Ca for tidal wetland (TW), but turned into a complex of OC-Ca-P colloidal forms immediately after onset of arable management, with little temporal change thereafter. Fine colloidal P (FC-P) was detected only after > 50 years for the non-paddy and > 100 years under paddy management, associated with oxides, organic matter and fine clay fragments in the paddy soils and additionally Ca-bound P in the non-paddy ones, respectively. Increasing portions of medium-sized colloidal P appeared after 50 years paddy and non-paddy management, though not exceeding the concentrations of FC-P and with little changes during prolonged arable land use. Overall, after initial formation of FC-P during the first 50–100 years of management, longer term dynamics of colloidal P in these arable soils was fairly independent of paddy or non-paddy managements, but remained closely coupled to the increased presence or generation of fine colloidal clays, oxides and the associated P, thus potentially linking P fertility largely to the dynamics of fine colloids.
... Terraces were first used in the Near East around 4000-3000 BCE. Agricultural production began in China not long after it began in the Middle East (Montgomery, 2007), with rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivated by 7000 BCE, paddy soils used by 4000 BCE (Cao et al., 2006), and terraces by 1000 BCE. Plowing was a common practice in India by 3000 BCE and farmers amended soils in Uzbekistan to improve both fertility and texture as early as 2000 BCE (Krupenikov, 1992). ...
Civilization is tied to soil through our reliance on agriculture and building materials. As early civilizations developed new agricultural strategies, their knowledge of soil also expanded. Major innovations included irrigation, terracing, use of plows, contour tillage, soil classification, and maintaining soil fertility through intercropping, crop rotations, fallowing, and amendments like manure and ash to develop sustainable agricultural systems. In several noteworthy cases, soil degradation contributed to civilization collapse. In addition, soils are influenced by and influence the global climate system. Changing climates have contributed to past civilization collapses, and societies that rely on degraded soils are less resilient and adaptable to climate change.
... Some studies suggested that fungi are inhibited in summer flooded environments, which can lead to an increase in lignin and lipids, or to hydrophobic adsorption or interactions with clay minerals and organic matter (Horwath, 2015;Nakahara et al., 2016). We also obtained from local records and Cao et al. (2006) that the study area had a long term of mixed incompletely burned rice straw into soil. Nakahara et al. (2016) also observed a large increase in alkyl carbon, which may be evidence of accumulation from rice residues and biolipids and other aliphatic compounds. ...
In China, tidal flats in some coastal areas have been converted into paddy fields. Such reclamation and prolonged rice cultivation activities could influence soil amino acid nitrogen (N) (AAN) contents and N cycling. However, the effects of long-term rice cultivation on the contents and proportions of AAN in paddy soils remain poorly understood. Paddy soil samples were collected in a chronosequence cultivated for 50 (P50), 100 (P100), 300 (P300), and 700 (P700) years to elucidate the responses of AAN to long-term rice cultivation. Soils from a neighboring tidal flat (T0) and salt marsh (10 years after diking, S10) used as controls. AAN, total amino acid (AA), and free amino acid (FAA) contents and proportions, as well as N-related enzyme activity and soil properties were analyzed. AAN content significantly (p < 0.05) increased from 0.12 g kg⁻¹ in T0 to 0.54 g kg⁻¹ in P300, then slightly decreased to 0.47 g kg⁻¹ in P700. The enantiomer L type-AA and L type-FAA contents were higher than D type-AA and D type-FAA contents in all soils. Urease and protease activities increased sharply within 100 years and then gradually declined, while urease activity remained steady over time. Regression analysis revealed linear relationships between AAN and pH, soil organic carbon, total N, microbial biomass carbon, microbial biomass N, and urease and protease activities. Overall, AAN was accumulated under long-term rice cultivation, and was closely linked to the soil properties. However, AAN accumulation was limited to 300 years, highlighting the potential effects of long-term rice cultivation on the stability of soil N cycling and sustainable N-use.
... Since the emergence of synthetic fertilizers at the end of the 19th century and abandonment of traditional plaggen agriculture, most Plaggic Anthrosols are subjected to conventional agricultural land-use, but retained high OC levels (Schulp and Verburg, 2009). Examples from the past, which illustrate the potential for long-term enrichment of soils with OM by human activity are the Terra preta de Í ndio in the Amazon basin (Glaser and Birk, 2012), the Dark Earth soils in Nordic Dark Earth in Europe (Wiedner et al., 2015;Sikora et al., 2019), and soils in New Zealand (McFadgen, 1980), China (Cao et al., 2006), Australia (Downie et al., 2011) and West Africa (Solomon et al., 2016). Plaggic Anthrosols specifically demonstrate the potential for the enrichment of sandy soils with OM that is retained for long periods of time, as plaggen management started in medieval times and ceased around 100 years ago (Yost and Hartemink, 2019). ...
