The integration of millets into rice agriculture in the mountainous region of southern Zhejiang, China

Abstract This study presents compelling evidence of plant utilization from three late Neolithic and early Bronze Age sites in the mountainous region of southern Zhejiang, offering insights into local agricultural practices and the emergence of mixed farming in southern China. Analysis of plant remains from the sites reveals a predominantly farming-based subsistence strategy characterized by a significant reliance on rice alongside the supplementary cultivation of foxtail millet and broomcorn millet. The consistent presence of millets across all sites suggests the establishment of a mixed-crop farming system by approximately 5,300 cal. BP, although the relative proportions of rice and millets varied slightly among the sites. Additionally, the assemblage of field weeds supports the existence of a dryland farming environment. Both the mixed cropping patterns and the morphological characteristics of rice grains indicate a closer agricultural relationship with the adjacent mountainous regions of Jiangxi and Fujian, as well as the middle Yangtze Valley, rather than with other parts of the lower Yangtze valley. Overall, this study enriches our understanding of the widespread adoption of mixed farming practices in southern China since the late Neolithic period.