Asian archaeology. Comment on "Agriculture facilitated permanent human occupation of the Tibetan Plateau after 3600 B.P. "

Jade d'Alpoim Guedes; R Kyle Bocinsky; Ethan E Butler

doi:10.1126/science.aaa4819

Asian archaeology. Comment on "Agriculture facilitated permanent human occupation of the Tibetan Plateau after 3600 B.P. "

Science. 2015 May 22;348(6237):872. doi: 10.1126/science.aaa4819.

Authors

Jade d'Alpoim Guedes¹, R Kyle Bocinsky², Ethan E Butler³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA. jade.dalpoimguedes@wsu.edu.
² Department of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA.
³ Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

PMID: 25999499
DOI: 10.1126/science.aaa4819

Abstract

Chen et al. (Reports, 16 January 2015, p. 248) argued that early Tibetan agriculturalists pushed the limits of farming up to 4000 meters above sea level. We contend that this argument is incompatible with the growing requirements of barley. It is necessary to clearly define past crop niches to create better models for the complex history of the occupation of the plateau.

Publication types

Comment

MeSH terms

Agriculture / history*
Altitude*
Humans