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Did silk cultivation in China begin with a single discovery or develop gradually over the Neolithic?

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Why Open
The legendary account credits Empress Leizu with discovering silk cultivation in one moment around 2700 BCE, while archaeological finds, a carved ivory silkworm figure at Nancun and silk residues at other Neolithic sites, push evidence of the practice back roughly 5,400 to 5,500 years, centuries before any written record, leaving no way to confirm whether a single origin event occurred or the practice simply accumulated. 1
What Would Resolve
Additional dated archaeological finds of silkworm cultivation across Neolithic Yellow River sites, or genetic dating of the domesticated silk moth's divergence from its wild ancestor, could narrow the window and test whether a single domestication event or several gradual ones occurred. 1
Discipline Needed
Archaeology and archaeogenetics 1
Open Question

The legendary account credits Empress Leizu with discovering silk cultivation in one moment around 2700 BCE, while archaeological finds, a carved ivory silkworm figure at Nancun and silk residues at other Neolithic sites, push evidence of the practice back roughly 5,400 to 5,500 years, centuries before any written record, leaving no way to confirm whether a single origin event occurred or the practice simply accumulated.

What would resolve this Additional dated archaeological finds of silkworm cultivation across Neolithic Yellow River sites, or genetic dating of the domesticated silk moth's divergence from its wild ancestor, could narrow the window and test whether a single domestication event or several gradual ones occurred.
OpenArchaeology and archaeogeneticsSericulture (Wikipedia)
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Source Sericulture (Wikipedia)
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1. Sericulture (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationHistory sectionView the Source
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