Plaggic Anthrosols are anthropogenic soils formed by former plaggen agriculture in north-western continental Europe. Here, we present an inventory of organic carbon (OC) concentrations and stocks of Plaggic Anthrosols and of reference soils in the vicinity without plaggen fertilization history from eight sites in northwest Germany (Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia) and the eastern parts of The Netherlands (North Brabant, Overijssel). To evaluate the enrichment of Plaggic Anthrosols with OC and the implications for OC stocks, soils were analysed for basic soil properties (bulk density, pH, OC − and nitrogen (N) concentrations), texture, and acid oxalate-(FeOX) and dithionite-citrate-bicarbonate-extractable iron (FeDCB) concentrations. Organic C stocks and plant-available water capacity (PAWC) were calculated. The plaggic topsoils are characterized by high OC concentrations (6.5–36.9 mg g⁻¹) and a thickness of 53–124 cm, in contrast to the modern cultivated ∼30 cm thick topsoils of the reference soils with 10.6–24.0 mg g⁻¹ OC concentration. The plaggen agriculture formed a soil with improved properties and conditions for plant growth. The addition of plaggen material to the topsoils induced a volume increase as well as higher OC concentrations in the Ap horizons, resulting in significantly higher OC stocks in the Plaggic Anthrosols (6.3–14.5 kg m⁻²) compared to the reference soils (4.9–10.5 kg m⁻²). The additional soil volume amounted to 30–56% to the total soil profile depth (1.0 to 1.6 m) and comprised 25–62% of the total OC stocks. Compared to the reference soils, the volume increase of the plaggic topsoil increased the PAWC in the effective rooting zone by 1.6 to 3.4 times. Plaggic Anthrosols represent a relic of historical farming with preserved high OC concentrations and improved storage capacity for plant-available water, causing higher nutrient availability and an increase in yields, which in turn result in higher in-situ OM input, additionally contributing to high OC stocks. The results of this study demonstrate the potential of soil melioration practices similar to the former plaggen management to induce high OC concentrations and increase OC stocks in sandy agricultural soils.
... 12.1) und es bilden sich Eisen-und Mangankonkretionen. Reis stellt bereits seit dem Neolithikum eine wichtige Nahrungsgrundlage in Asien dar (Cao et al. 2006;Zong et al. 2007;Fuller und Qin 2009 gisch unterschiedliche Anbausysteme belegen. Im Neolithikum wurden zunächst nur kleine, runde Felder mit Damm oder sogar nur Kuhlen von etwa 1-2 m 2 angelegt, die dann zu einem größeren System ausgebaut wurden (Cao et al. 2006;Zong et al. 2007;Lee et al. 2014). ...
... Reis stellt bereits seit dem Neolithikum eine wichtige Nahrungsgrundlage in Asien dar (Cao et al. 2006;Zong et al. 2007;Fuller und Qin 2009 gisch unterschiedliche Anbausysteme belegen. Im Neolithikum wurden zunächst nur kleine, runde Felder mit Damm oder sogar nur Kuhlen von etwa 1-2 m 2 angelegt, die dann zu einem größeren System ausgebaut wurden (Cao et al. 2006;Zong et al. 2007;Lee et al. 2014). ...
... Soil chronosequences could provide an ideal natural testbed to address questions related to soil pedogenesis and the impact of agricultural management on microbial communities in earthworm guts. In the present study, an upland soil chronosequence in the Yangtze River Delta, China with a 700-year duration of cultivation after reclamation from tidal wetlands (Cao et al., 2006;Cheng et al., 2009) was selected to investigate the dynamics of microbial communities and functional genes in soil and earthworm gut microbiota in developing soils. The use of 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing and high-throughput quantitative polymerase chain reaction (HT-qPCR) allowed the characterization of the change in the community structures and functional potential of the earthworm gut microbiota. ...
Most ecosystem functions attributed to earthworms are mediated by their internal microbiomes, and these are sensitive to disturbances in the external environment. However, few studies have focused on the response of the earthworm gut microbiome to soil chronosequence. Here, we used 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing and high-throughput quantitative PCR to investigate the variations in bacterial communities and functional gene abundance in earthworm (Lumbricina sp.) guts and upland soils under 700 years of cultivation. Our results indicated that 700 years of upland cultivation significantly shaped bacterial communities and increased functional traits of microbes in earthworm guts, which were more sensitive to cultivation age compared to the surrounding soils. The earthworm gut bacterial community changed rapidly over the first 300 years of cultivation and then changed slowly in the following centuries. Along with the cultivation age, we also observed that the earthworm gut microbiota was successive towards a copiotrophic strategy (e.g., Xanthobacteraceae, Nocardioidaceae, Hyphomicrobiaceae, and Bacillaceae) and higher potential functions (e.g., ureC, nirS, nosZ, phoD, and pqqC). Furthermore, canonical correspondence analysis further revealed that soil pH, C:N ratio, soil organic carbon, and total nitrogen were key abiotic drivers shaping earthworm gut bacterial communities. Taken together, this study reveals the succession of bacterial communities and potential functions in earthworm guts within 700 years of upland cultivation, which may provide a broader space for us to rationally exploit and utilize the interactions between soil and earthworm gut microbiotas to benefit the soil nutrient cycling process.
