Rice Workshop 2019 Vadodara

NERC-funded research into early rice is being undertaken at the UCL Institute of Archaeology. Understanding the development, diversification and spread of rice agriculture is central not only to our understanding of the processes of human population growth, dispersal and formation of civilisations in Asia but also to reconstructing how past agricultural activities might have impacted global climate through methane emissions and deforestation.

This two day workshop will address the evolution and impact of rice cultivation systems in South Asia, including issues relating to sustainability and long-term food security.

Key questions include:
• What are our current understandings of regional transitions to rice agriculture?
• How important was rice compared to other food types (millets, wheat, gathered foods, fauna) and how did the varied importance of rice impact on human populations and social complexity in different regions?
• How reliably can we differentiate between wet (irrigated/flooded) and dry (rainfed/upland) rice cultivation systems using archaeobotanical remains?
• Does our rice archaeobotanical database change/improve models for how rice spread across South Asia?

The symposium, funded by NERC, is being held and organised by the UCL Institute of Archaeology and the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda Department of Archaeology and Ancient History.

The programme for the event may be downloaded here.

Any enquiries about the Early Rice project may be directed to Dorian Fuller.