9000年前的炭化小豆遗存现身山东

Group 1 - An international team, including Shandong University and Washington University in St. Louis, discovered carbonized small bean remains dating back 9,000 years at the Xiaogao site in Zibo, Shandong Province, which is 4,000 years earlier than previously found carbonized small beans in China [1] - The Xiaogao site is located in the lower Yellow River region and is associated with the Late Li culture, a culture that transitioned towards settlement approximately 9,000 to 7,000 years ago [1] - The research team identified 45 small bean grains at the Xiaogao site, although most had lost their seed coats and cotyledons [1] Group 2 - The findings indicate that 9,000 years ago, the lower Yellow River region had already formed the initial "millet + bean" composite crop system in East Asia, significantly influencing the development of settled societies and the origins of civilization in the Yellow River basin [2] - Beans played two crucial roles: they improved soil through crop rotation with millet and supplemented the protein and fat deficiencies in millet-based diets [2] - A comparative study of over 140 archaeological sites in East Asia revealed distinct evolutionary trajectories of small beans in the Yellow River basin, Japan, and Korea, with the Xiaogao site's small beans being the smallest recorded globally at an average volume of 5.8 cubic millimeters [2]