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Recent archaeological findings provide a hint on domestication of azuki (Vigna angularis var. angularis) in East Asia. This preliminary study investigates archaeological collections from various regions in Korea, China, and Japan, representing the long-term evolution (5300–1450 BP) of azuki. Changes in seed shapes show that cultural manipulation of azuki began as early as 5300–4800 cal. BP. Azuki beans from Neolithic contexts in Korea and Japan show a possible sign of morphological response to human management, at least 2000 years prior to the appearance of fully domesticated forms. Yabutsuru-azuki (V. angularis var. nipponensis), a conspecific progenitor of domesticated azuki, has been a supplementary diet and seed reserve for lean years in East Asia, and this tradition may have a long root to the mid Holocene. Archaeological evidence indicates the possibility of multiple origins of azuki, supporting recent phylogenetic data. A unique contribution of this research is its interdisciplinary attempt to examine both the biological and cultural processes of this staple legume domestication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last glacial–interglacial climate transition in East Asia was characterized by an intensified monsoon, but knowledge about hydrological responses at a regional scale during this transitional period is limited. Here we provide a novel lipid-based paleohydrological record for this period from the Dajiuhu peat deposit, central China. High water levels and persistent wet conditions during the Younger Dryas (12.5–11.6 ka) and the early Holocene (10.5–9.9 ka) were inferred on the basis of enrichments of sterenes, a group of unstable intermediate diagenetic products derived from biogenic sterols that are most likely preserved under a waterlogged peatland surface. These two wet intervals were accompanied by temperature decreases indicated by an increase in pollen abundance from cold favoring conifer trees and a decrease in total hardwood tree pollen. This cold and wet climate pattern, which is different from the concordant cold-dry pattern documented in north China, was probably caused by the regional influence of the western Pacific subtropical high on the residence time of the Meiyu rainband in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River Valley. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]