Animal husbandry strategies in Eastern Zhou China : An isotopic study on faunal remains from the Central Plains

The introduction and spread of wheat contributed to the transformation of the tradition millets agriculture in North China. However, when and how wheat came to be a staple crop in China is still unclear. Stable isotope data from some archaeological sites suggested that the dietary change from C 4 based diet to C 3 /C 4 mixed diet occurred during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-221 BC) on the Central Plains of China. However, the role of each C 3 crop (wheat, rice and soybean) in human diet is not well understood in this key period. Some scholars have argued that wheat made the biggest contribution to human diet among the C 3 crops. To further investigate the dietary role of wheat and agricultural economy in the Eastern Zhou on the Central Plains of China, combined methods of stable isotope analysis on human bones and starch grain analysis on human dental calculus were conducted at Laodaojing cemetery during the Warring States period. The mean δ 13 C values (−14.7 ± 2‰, n = 24) and mean δ 15 N values (9.1 ± 0.9‰, n = 24) of individuals from Laodaojing cemetery suggest that Laodaojing humans had a reliance on the mixture of C 3 /C 4 foods and a certain proportion of animal protein was consumed. Given that the small elevation of δ 15 N values (<3‰) of Laodaojing humans, the contribution of domesticated animals to the mixed C 3 /C 4 diet of Laodaojing population is relatively limited. Combined with starch grains extracted from human dental calculus, we argue that C 3 and C 4 foods at Laodaojing were mainly derived from wheat and millets respectively. Temporal investigations of stable isotope data and archaeobotanical evidences from the late Longshan period to Eastern Zhou Dynasty show the importance of wheat increased in agricultural economy slowly since its introduction into the Central Plains of China. Until the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, wheat as a C 3 crop played an important dietary role in human diet of the Central Plains. A transformation from millet-based to millets/wheat-based agricultural economy occurred along with the shift of dietary pattern during this period.

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Diets Of Laodaojing Humans In the Warring States Periodmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Diets Of Laodaojing Humans In the Warring States Periodmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Investigating wheat consumption based on multiple evidences: Stable isotope analysis on human bone and starch grain analysis on dental calculus of humans from the Laodaojing cemetery, Central Plains, China

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Reconstructing diets and subsistence strategies of the Bronze Age humans from the Central Plains of China: A stable isotopic study on the Nanwa site

Zhang

Ji-hua

Zhao

et al. 2020

A multicrop agricultural system, including millet, wheat, rice, and soybeans, first emerged in China in the Late Longhang period and is considered to be one of the most important basic foundations underpinning the origin and development of early states in China. However, there is still a lack of studies on the specific subsistence strategies of humans from the Bronze Age, specifically addressing how widespread the multicrop agricultural system was. To explore these questions above, carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis on human bones from the Nanwa site (ca 1720–256 BC & 960–1279 AD) was undertaken to investigate the palaeodiet and subsistence strategies of the Nanwa humans. This paper also reviews the existing stable isotope data of Bronze Age humans on the Central Plains of China. The Nanwa humans from the Erlitou and Yinxu periods have a mean δ13C value of −9.4 ± 0.7‰ and −9.1 ± 0.9‰, suggesting a predominantly C4 diet, probably derived from millet agriculture or domesticated animals fed on millet. Nanwa humans of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty have a relatively low mean δ13C value of −10.5 ± 2.4‰, indicating a consumption of much more C3 foods, likely derived from rice, wheat, soybean, or animals that fed on those plants. A temporal stable isotopic comparison from the Erlitou period to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty on the Central Plains of China shows the majority of the Bronze Age humans have high mean δ13C value (−9.5 ± 1.8‰), suggesting a predominantly C4‐based diet. We infer that millet agriculture was still the primary economy for humans during the Bronze Age. However, there is a relatively large proportion of humans from the Eastern Zhou Dynasty that have decreased δ13C values, indicating a much more C3 foods consumption and diversity diet, presumably derived from a multicrop agricultural system of millet, wheat, rice, and soybean. It is possible that the trend moved from a narrowly focused, mainly millet‐based diet, to a more diverse agricultural system and was triggered by a combination of factors such as climate change, agricultural reform, social stratification, wars, migration, and so on.

Social stratification during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty of China (771–476 bce): Mortuary and stable isotopic analyses of the Shangshihe cemetery

Zhou

Zheng

et al. 2021

Historic records for the Zhou Dynasty of China (1046-256 BCE) defined distinct differentiation of social classes, in which ways of life and the afterlife were put into written form to regulate funerary and dietary practices. The presence of social stratification would suggest differences in nutrition during life and in ceremonial values for the afterlife. In this study, we examined grave goods and human skeletons from people of different social classes in the Guo State (虢) during the Spring-Autumn Period of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (771-476 BCE). Specimens were excavated from the Shangshihe cemetery in Yima County, Henan Province, China. Differences in total burial values and diet structure between different social ranks, sex, and age groups were assessed using mortuary and isotopic analyses. Our mortuary analysis indicated that there were significant differences in grave size, complexity, and values of grave goods between people of different social classes. The stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic analysis indicated a trend that people buried with two or three coffin layers consumed more animal-derived, protein-rich food than people who were buried with one layer of coffin. The elderly might have had better nutrition than younger people did. However, there was no sex-based difference in nutrition between males and females. Results of these paralleled mortuary and isotopic analyses conform to historic records of social stratification in the Zhou Dynasty of China. Evidence of social stratification and its impact on nutrition and health should be considered while assessing the nutrition and health of ancient human individuals and communities.