Although the Austronesian languages themselves have disappeared from mainland China, various finds unearthed over the past ten years on the coastal region south of the Yangtze River indicate the presence some 6,000 years ago of a Neolithic riceeating culture very different from the culture of the Yellow River valley.
語言學家雖然無法由大陸沿海地帶找到說同樣語系的民族，但十年前在長江以南的沿海地區，出土了一批六千年以前的化石。包括用來收割的石鐮刀，牛和豬的骨頭，以及陶土罐，在在說明瞭中國南方在六千年前，就建立了一個米食文化，較之黃河文化更為久遠。