Early Neolithic diets at Baijia, Wei River valley, China: Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of human and faunal remains
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Date
2013-02-13
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Past Global Changes
Abstract
The first farmers of the Wei River valley belonged to
the Laoguantai period (ca. 8500-7000 yr BP) and lived in
small settlements that were sparsely distributed in the
landscape. Understanding of Laoguantai farming practices
is limited as only a small number of archaeological sites
are known. Here we present stable carbon and nitrogen
isotope values for faunal and human bone collagen from
Baijia, a Laoguantai site in the Wei River valley of Shaanxi
Province, China. Five of the collagen samples have been
AMS 14C dated and have a calibrated age range of ca.
7659-7339 yr BP. Stable isotope results show millet and
aquatic foods, such as fish and shellfish, being included
in the human diet. Bovid samples, which are tentatively
identified as water buffalo, have stable carbon isotope
values reflecting some millet consumption. The question
of whether these bovids were grazing on millet growing
wild, or had diets directly influenced by humans, remains
to be answered. Stable isotope results for a single pig
reveal a markedly different diet, one dominated by C3
plants which would have dominated natural vegetation of
the region. Overall, stable isotope results conform to the
current view of Laoguantai people being millet farmers
with subsistence strategies that included hunted wild
foods.
Description
Keywords
China, Farms, Food, Agriculture, Archaeological sites, Carbon, Nitrogen, Rivers, Carbon 14, Diet, Stable isotopes
Citation
Atahan, P., Dodson, J., Li, X., Zhou, A., Hu, S., Chen, L., Bertuch, F., & Grice, K. (2013). Early neolithic diets at Baijia, Wei River Valley, China: stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of human and faunal remains. Paper presented the Past Global Changes 4th Open Science Meeting, Goa, India 13-16 February 2013.