An international team of scientists has discovered extensive archaeological evidence of Neolithic farming and human habitation at altitudes above 2,000 to 3,000 meters on the Tibetan Plateau.
The scientists have reported evidence from the northeastern Tibetan Plateau indicating that the first villages were established only by 5,200 years ago.
“Until now, when and how humans started to live and farm at such extraordinary heights has remained an open question,” said Prof Martin Jones of the University of Cambridge’s McDonald Institute of Archaeological Research, UK, who is the senior author of the paper published today in the journal Science.
“Our understanding of sustained habitation above 2,000 meters on the Tibetan Plateau has to date been hampered by the scarcity of archaeological data available.”
In order to ascertain during what period and at what altitude sustained farming first enabled an enduring human presence, Prof Jones and his colleagues from China and the United States collected artifacts, animal bones and plant remains from more than fifty archaeological sites across Neolithic cultures such as Yangshao, Majiayao, Qiija, Xindian, Kayue and Nuomuhong.
Cereal grains – foxtail millet, broomcorn millet, barley and wheat – were identified at all sites, and animal bones and teeth – from sheep, cattle and pig – were discovered at 10 sites.
Of the 53 sites, an earlier group (dating from 5,200-3,600 years ago) reached a maximum elevation of 2,527 meters, while a later group of 29 sites (dating from 3,600-2,300 years ago) approached 3,400 meters in altitude.
“But our findings show that not only did these farmer-herders conquer unheard of heights in terms of raising livestock and growing crops like barley and millet, but that human expansion into the higher, colder altitudes took place as the continental temperatures were becoming colder,” Prof Jones added.
He said: “the Tibetan Plateau research could have wider and further-reaching implications for today’s world in terms of global food security and the possibilities of rebalancing the ‘global diet’; at present heavily, and perhaps unsustainably, swayed in favor of the big three crops of rice, wheat and maize.”
“Our current knowledge of agricultural foods emphasizes a relatively small number of crops growing in the intensively managed lowlands.”
“The more we learn about the rich ecology of past and present societies, and the wider range of crops they raised in the world’s more challenging environments, the more options we will have for thinking through food security issues in the future.”
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F.H. Chen et al. Agriculture facilitated permanent human occupation of the Tibetan Plateau after 3600 BP. Science, published online November 20, 2014; doi: 10.1126/science.1259172
