Abstract: To understand the origin of rice cultivation in the Neolithic age, analysis of phytolith and investigation of plant remains had been carried out in the newly excavated Kuahuqiao site located in the suburbs of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, dated from 7000 to 8000 a BP. Analysis of phytolith showed the presence of phytoliths from motor cells of rice in every layer, excepting the 11 th layer, all of which were large in size, morphologically similar to those of japonica type. Investigation of plant remains by floating method showed that there were a lot of rice remains, such as rice grain, hulled rice and rice husk in the 5 th to 11 th layers. The ratio of length to width was 2.71 of rice grain and 2.68 of the hulled rice, both morphologically similar to those of indica type. It could be assumed from the results that the lower reaches of the Yangtze River are the home of rice cultivation, and that the ancient rice excavated from Kuahuqiao site was an incompletely differentiated population.

Key words: Oryza sativa, carbonized rice, phytolith, archaeology, Neolithic age

摘要： 为了深入了解新石器时代的稻作起源问题，对距今7 000~8 000年前的浙江省杭州市近郊新发现的跨湖桥遗址进行了植物硅酸体分析和植物遗存调查。植物硅酸体分析结果显示，除第11层外，其他各层都有来自稻叶片运动细胞的硅酸体，而且硅酸体的形状较大，与现代栽培粳稻的相似。植物遗存调查显示，跨湖桥遗址中有大量的稻谷、稻米和谷壳等古稻遗存；其中，稻谷的长宽比为2.71， 稻米的长宽比为2.68，稻谷粒型与现代栽培稻的籼稻相似。研究结果表明，长江下游可能是我国稻作起源地之一，跨湖桥遗址的古稻可能是尚未完全分化的群体。

关键词: 水稻, 碳化稻米, 硅酸体, 考古, 新石器时代