Deng, ZhenhuaHung, Hsiao-ChunLi, ZhenCarson, MikeHuang, QiangHuang, YunzhongLu, Houyuan2022-04-200003-598Xhttp://hdl.handle.net/1885/264009Archaeobotanical studies tend to concentrate on the evidence for specialised agricultural food production, with less attention directed towards the use of plant foods within hunter-gatherer contexts. Here, the authors present evidence for the exploitation of Canarium nuts from four late hunter-gatherer sites in southern China. Canarium nuts contributed to the inhabitants’ diets from as early as 9000 cal BP. They also identify new uses of Canarium, c. 4500–4400 cal BP, as ritual offerings in the context of the introduction of rice and millet farming. The results are examined in the context of Canarium use across the wider Asia-Pacific region.For funding this research, Zhenhua Deng and Houyuan Lu thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grants 41602186, 41872027 & 41830322) and the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant XDB26000000); Hsiao-chun Hung thanks the Australian Research Council (DP 110101097 and DP140100384).application/pdfen-AU© Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2019southern ChinaCanarium nutsfood resourceshunter-gatherers201910.15184/aqy.2019.1732020-12-27