... This history is recorded in paleoenvironmental archives, which reveal phenomena such as anthropogenic soils, increased rates of erosion, ancient pollution, variations in the extent and severity of fire, plant and animal translocation and extirpation, modification of waterways and the water table, and the emergence (Gong et al., 1999;Storozum et al., 2018). In the south, in Lingnan and the Jianghuai plain, where rice agriculture is common and sedimentation rates are much lower, ancient rice paddies have been in use for thousands of years (Cao et al., 2006;Kölbl et al., 2014;Yasuda et al., 2004). The successive use of these rice paddies has created anthropogenic soils that are remarkably resilient to changes in climate and environment, and also exhibit significantly different characteristics from the surrounding natural soil. ...
This paper reviews recent archaeological research on human-environment interaction in the Holocene, taking continental China as its geographic focus. As China is large, geographically diverse, and exceptionally archaeologically and historically well-documented, research here provides critical insight into the functioning of social-natural systems. Based on a broad review of the field as well as recent advances and discoveries, the authors reflect on research themes including climate change and adaptive systems theory, spatial and temporal scale, anthropogenic environmental change, risk management and resilience, and integration of subdisciplines. These converge on three overarching conclusions. First, datasets relevant to climate change and ancient human-environment interaction must be as local and specific as possible, as the timing of environmental change differs locally, and the human response is highly dependent on local social and technological conditions. Second, the field still needs more robust theoretical frameworks for analyzing complex social-natural systems, and especially for integrating data on multiple scales. Third, for this work to contribute meaningfully to contemporary climate change research, effective communication of research findings to the public and to scientists in other disciplines should be incorporated into publication plans.
... argue that these fields were likely controlled by the individual households spotted throughout the fields: the houses' proximity to the field itself allowed the inhabitants of this site to monitor water levels and the crop's growth. At Chuodun, the relatively high numbers of weed flora found in the samples from these fields lead Cao et al. (2006) to conclude that systematic tillage and weed clearance had not taken place. More recently, other analyses at this site have been used to argue that the common presence of charcoal within the fields indicates that burning took place to clear the field prior to planting (Hu et al., 2013b). ...
The Asian monsoon and associated river systems supply the water that sustains a large portion of humanity, and has enabled Asia to become home to some of the oldest and most productive farming systems on Earth. This book uses climate data and environmental models to provide a detailed review of variations in the Asian monsoon since the mid-Holocene, and its impacts on farming systems and human settlement. Future changes to the monsoon due to anthropogenically-driven global warming are also discussed. Faced with greater rainfall and more cyclones in South Asia, as well as drying in North China and regional rising sea levels, understanding how humans have developed resilient strategies in the past to climate variations is critical. Containing important implications for the large populations and booming economies in the Indo-Pacific region, this book is an important resource for researchers and graduate students studying the climate, environmental history, agronomy and archaeology of Asia.
... argue that these fields were likely controlled by the individual households spotted throughout the fields: the houses' proximity to the field itself allowed the inhabitants of this site to monitor water levels and the crop's growth. At Chuodun, the relatively high numbers of weed flora found in the samples from these fields lead Cao et al. (2006) to conclude that systematic tillage and weed clearance had not taken place. More recently, other analyses at this site have been used to argue that the common presence of charcoal within the fields indicates that burning took place to clear the field prior to planting (Hu et al., 2013b). ...
The Asian monsoon and associated river systems supply the water that sustains a large portion of humanity, and has enabled Asia to become home to some of the oldest and most productive farming systems on Earth. This book uses climate data and environmental models to provide a detailed review of variations in the Asian monsoon since the mid-Holocene, and its impacts on farming systems and human settlement. Future changes to the monsoon due to anthropogenically-driven global warming are also discussed. Faced with greater rainfall and more cyclones in South Asia, as well as drying in North China and regional rising sea levels, understanding how humans have developed resilient strategies in the past to climate variations is critical. Containing important implications for the large populations and booming economies in the Indo-Pacific region, this book is an important resource for researchers and graduate students studying the climate, environmental history, agronomy and archaeology of Asia.
