农业起源研究的生物进化论视角——以稻作农业起源为例

Agricultural Origins from the Perspective of Evolutionary Biology:The Origins of Rice Farming as a Case Study

一、文化发展还是生物进化一般而言,具有悠久农耕历史和浓厚农业传统的国家或民族,都会衍生出相应的农业神话或传说。例如中国古代传说中的神农氏、古埃及神话中的奥西里斯(Osiris)、美洲玛雅文明诸神之中的玉米神等。而且这些主掌农业生产的神祇在当地神话或传说体系中都处在十分重要的地位,例如中国古代文献记载中,神农氏不仅尝百草、播五谷。

The domestication of plants and animals was a special evolutionary process that occurred under influence of human behavior.The morphological and genetic characteristics of plants and animals in the early stages of domestication still show wild traits,and the so-called earliest crops and domestic animals are comparative.Human behavior acting as an unconscious selection has aff ected the direction and pace of domestication of plants and animals,and thus is an important parameter in identifying domestication.According to archaeological evidence of early cultivation and sedentary lifestyle,the process of domestication of rice as well as the beginning of rice farming in China spanned over four to five thousand years,showing a rhythm of leaping forward every two thousand years.The origin of rice agriculture began around 10,000 BP,entered into a critical stage around 8,000 BP,and was completed around 6,000 BP.Thereafter farming replaced gathering and hunting as the core of the subsistence economy,and an agricultural society in which agricultural production was the driving economic force was established.