Dry or Wet? Evaluating the Initial Rice Cultivation Environment on the Korean Peninsula
The origins and development of rice cultivation are one of the most important aspects in studying agricultural and socio-economic innovations, as well as environmental change, in East Asian prehistory. In particular, whether wet or dry rice cultivation was conducted is an important consideration of...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-05-01
|
| Series: | Agronomy |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/11/5/929 |
| _version_ | 1797534851844276224 |
|---|---|
| author | Shinya Shoda Hiroo Nasu Kohei Yamazaki Natsuki Murakami Geon-Ju Na Sung-Mo Ahn Minoru Yoneda |
| author_facet | Shinya Shoda Hiroo Nasu Kohei Yamazaki Natsuki Murakami Geon-Ju Na Sung-Mo Ahn Minoru Yoneda |
| author_sort | Shinya Shoda |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The origins and development of rice cultivation are one of the most important aspects in studying agricultural and socio-economic innovations, as well as environmental change, in East Asian prehistory. In particular, whether wet or dry rice cultivation was conducted is an important consideration of its impact on societies and the environment across different periods and places. In this study, carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis of charred crop remains from archaeological sites dating from the Early Bronze Age (ca. 1.1 k BC) to the Proto-Three Kingdoms (ca. 0.4 k AD) was conducted to clarify: (1) if there were any shifts from dry to wet cultivation around 1500 years after rice adoption as previously hypothesized and (2) the difference in stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values between rice and dry fields crops excavated from the same archaeological context to understand the cultivation environment. The result show that stable isotope values of charred rice grains have not changed significantly for around 1500 years. Moreover, rice possessed higher nitrogen stable isotope values than dry crops across all periods. While other potential factors could have influenced the <sup>15</sup>N-enrichment of soils and crops, the most reasonable explanation is bacteriologic denitrification in anaerobic paddy soil where the rice was grown. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T11:36:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-26f295e5f611439da11aa1a67eee8a04 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4395 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T11:36:18Z |
| publishDate | 2021-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Agronomy |
| spelling | doaj.art-26f295e5f611439da11aa1a67eee8a042023-11-21T18:49:28ZengMDPI AGAgronomy2073-43952021-05-0111592910.3390/agronomy11050929Dry or Wet? Evaluating the Initial Rice Cultivation Environment on the Korean PeninsulaShinya Shoda0Hiroo Nasu1Kohei Yamazaki2Natsuki Murakami3Geon-Ju Na4Sung-Mo Ahn5Minoru Yoneda6International Cooperation Section, Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Nijo 2-9-1, Nara 630-8577, JapanCenter for Fundamental Education, Okayama University of Science, 1-1 Ridaicho, Kita Ward, Okayama 700-0005, JapanThe University Museum, The University of Tokyo, Hongo 7-3-1, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-0033, JapanInternational Cooperation Section, Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Nijo 2-9-1, Nara 630-8577, JapanGeumgang Research Institute for Cultural Heritage, 155-1 Deogmyeong-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34154, KoreaCollege of Humanity, Wonkwang University, 460 Iksan-daero, Iksan-si 54538, Jeollabuk-do, KoreaThe University Museum, The University of Tokyo, Hongo 7-3-1, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-0033, JapanThe origins and development of rice cultivation are one of the most important aspects in studying agricultural and socio-economic innovations, as well as environmental change, in East Asian prehistory. In particular, whether wet or dry rice cultivation was conducted is an important consideration of its impact on societies and the environment across different periods and places. In this study, carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis of charred crop remains from archaeological sites dating from the Early Bronze Age (ca. 1.1 k BC) to the Proto-Three Kingdoms (ca. 0.4 k AD) was conducted to clarify: (1) if there were any shifts from dry to wet cultivation around 1500 years after rice adoption as previously hypothesized and (2) the difference in stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values between rice and dry fields crops excavated from the same archaeological context to understand the cultivation environment. The result show that stable isotope values of charred rice grains have not changed significantly for around 1500 years. Moreover, rice possessed higher nitrogen stable isotope values than dry crops across all periods. While other potential factors could have influenced the <sup>15</sup>N-enrichment of soils and crops, the most reasonable explanation is bacteriologic denitrification in anaerobic paddy soil where the rice was grown.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/11/5/929stable isotopespaleoethnobotanycropsKorean Bronze AgeProto-Three Kingdom period |
| spellingShingle | Shinya Shoda Hiroo Nasu Kohei Yamazaki Natsuki Murakami Geon-Ju Na Sung-Mo Ahn Minoru Yoneda Dry or Wet? Evaluating the Initial Rice Cultivation Environment on the Korean Peninsula Agronomy stable isotopes paleoethnobotany crops Korean Bronze Age Proto-Three Kingdom period |
| title | Dry or Wet? Evaluating the Initial Rice Cultivation Environment on the Korean Peninsula |
| title_full | Dry or Wet? Evaluating the Initial Rice Cultivation Environment on the Korean Peninsula |
| title_fullStr | Dry or Wet? Evaluating the Initial Rice Cultivation Environment on the Korean Peninsula |
| title_full_unstemmed | Dry or Wet? Evaluating the Initial Rice Cultivation Environment on the Korean Peninsula |
| title_short | Dry or Wet? Evaluating the Initial Rice Cultivation Environment on the Korean Peninsula |
| title_sort | dry or wet evaluating the initial rice cultivation environment on the korean peninsula |
| topic | stable isotopes paleoethnobotany crops Korean Bronze Age Proto-Three Kingdom period |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/11/5/929 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT shinyashoda dryorwetevaluatingtheinitialricecultivationenvironmentonthekoreanpeninsula AT hiroonasu dryorwetevaluatingtheinitialricecultivationenvironmentonthekoreanpeninsula AT koheiyamazaki dryorwetevaluatingtheinitialricecultivationenvironmentonthekoreanpeninsula AT natsukimurakami dryorwetevaluatingtheinitialricecultivationenvironmentonthekoreanpeninsula AT geonjuna dryorwetevaluatingtheinitialricecultivationenvironmentonthekoreanpeninsula AT sungmoahn dryorwetevaluatingtheinitialricecultivationenvironmentonthekoreanpeninsula AT minoruyoneda dryorwetevaluatingtheinitialricecultivationenvironmentonthekoreanpeninsula |