One of the first things that come to mind when talking about China is the very close relationship that Asian cultures have with rice.
And it could be a very long story that dates back to a very ancient period, almost 10,000 years ago.
The discovery of some archaeological and geological study groups has allowed the formulation of the hypothesis that the first attempts at "domestication" and cultivation of cereals date back to very distant times, even to the end of the Pleistocene.
As several sources, including "The Atlantic," report, the examination of some phytoliths contained in rice remains found at the archaeological site of Shangshan, on the banks of the Blue River, would tell an interesting story—the cultural transition of the early Chinese from a hunter-gatherer stage to settled agricultural civilizations.
Phytoliths are particles unaffected by the passage of time, nor can they be digested or burned. At that site, one of the earliest evidence of rice's significant presence in the diet, phytoliths are found everywhere. They are deposits of silica present in certain types of plants, including rice consumed along the Yangtze River.
Thus, at Shangshan, the earliest traces of this epoch in human history are discovered. When the first groups moved away from nomadic hunter-gatherer life to establish the first villages through agriculture and food production.
