Scientists stir because of the 3,000-year-old grain germination

During excavation at Thanh Den (Me Linh district, Hanoi), the excavation team found a lot of grain and scorched rice on the soil floor dating back 3,000 years. 10 seeds germinate when soaked in preserved water.

The above information was asserted by Associate Professor - Dr. Lam Thi My Dung - Head of Archeology Department (History Department, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Hanoi National University). According to Dr. Dung, more than a month ago, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities combined with the Hanoi Museum conducted excavation at Thanh Den archaeological site on an area of ​​300 m ² . During the excavation process, many ancient stains were discovered (kitchen garbage pits).

In early May, the excavation team found burnt grains and rice at four kitchen garbage pits, all of which were in an 8-level floor, almost 1 meter deep from the ground. The soil in this class has water seeping out, there is a lot of ash around it and food remains like fish bones and shells .

Sprouted grains are excavated from the soil layer dating back 3,000 years.

According to Dung, the discovery of burnt grains and rice grains is not special, but what really surprised her and her colleagues is that after soaking in water for about 2 days, there are 10 seeds. the rice has sprouted, stabbed the leaves.

Although extremely surprised and unexplainable about the vitality of the grain, but in charge of excavation, closely monitoring from the beginning to the end as well as directly making artifacts, Dr. Dung affirmed "the seeds This rice is taken from the kitchen garbage pits of Dong Dau Culture, Dong Son Money, 3,000 - 3,500 years ago today ".

Before this information, domestic agricultural scientists proved to be very cautious and suspicious. According to Mr. Le Duy Ham - Director of the Institute of Agricultural Genetics, there is still the possibility of seeds germinating after a few thousand years "but this is a rare phenomenon."

"In principle, it is very difficult to have a grain of rice 3,000 years ago and still germinate. However, this possibility cannot be ruled out because it is very likely that the grains are preserved in a special environment. but people do not know, " Mr. Ham said.

According to the director of the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nguyen Van Bo, with the most modern machines and facilities, can only preserve seeds that can germinate after a maximum of 50-100 years. According to scientists, there is a need for accurate and convincing answers to the dates of germinated grains that need to be taken for carbon content analysis.

Excavation at Thanh Doong archaeological hole.

Dr Dung said this would be done soon after the team completed the excavation of the site, about 1-2 weeks from now and the results would be available a few months later. According to her, the discovery of grain germinated after 3,000 years has a great significance, it is one of the evidence to talk about the ancestral rice civilization.

"This is a unique, unprecedented discovery, posing new issues that need to be researched to answer the questions correctly: what kind of rice is it, why does it germinate after that? years, how were rice seeds preserved in the environment, with precious gene sources . " , Dung said.

According to Ms. Dung, scientists at home and abroad have to work together to hope to find out the answer soon. Currently, 8 germinated rice seeds have been taken to the Agricultural Genetics Institute to cultivate, care and research. Two other germinating seeds will also be taken to the Rice Institute of Hanoi University of Agriculture.

Receiving the sprouted rice seeds, Le Duy Ham, Director of the Agricultural Genetics Institute, said that the rice sprouts were not yet different from contemporary rice varieties.

According to Mr. Ham, 8 seeds of germinated rice are being grown in a net house and carefully cared for, carefully monitored in size, shape, rice branches and clusters throughout the process, until it is done. , flowering and harvesting. During that time, observing the process of growth and development of these seeds, morphology can know relatively well whether it is ancient rice or not. Next, Mr. Ham and his colleagues will proceed to solve the gene sequence of the grain, compare it with the gene sequence of modern rice varieties to determine whether it is ancient rice or not.

"If it is true that ancient rice is an unprecedented finding, it will be of great historical significance as well as genetically," said Ham.

In the afternoon of May 17, Dr. Dung said that the archaeological team continued to discover a lot of grain in excavated pits at the Citadel excavation site. These grains are preserved in the water environment and hope to have more germinated seeds.

In archaeological history, it was recorded that seeds after hundreds, even thousands of years, could germinate. In 2002, scientists at the University of California (USA), successfully tested the ability to survive 500-year-old lotus seeds at the bottom of a lake in China. In 2005, Israeli researchers revealed that they could breed a date palm from a 2,000-year-old seed .

However, grains of food crops such as rice and corn are recorded only for a few years.

Photo: Dr. Lam Thi My Dung