Pastoralism and Millet Cultivation During the Bronze Age in the Temperate Steppe Region of Northern China

Abstract

Eastern and Western Asia were important centers for the domestication of plants and animals and they developed different agricultural practices and systems. The timing, routeway and mechanisms of the exchanges between the two centers have long been important scientific issues. The development of a mixed pastoral system (e.g., with the rearing of sheep, goats and cattle) and millet cultivation in the steppe region of northern China was the result of the link between the two cultures. However, little detailed information is available about the precise timing and mechanisms involved in this mixture of pastoralism and millet cultivation. To try to address the issue, we analyzed the pollen, fungal spores and phytolith contents of soil samples from the Bronze Age Zhukaigou site in the steppe area of North China, which was combined with AMS 14C dating of charcoal, millet and animal bones. A mixed pastoralism and millet agricultural system appeared at the site between 4,000 and 3,700 cal yr BP, and the intensity of animal husbandry increased in the later stage of occupation. Published data indicate that domestic sheep/goats appeared across a wide area of the steppe region of northern China after ∼4,000 cal yr BP. A comparison of records of sheep/goat rearing and paleoclimatic records from monsoon area in China leads us to conclude that the mixture of pastoralism and millet cultivation was promoted by the occurrence of drought events during 4,200–4,000 cal yr BP. Moreover, we suggest that mixed rainfed agriculture and animal husbandry increased the adaptability and resilience of the inhabitants of the region which enabled them to occupy the relatively arid environment of the monsoon marginal area of northern China.

Sahara’s surface transformation forced an abrupt hydroclimate decline and Neolithic culture transition in northern China

“…Subsequent abrupt climate changes shifted the balance toward a pastoral economy, which may have attracted an influx of people already engaged in such practices. 72 The combination of rainfed agriculture and animal husbandry increased the adaptability and resilience of the inhabitants of the region, enabling them to endure the relatively arid conditions at the margins of the monsoonal area in northern China. In essence, the intensification and driving forces of pastoralism in northern China may be linked to these climate changes.…”

“… 77 Other dates for sheep or cattle remains have been obtained for the sites of Shimao (4.3–3.8 ka), Muzhuzhuliang (∼4.0 ka), and Zhengzemao (∼4.8 ka) in Shaanxi Province; Yongxingdian in Zhunger Qi in Inner Mongolia (4.5–4.0 ka); and Dakou (4.2–3.5 ka) and Taosi in Shanxi Province (∼4.0 ka). 72 …”

Synchronous change in the intensified millet cultivation and ecological environment from the early to middle Holocene on the Inner Mongolia Plateau, northern China

“…During the Holocene, the δ 15 N of human bone collagen first decreased and reached a minimum at ~4000 cal yr BP, and then increased. Drought events may have caused a decrease in the population of wild herbivores at ~4000 cal yr BP (Figure 4e, Sun et al, 2019; Xiao et al, 2004; Yang et al, 2015b), but subsequently the increased population of domestic animals such as sheep, goats, and cattle was responsible for the rise in the δ 15 N of human bone collagen after that (Zhang et al, 2021).…”