Stone Age paddy fields tended by the world’s earliest known rice farmers have been uncovered in a swamp in China, scientists say. The researchers found the land was deliberately managed for rice growing.

Fire was used to clear scrub, while flood-prevention measures helped keep brackish water from getting into the fields.

The discovery shows rice growing began in the coastal wetlands of eastern China some 7,700 years ago.

[Read](http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/09/070926-china-rice.html “Read the Story”) (National Geographic)