[Gerry]:
> Alexander, what evidence are you using for vegetables and rice in SE
> Asia. Do you have specific sites? Would you mind sharing them?
[Alexander]:
If you are asking whether this information is published somewhere in the
Internet - I don't know, up to now I used only printed materials.
In NW Thailand some sites (Spirit Cave and other) with remnants of different
domesticated vegetables (Lagenaria, cucumbers, leguminous, peppers and other)
were found in 1966. Later rice was domesticated in the same region (mountains of
South East Asia).
In the 5th millenium BC rice producing cultures occupied Indo-China and appeared
in the Gang valley (apparenly Proto-Munda people) and in the Yangtze mouth
(Hemudu culture - probably corresponds to the branch to which Austronesian
languages belong).
> And
> are you calling these folks at 12 (mill. ago) Austric folks and claiming
> that they were the first folks to have spoken a language? Also, could
> you please explain what you mean by _mill. ago_?
"mill. ago" means "millenia ago". The Austric superfamily is not my invention.
Only the Tai family presence there is problematic.
"the first folks to have spoken a language" - is this a kind of humor?
> I know that much has occurred in the area of Asian archaeology but
> apparently I must have missed some of the newest finds. And silly me
> always thought civilization originated in the Middle East.
If you mean "civilization" in the sense of Childe's and your criteria (state,
class society) I don't think that you are wrong (at least I don't know a state
more ancient then Sumer).
If you mean Neolithic revolution, SE Asian center is usually considered as the
place where agriculture appeared for the very first time. However other centers
of the Neolithic revolution (Near East, Saharan, Chinese etc.) are independent
and have their own unique set of the INITIALLY domesticated plant and animal
species (but dogs which were almost universally spread).
Alexander