A Research on Ta-peng-keng's Subsistence Pattern-An Analysis of Phytolith Found in Pottery

Plants absorb water from the soil and mineral matter in the water can accumulate in the plants' cells. These minute particles, called phytolith or opal phytolith, are not easily destroyed or faded away. Even the plants had died for a long time, phytolith can still exist in the relics. Therefore, the phytolith analysis of archaeological remains can also reveal information about the plants that had lived as the same time as early human beings. Phytolith analysis adopted in archaeology has developed promptly since the 1970s, it has achieved a lot in interpreting prehistoric plant and agriculture, especially in the research of phytolith rice of eastern Asia's agricultur. In this study, 10 pieces of pottery selected from Ta-Peng-Keng Culture within Ta-Peng-Keng site are the subjects for the phytolith analysis. The outcome is that there is some rice phytolith found in Ta-Peng-Keng Culture's pottery, and it could be considered as wild rice. Since few evidence in earlier studies was presented to support Ta-Peng-Keng Culture's early agriculture, this result can provide significant knowledge and data for a further discussion.