Farming strategies of 1st millennium CE agro-pastoralists on the southern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains: A geoarchaeological and macrobotanical investigation of the Mohuchahangoukou (MGK) site, Xinjiang, China

Abstract

Archaeological evidence emerging over the past decade clearly illustrates that agro-pastoralists living along the foothills of major mountain chains in Central Asia (the so-called “Inner Asian Mountain Corridor” or IAMC) facilitated the spread of domesticated grains through their direct involvement in farming. While the environmental conditions across the northwestern slopes of the IAMC provided adequate resources for incipient farming and herding as early as the mid-3 rd mill. BCE, the development of local agricultural strategies on the extremely arid and eroded foothills on the southeastern, leeward side of the mountains remain comparatively less studied. Our study tackles this problem by combining geoarchaeological analysis with conventional macrobotanical identification in the investigation of a 1 st -mill. CE agro-pastoralist farming site, Mohuchahangoukou (MGK), located on the arid foothills of the Tianshan range. Our results illustrate how ancient agro-pastoralists at MGK innovated irrigation systems both to combat water shortage and, importantly, to trap sediments carried by flood-water for crop cultivation. By synthesizing currently available data, we estimate that they managed to trap about 40 cm of fine-grained sediment within a span of 200 years or even less. These stone-built field systems helped water a diverse stand of crops and create deeper soils in an otherwise deflated landscape with thin desert soils. Since we detected high levels of salt concentration (>2 dSm -1 ) in the lower portions of all three test trenches we analyzed, we conclude that soil salinization might have affected the long-term sustainability of this form of irrigated field management. We also infer that, besides engineering efforts, the ancient agro-pastoralists at MGK had to resolve the scheduling conflicts between irrigated farming and animal herding through labor specialization.

Foodways on the Han dynasty’s western frontier: Archeobotanical and isotopic investigations at Shichengzi, Xinjiang, China

“…(a) Land cover and shaded relief map of each of the sites with published archeobotanical assemblages in the studied area, (b) the percentage of the cropping yield for each site, and (c) the number of different types of seeds found at each site. 1: Tuzusai (Spengler et al, 2013); 2: Begash (Spengler et al, 2014); 3: Tasbas (Spengler et al, 2014); 4: MGK (Li et al, 2019); 5: Yingpan (Chen et al, 2016); 6: Xiaohe (Yang et al, 2014); 7: Gumugou (Zhang et al, 2017); 8: Xintala (Zhao et al, 2013); 9: Yuergou (Jiang et al, 2013); 10: Shichengzi; 11: Shirenzigou (Tian et al, 2018a); 12: Gudongtan (Dong et al, 2017); 13: Shaguoliang (Dong et al, 2017); 14: Huoshaogou (Dong et al, 2017); 15: Dadunwan (Dong et al, 2017). …”

“…Recent research reveals that the indigenous agro-pastoralists likely practiced food production strategies different than the Han dynasty towns in the Tarim basin. Li et al’s (2017, 2019) recent investigations in the Yanqi basin at the Mohuchahangoukou (MGK) site, dated to 1st millennium AD, reveals that in the Yanqi basin agro-pastoralist settlements relied on smaller, less labor-intensive irrigation networks that were likely only seasonally occupied. Li et al’s (2019) analysis of carbonized plant remains at MGK found bread wheat, barley, common millet, and foxtail millet, suggesting that the indigenous people adopted a more flexible farming strategy than that seen at Milan.…”

“…Recent archeobotanical research has shown that the ‘Silk Road’ was essential for the cultivation, trade, and exchange of crops, like wheat ( Triticum aestivum ), barley ( Hordeum vulgare ), Asian millets ( Panicum miliaceum, Setaria italica ), and grapes ( Vitis vinifera ), which are now commonly used in cuisines around the world (Frachetti et al, 2010; Jiang et al, 2009; Jones et al, 2011; Li et al, 2019; Liu et al, 2017; Millward, 2013; Spengler, 2019; Spengler et al, 2014; Stevens et al, 2016). Although recent research has made significant progress in revealing which crops originated where, when, and how they were transported across the Eurasian landmass, there has been considerably less research on how the people who lived in cities and settlements along the Silk Road produced enough food to sustain themselves.…”

Inner Asian agro-pastoralism as optimal adaptation strategy of Wupu inhabitants (3000–2400 cal BP) in Xinjiang, China

“…3), Gumugou (Zhang et al, 2017) (Figure 1 No. 4) and Loulan (Li et al, 2019) (Figure 1 No.18). This may indicate simpler riparian forest communities in the Tarim Basin however it is noted that only the Xiaohe Cemetery in the Tarim area was subject to systematic archaeobotanical research.…”

Community practice and religion at an Early Islamic cemetery in highland Central Asia

“…Increasingly, research on the Central Asian highlands has focused on multi-directional, interand intra-regional connections. As early as the Bronze Age (third to second millennium BC), the Inner Asian Mountain Corridor-a piedmont zone spanning the Hindu Kush to the Altai Mountains-facilitated the movement of crops and other commodities across Eurasia (Frachetti 2012); in turn, these plants and goods were integrated into the economies of pastoralist groups (Spengler et al 2014;Li et al 2019). Recent archaeological investigations focusing on the medieval period (eighth to thirteenth century AD) reveal that upland regions of Central Asia were socio-political mosaics, shaped by communication and commerce across extensive Silk Route networks (Franklin 2016).…”