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Abstract
Rice ( Oryza sativa L.): Seed-Size Comparison and Cultivation in Ancient Korea. The measurements of carbonized rice kernels from seventeen archaeological sites across Korea were compared to show a diachronic kernel-size change over the period of ca. 1500 BCE-600 CE. The assemblages that predated ca. 1 BCE consisted of short and narrow grains whereas those after ca. 1 CE consisted of long and plump grains. The observed pattern indicates the cultivation of new rice varieties in the later period, although it is not clearly understood whether the new varieties were introduced from elsewhere or whether they evolved locally. A sudden change in rice harvesting tools accompanied this change in rice kernel sizes. The semi-lunar stone knife, which reaps ripe rice ears individually, was replaced by the iron sickle, which cuts a bundle of rice stalks all at once. The changes in rice kernel-size and harvesting tools suggest that the short and narrow grains did not ripen in a synchronous manner and were selectively harvested in ears on multiple occasions over an expanded time span, whereas the long and plump grains ripened in a synchronous manner and were harvested in stalks over a shorter time span. The nearly concurrent appearance of large-grained rice in the Korean and Japanese sites indicates that the new varieties spread rapidly across the Far East Asia region.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]