Although the overall domestication of rice and the formation of agricultural systems in the Lower Yangtze are generally understood, sub-regional differences in domestication pathways and their respective contributions remain unclear. This study analyses rice bulliform phytoliths from the Shengjiali site and identifies geographical segregation as a key factor driving divergent domestication processes within the region. A review of published bulliform data, supported by spikelet-base evidence, reveals three distinct regional pathways: (1) In the Jinqu Basin (~10,000–8000 cal. BP), wild and domesticated rice coexisted, with domestication largely complete by ~9000 cal. BP. (2) Domestication intensity increased despite sea-level fluctuations on the Neolithic Ningshao Plain. (3) Prehistoric Taihu Plain communities developed a sustainable intensive agricultural system for domesticated rice and subsequently spread it across the Lower Yangtze. These findings challenge the assumption of a unidirectional, linear domestication process and offer new insights into the interplay between crop domestication and human behaviours.
Ma et al. (2026) studied this question.