Comparing subsistence strategies in different landscapes of North China 10,000 years ago

Abstract

A recent switch in the study of the beginning of agriculture is to demonstrate the increasingly closer interaction between people and the landscape and how this would have played a crucial role in the transition to agriculture. Understanding the palaeo-ecology of the local environments at key sites and its relationship with subsistence strategies is critical to an improved appreciation of such interactions. This article examines macro- and micro-plant remains discovered at two important sites in North China, both dated to around 10,000 cal. yr BP. These two sites, Zhuannian and Nanzhuangtou, are located on the terrace of the Bai River in the Yan Mountains and next to Baiyangdian Lake on the piedmont of the Taihang Mountains, respectively. The floral remains at these two sites provide a great opportunity to examine (1) post-Pleistocene subsistence strategies, (2) the increasing consumption of millets and grassy plants and its significance and (3) the intra-regional diversity in food exploitation and its relationships with local environments. While the macro-plant remains at Nanzhuangtou indicate the importance of aquatic plants in the palaeo-diet, those at Zhuannian suggest a tendency of exploiting tree plants. This significance of these diversified plant food exploitation strategies by the last hunter-gatherers should be paid more attention in future research. Our data also once again confirm the importance of millet consumption to these hunter-gatherers on the eve of millet domestication.

Early millet use in West Liaohe area during early-middle Holocene

“…In total of 24 samples were collected. The protocols for starch grain analysis have been presented previously Yang et al, 2012aYang et al, , 2015. The process is described briefly below.…”

“…Details of the starch grains extracted from the dust sample have been presented previously (Yang et al, , 2014(Yang et al, , 2015. A solution of 6% H 2 O 2 was added to the dust to release any starch grains and to oxidize any extraneous organic material.…”

“…When using ancient starch grains from residues on artefacts to analyse their functions and the utilization of plants by ancient humans, the common practice is to collect the dust in the storeroom where the artefacts are curated Yang et al, 2012aYang et al, , 2014Yang et al, , 2015, residues from both the used and unused surface of the artefacts, and nearby sedimentary samples (deposits in immediate proximity to the artefacts) to control contamination (Barton, 2007). In this experiment, no starches were recovered from the dust in the storeroom, indicating that the residues on the grinding tools were not contaminated from this source.…”

Understanding the Possible Contamination of Ancient Starch Residues by Adjacent Sediments and Modern Plants in Northern China

“…Charred residues from organic material have been recovered here dating back to more than 11,000 cal BP [12,25]. Three excavation seasons in 1986, 1987, and 1997 revealed the presence of major artifacts and features such as mullers, slabs, pottery sherds, and ditches [25,26].…”

“…One of the most prominent archaeobotanical methods of analyzing plant microremains is starch grain analysis, used increasingly since the 1980s, especially in the Americas [4][5][6][7], Oceania [8], and East Asia [9][10][11][12][13]. Using the morphological characteristics of modern starch grains, researchers compare, identify, and both quantitatively and qualitatively analyze the ancient starch grains recovered from sediments, stone tools, pottery, and dental calculus.…”