Summary: A new archaeological discoveryshowed that the Hexi Corridor region was not only a channel for foreign exchanges and trade, but also an important entrance for wheat imported into China.Gansu Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeologyrecently r

A new archaeological discovery showed that the Hexi Corridor region was not only a channel for foreign exchanges and trade, but also an important entrance for wheat imported into China.

Gansu Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology recently released the archaeological excavation information of the Xichengyi Site in the Hexi Corridor. Some carbonized wheat and barley were unearthed after over eight years of excavation. “The wheat unearthed from the Xichengyi Site was about 4000 years old,” said Dr. Chen Guoke from the Gansu Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology.

The prehistoric site Xichengyi was once mainly engaged in dry farming and feeding and metallurgy. Dating back to about 3,500 to 4,100 years ago, the site is located nearby Zhangye City beside the Heihe River in the middle of the Hexi Corridor, covering an area of 350,000 square meters.

As one of the three main food staples, wheat was introduced into China long ago. Some archaeological data showed that wheat, originally planted in West Asia, spread eastward to ancient India and China in about 5000 BC. Since 2000 BC, wheat has kept being spread eastward, in the north of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, from the eastern part of Kazakhstan, cross the Tianshan Mountains, through the Hexi Corridor and the east of Longshan, and finally to the western part of the Loess Plateau. The carbonized wheat founded in the Hexi Corridor has shown us the eastward path of the introduction of wheat.