This paper undertook the C and N stable isotopic analysis of human bones unearthed at the Gouwan site in Xichuan,Henan,to reveal the human diets and to explore the lifestyle of humans and the development of rice and millet agriculture.The contribution of rice to human diets was almost equal to that of millet in this site though millet agriculture is the traditional economic model for the middle Yellow River Valley.On the other hand,the comparison of C and N stable isotopes in different cultural periods clearly indicates changes in millet and rice agriculture.Humans mainly depended on agriculture and gathering in the Yangshao Culture I. Millet agriculture,livestock rearing,and fishing were enhanced in the Yangshao Culture II.Millet agriculture and animal husbandry developed steadily in the Yangshao Culture III.After that the mixed rice and millet agriculture developed further.In addition,rice agriculture spread to the north in the climate suitable for cultural exchanges between north and south in the Yangshao Culture phases.In the Qujialing Culture period,under a colder climate,the rice farming was not dominant,though the Qujialing Culture played a key role in the site.
FU QiaoMeiJIN SongAnHU YaoWuMA ZhaoPAN JianCaiWANG ChangSui
Despite great achievements in the origins of domestic pigs made by the methods of zooarchaeology and molecular biology,how to scientifically distinguish the domesticated pigs from wild boars during the early stage of pig domestication is still poorly understood.Compared to wild boar's diets which come from the natural environment,the diets of domestic pigs are more easily influenced by human feeding activities.Therefore,in principle,exploration of the dietary differences among pigs and understanding the impact on pig diets fed by humans can have great potential to differentiate between wild boars and domesticated pigs.To reveal dietary differences among pigs and distinguish the domesticated pigs from wild boars based on comparison with the diets of humans and other animals,we analyzed the carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes of human bones from Xiaojingshan Site and animal bones from Yuezhuang Site,both of which belong to Houli Culture in Shandong Province and date to about 8500―7500 years ago.The mean δ 13C value((-17.8 ± 0.3)‰) and δ 15N value((9.0±0.6)‰) in human collagen indicate that although millet agriculture began it was not the main subsistence strategy as millets are typical of C4 plants and that humans made a living mainly by gathering,hunting or raising some domesticated animals.The δ 13C value(-16.1‰) and δ 15N value(6.9‰) in the bovine suggest that C3 plants were dominant in its diet with some C4 plants complemented.The fish has lower δ 13C value(-24.9‰) and higher δ 15N value(8.8‰) than the bovine,which is the characteristic of the isotopic values from Eurasian freshwater fish.Based on the differences in carbon and nitrogen isotope values,the pigs can be divided into three groups.A group,composed of two pigs,has low δ 13C values(-18.1‰,-20.0‰) and low δ 15N values(4.7‰,6.0‰).B group,only one pig,has the highest δ 13C value(-10.6‰) and mediate δ 15N value(6.4‰).As for the C group,also only one pig,low δ 13C value(-19.0‰) and the highest δ 15N value(9.1‰) ar
Previous studies on the Rice-Millet(foxtail millet and common millet) Blended Zone in Chinese Neolithic have not clearly addressed such questions as the importance of primitive rice-millet mixed agriculture to human lifestyle and livestock managements within this region,the relationship among the development of the agriculture,paleoenvironment,and cultural interactions,and so on.Here stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of human and pig bones from the Qinglongquan site was conducted,covering two cultural phases,namely the Qujialing Culture(3000 BC to 2600 BC) and the Shijiahe Culture(2600 BC to 2200 BC) .Based on this analysis,we further discussed the diets of ancient humans and pigs in the site,investigated the importance of rice-millet mixed agriculture to human and pig diets,and explored the relationship among the primitive rice agriculture and millet agriculture,cultural interactions,and paleoenvironment.The δ13C values of human bone collagen(-16.7‰ to-12.4‰,averaging-14.6‰±1.3‰,n=24) revealed that both C3 and C4 foods were consumed,probably from the contribution of rice(C3 plant) and millets(C4 plants) due to the coexistence of these crops at this site.In addition,the human mean δ13C value suggested that millet agriculture was only minor in human diets.The human δ15N values(6.6‰to 10.8‰,averaging 9.0‰±1.2‰,n=24) showed that animal resources played a significant role in human diets,and varied greatly.The mean δ13C value of the pigs(-14.3‰±2.5‰,n=13) was quite similar to that of the humans,but the mean δ15N value of the pigs was slightly less(1.3‰) .The similar δ13C and δ15N values between humans and pigs suggested that the pigs consumed a lot of humans'food remains.No correlations of the δ13C and δ15N values between humans and pigs showed that both human and pig diets were based mainly on plant foods,which might be related to highly developed rice-millet mixed agriculture at that time. In comparison with the human and pig diets between the two periods,millet agricultur
GUO YiHU YaoWuZHU JunYingZHOU MiWANG ChangSuiMichael P. RICHARDS
