Photo: Stone Age Rice Fields Discovered in China Swamp

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A reconstructed hut at the ancient Chinese settlement of Hemdu may resemble the elevated structures used by the first known rice farmers some 7,700 years ago, scientists say.

A new study of artifacts and sediments found at Kuahuqiao, China, show that Stone Age farmers there used fire and even flood control to develop the earliest rice paddies ever found.

Photograph courtesy Y.Q. Zong

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