Archaeologists have unearthed large quantities of rice that they
say is 3,115 years old in the town of Zhongshui in southwest
China's
Guizhou Province.
"The rice was found in numerous pits and it's believed to be
upland rice, since the rice grains are much smaller and rice shoots
are much shorter than those of paddy rice." said Zhao Zhijun, a
researcher with the Archaeology Institute of Chinese Academy of
Social Science (CASS).
The discovery shows that rice was being systematically
cultivated more than three thousand years ago, said a source with
the Guizhou Provincial Bureau of Cultural Heritage.
Experts believe the rice, the oldest ever excavated in southwest
China, will provide valuable insights into the evolution of rice
strains.
(Xinhua News Agency April 5, 2006)
