1 101 X North China @ Around 6000 BC, two areas of northern China saw the emergence of agricultural communities. On the Huanghe river, people began cultivating millet and various fruit trees, keeping pigs and dogs and tending silkworms. Further south in the moister environment of the lower Yangtze, rice cultivation developed, later spreading to other regions.
#North China, Han depiction of ploughing
2 101 X The south @ Rice cultivation developed in this region sometime around 5000 BC, along with the cultivation of root crops and tubers, and tropical fruit trees including coconut. From here cereals were introduced to the islands of South-East Asia where native plants such as tubers, sugarcane and banana were already under cultivation. Pigs and dogs were also kept.
#South China and South-East Asia, Dong Son drum scene depicting storehouse and grain being pounded
3 101 X Japan and Korea @ Rice and millet cultivation spread into Korea from China during the period 3000-1000 BC and by 500 BC these crops were also cultivated in Japan, along with barley. They initially supplemented the rich supplies of wild foods, but by 300 BC fully agricultural communities were spreading through western Japan, practising sophisticated wet-rice agriculture.
#Japan and Korea, Reconstructed Yayoi granary at Toro
4 101 X The Pacific @ Drainage channels in the swampy ground at Kuk on New Guinea show agriculture began here before 7000 BC, growing a variety of crops. On the islands of the Pacific, garden cultivation of bananas, taro (a starchy rootcrop), yams and tree crops developed. Pigs, domesticated on the mainland, spread throughout Oceania in the company of pioneer seafarers.
#Pacific, Pacific crops
5 101 X Australia @ Australian hunter-gatherers did not develop agriculture but aided nature for their own benefit by burning off unwanted plants and replanting desired plants to encourage their proliferation. In some areas sedentary villages existed; elsewhere seasonal movement allowed the most efficient exploitation of the available resources, which included seeds, nuts, tubers, animals, grubs, insects, fish and shellfish.
#Australia, Painting of a hunter
6 101 X Cattle @ Cattle were kept by early north Chinese farmers but did not compete with pigs as a source of meat, whereas further south they were equally important. East Asian populations never developed the ability to digest milk that emerged in more westerly regions before 2000 BC, so cattle were not kept for milk.
#Cattle
7 101 X Buffalo @ Water buffalo, domesticated in central and southern China and South-East Asia, were used for meat. They have also been found at Hemudu in northern China. From about 1500 BC, when permanently cleared wet-rice paddy fields seem to have replaced earlier slash-and-burn rice cultivation, buffalo were used for ploughing.
#Buffalo
8 101 X Dogs @ Dogs seem to have been domesticated in many parts of the world in the final stages of the last ice age, including Japan around 10,000 BC. Well established as a domestic animal through much of East Asia, dogs were introduced to Australia by sea some time after 3000 BC.
#Dog
9 101 X Pigs @ Native to mainland East Asia, the pig was taken by sea to island South-East Asia and New Guinea and was carried from there throughout Oceania by the intrepid colonists, although it failed to become established in some islands such as New Zealand. Throughout much of East Asia it was the principal meat animal.
#Pig
10 101 X Chickens @ Chickens were an important part of the diet in East Asia, where they were domesticated from the widespread red jungle fowl. Their remains have been found around 6000 BC at Cishan and Hemudu in northern China and on many later sites.
#Chicken
11 101 X Rice @ Native to south China and South-East Asia, rice was cultivated not only here but also further north on the lower Yangtze after 6000 BC. Later its cultivation spread to adjacent areas, Korea, Japan and island South-East Asia. Initially rice was grown in temporary clearings but ploughing to prepare permanent fields began before 1500 BC.
#Rice
12 101 X Wheat and barley @ The appearance in China of wheat and barley, Western Asiatic crops, is evidence of contacts over long distances, although these are likely to have been operating through myriad short distance links.
#Wheat and barley
13 101 X Millet @ Broomcorn millet and foxtail millet began to be cultivated on the Huanghe river around 6000 BC. Initially cultivation employed slash-and-burn techniques, in which a plot was cultivated for two or three years then left fallow for one or two decades to recover fertility. Northern Koreans also cultivated millet as their staple, combined with soya beans.
#Millet
14 101 X Hemp @ Hemp was cultivated by the north Chinese from early times and remained throughout prehistory the material from which the coarse garments of the peasantry and lower orders were made, silk being reserved for the elite and for the export market.
#Hemp
15 101 X Root crops and tubers @ Rootcrops and tubers, such as taro (a starchy root) and yam, were grown in south China and mainland South-East Asia by 5000 BC and were also domesticated in island South-East Asia. They were among the main staples of the Pacific. Intensive cultivation of taro is known about two thousand years ago at Kuk on New Guinea.
#Root crops and tubers
16 101 X Pulses @ Beans and peas were found as early as 10,000 BC at Spirit Cave in South-East Asia but were unlikely to have been cultivated as early as that. Soyabeans, an important source of protein, were first cultivated in Manchuria and were introduced to northern China around 1000 BC, where they became a staple crop combined with millets.
#Pulses
17 101 X Silkworms and silk @ Evidence from North China suggests the beginning of silk production before 2700 BC. Later it became a major industry, especially for export. Chinese art shows ladies spinning silk and gathering mulberry leaves to feed the silkworms. The secret of silk production was closely guarded but in 554 AD silkworms were smuggled to the western world.
#Silkworm and silk
18 101 X Treecrops @ In northern China, many fruit trees were cultivated, particularly plums. Southern China and South-East Asia were home to many useful trees including coconut and sago palm. Treecrops such as breadfruit and pandanus nuts were staples in the gardens of Oceania. Fibres from palms such as rattan and pandanus were used for making baskets and matting.
#Tree crops
19 101 X Other plants @ The earliest suggested evidence of banana cultivation comes from New Guinea, around 7000 BC, and bananas were among the crops carried into Oceania by seafaring colonists. Sugarcane was domesticated in island South-East Asia and from there spread widely. Various types of cabbage were widely grown in China.
