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Ancient Diet in South China Shifted from Forest Foods to Rice Farming
Microscopic plant remains recovered from an archaeological site in southern China reveal how communities gradually shifted from relying on wild and locally managed forest foods to a more cereal-based economy during the transition from the Late Neolithic to the Bronze Age.
The study focused on Jinlansi, a shell-midden site on the northeastern edge of the Pearl River Delta. Occupation at the site spans roughly 4,500 to 3,500 years ago, a period when rice and millet agriculture were spreading into subtropical southern China.
Researchers combined phytolith analysis with the study of starch grains preserved on stone tools. Phytoliths are microscopic silica structures formed inside plants, while starch residues can identify foods that were processed by grinding or pounding.
The results show that Late Neolithic inhabitants used a wide range of local plant resources. Starch grains from underground storage organs, including probable yams, konjac-like plants and edible ferns, dominated the assemblage. Water chestnuts, palms, acorns and Job’s tears were also processed.
Underground storage organs accounted for approximately 65 percent of the identifiable starch grains. Their presence on several tool types suggests that they were not occasionally collected foods, but a routine part of the local diet.
Some tools appear to have had specialized functions. Disc-shaped implements were used mainly for processing soft, starchy underground organs, while a stone pestle contained residues from a broader range of plants, including tubers, aquatic foods and nuts.
The community nevertheless knew rice during the Late Neolithic. Researchers identified several diagnostic rice phytoliths, indicating that rice was present and possibly cultivated locally. Their low proportions, however, suggest that rice initially played only a limited role.
This finding helps explain why cereal agriculture spread slowly through the Pearl River Delta. The area’s subtropical forests, wetlands and river margins already offered reliable sources of carbohydrates that required less labour and risk than intensive rice farming.
By the Bronze Age, around 3,500 years ago, the pattern had changed significantly. Rice phytoliths became more abundant, and samples from several excavation areas reached or exceeded proposed values used to identify ancient paddy cultivation.
The evidence suggests a growing commitment to local rice production, although farming practices may have remained small-scale or relatively extensive rather than relying on highly controlled irrigated fields.
Changes in starch residues also reflect this transition. Underground storage organs became less diverse and less common, while millet, edible legumes, acorns and Job’s tears increased. Water chestnut and fern starches nearly disappeared.
Stone-tool assemblages changed at the same time. Earlier disc-shaped tools and pestles became uncommon, while hammers and lower grinding stones appeared more frequently, possibly reflecting new methods of processing cereals and harder plant foods.
The transition did not completely replace earlier subsistence traditions. Forest nuts, wild grasses, legumes and underground organs continued to supplement rice agriculture, probably reducing the risks associated with unstable harvests.
The study therefore presents agricultural development in the Pearl River Delta as a gradual reorganization rather than a sudden replacement of foraging by farming. Communities incorporated introduced cereals into a long-established system based on detailed knowledge of forests and wetlands.
The findings also demonstrate the value of combining starch and phytolith evidence in humid environments, where seeds and other visible plant remains often decay.
Published on: 02-08-2026
Edited by: Abdulmnam Samakie
Source: npj Heritage Science
