Historical sources describe irrigation and intensive agriculture being practiced in lowland Yunnan from at least the first century AD, but so far archaeobotanical remains allowing investigation of this issue have been scarce. Here, we present new archaeobotanical evidence, including macro-botanical and phytoliths results, from the Dian settlement site of Dayingzhuang, with direct AMS radiocarbon dates on two wheat grains falling between 750 and 390 BC. We compare these results with contemporary Dian sites and analyse the agricultural systems in Central Yunnan between the eight and fourth centuries BC. We propose that agriculture was intensified toward the end of the Dian through both multiple cropping seasons and increased evidence for irrigated rice fields.

历史资料描述了至少从公元一世纪开始，云南低地就开始进行灌溉和集约化农业，但迄今为止，能够对此问题进行调查的考古植物遗存很少。在这里，我们展示了来自大英庄滇定居点的新的考古植物学证据，包括大型植物学和植硅体结果，以及在公元前 750 年至 390 年之间的两种小麦籽粒的直接 AMS 放射性碳年代测定。我们将这些结果与当代滇遗址进行比较，并分析公元前八至四世纪云南中部的农业系统。我们提出，通过多季种植和增加灌溉稻田的证据，农业在滇末期得到加强。