MicroCT reveals domesticated rice (Oryza sativa) within pottery sherds from early Neolithic sites (4150-3265 cal BP) in Southeast Asia.

ABSTRACT: Rice (Oryza sativa) was domesticated in the Yangtze Valley region at least 6000-8000 years ago, yet the timing of dispersal of domesticated rice to Southeast Asia is contentious. Often rice is not well-preserved in archaeobotanical assemblages at early Neolithic sites in the wet tropics of Southeast Asia and consequently rice impressions in pottery have been used as a proxy for rice cultivation despite their uncertain taxonomic and domestication status. In this research, we use microCT technology to determine the 3D microscale morphology of rice husk and spikelet base inclusions within pottery sherds from early Neolithic sites in Vietnam. In contrast to surface impressions, microCT provides images of the entire husk and spikelet base preserved within the pottery, including the abscission s

SUBMITTER: Barron A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5547045 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature