Shifting diets and the rise of male-biased inequality on the Central Plains of China during Eastern Zhou

Dong, Yu; Morgan, C.; Chinenov, Yurii; Zhou, Ligang; Fan, Wenquan; Ma, Xiaolin; Pechenkina, Kate

doi:10.1073/pnas.1611742114

Cited by 75 publications

(61 citation statements)

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“…For instance, not only figure 3(a)), which probably implies an increased consumption of wheat during the Eastern Zhou. An increased consumption of wheat in the Eastern Zhou (Dong et al 2017b, Zhou et al 2017 diet is consistent with the archaeobotanical data, which shows a rapid increase in the frequency and/or ubiquity of wheat in the crop assemblages during this period (e.g. Liu et al 2017, Ma 2017, Deng et al 2019.…”

Section: Spatio-temporal Variation Of Subsistence Patternssupporting

confidence: 80%

“…The human δ 13 C values for the upper-status individuals were also significantly more negative than that of the lower-status individuals (p=0.003, table 3 and figure 2(c)), implying that upper-status individuals had more C 3 -food intake (most likely wheat and/or C 3 -based animal protein). The same phenomenon was also reported for sites at Shang and Western Zhou in the adjacent area of Henan Province (Cheung et al 2017b, Dong et al 2017b. This similarity in dietary consumption implies that upperstatus individuals in the Central Plains might have consumed slightly more exotic C 3 staples (i.e.…”

Section: Socio-economic Status Differences As Reflected In Dietary Sisupporting

confidence: 75%

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Dietary shift and social hierarchy from the Proto-Shang to Zhou Dynasty in the Central Plains of China

Zhang

et al. 2020

Environ. Res. Lett.

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The Proto-Shang, the Shang and the Zhou dynasties (∼2000-221 BCE: Before Common Era) are key periods in the origin and evolution of ancient civilizations in China since the periods include the processes and mechanisms of social development in the Central Plains of China during the Bronze Age. However, human-environment interactions in the context of trans-Eurasia cultural exchange during that time are not well-understood. In this study, isotopic analysis and radiocarbon dating of human and animal bones from Xinancheng cemetery in southeast Shanxi Province are reported. It was deduced that, for the period ∼1000-800 BCE, humans buried in Xinancheng cemetery relied primarily on C 4 -based foods and upper-status individuals consumed more animal protein and probably C 3 crops. Also, considering the paleoclimate and other archaeological data of the Central Plains, the human diet and subsistence strategies changed significantly with more C 3 staples such as wheat being consumed during the Eastern Zhou (770-221 BCE), as evidenced by an increased intake of wheat by lower-status individuals and the development of a mixed wheat and millet agricultural system. It is argued that the socio-economic change around the late western Zhou-early eastern Zhou Dynasty occurred as a result of the necessity to adapt to the aggravation caused by climate deterioration and population pressures, factors which profoundly influenced the economic and lifestyle patterns in ancient China. The socio-economic system of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty displayed more resilience to climate change than that of earlier periods.

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Section: Spatio-temporal Variation Of Subsistence Patternssupporting

confidence: 80%

Section: Socio-economic Status Differences As Reflected In Dietary Sisupporting

confidence: 75%

Dietary shift and social hierarchy from the Proto-Shang to Zhou Dynasty in the Central Plains of China

Zhang

et al. 2020

Environ. Res. Lett.

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“…Recently, a dietary and physical comparison between the males and females in central China during the Eastern Zhou dynasty (770–221 bc ) has suggested the gradual decrease of female social status and health in human society (Dong et al . ).…”

Section: Research Progressmentioning

confidence: 97%

Thirty‐Four Years of Stable Isotopic Analyses of Ancient Skeletons in China: an Overview, Progress and Prospects

2018

Archaeometry

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Stable isotope analysis of ancient skeletons has become a routine method and widely used to answer diverse archaeological questions related to the human (animal) diets since the initial study in 1977. However, this study in china is underestimated and much less unknown to international circles considering the infrequent publications in English journals. In this review paper, the research history in China was overviewed shortly and then, the research progresses concerning different research themes, such as the chronological trajectory of human diets, the development and spread of agriculture, the mechanism of animal domestication, human social hierarchy, and so on, were introduced in detail, trying to draw a rough framework of human dietary evolution given the unique Chinese geography and cultures. At last, the potential research directions were also suggested for the future studies. KEYWORDS: STABLE ISOTOPE ANALYSIS, SKELETON, CHINA, ARCHAEOLOGY, DIETARY RECONSTRUCTION INTRODUCTIONSince the pioneering study published in 1977 (Vogel and van der Merwe 1977), the stable isotope analysis of archaeological skeletal tissues (bones or teeth) has developed quickly and the methodology has greatly improved, from the study of a single element (C) to multiple elements (C, N, H, O, S, Sr and more), from bulk sampling to sequential sampling and from bulk tissues to specific compounds (Makarewicz and Sealy 2015). Furthermore, the research themes have extended as well, from answering the simple questions on palaeodiets to revealing more complex and broader archaeological subjects (see the reviews of Lee-Thorp 2008;Schoeninger 2014;Makarewicz and Sealy 2015). Compared to Europe and the Americas, the studies of stable isotope analysis in China have been overlooked, probably due to the infrequent publication in English. This situation means that most international scholars have little idea of Chinese isotopic research, which hinders the potential academic exchange and cooperation between China and other countries. However, China has made incredible developments and achievements in this subject, and has become one of the most important and influential places in the world for archaeometrists to work.First, in this paper, an overview of the history of stable isotope analysis in China will be provided, and then the main research advances will be narrated in detail according to different research themes. Finally, the future areas of research will be discussed. In contrast to the first study undertaken in North America by geochemists (Vogel and van der Merwe 1977), the initial isotopic research in China was conducted by specialists in radiocarbon dating. The first isotopic study was published in 1984 by Professors Lianzhen Cai and Shihua Qiu in Archaeology, in Chinese (Cai and Qiu 1984). However, it was not until the late 1990s that this study was further developed in China.In 1998, the principle of carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis was reintroduced in the review by Professor Changsui Wang (1998). Later, the progress on how to...

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“…The isotopic record offers a compelling tool for addressing broader and fundamental social questions regarding diet and nutrition in past societies, such as the implications of the shift from foraging C 3 ‐based diets to agricultural (e.g., maize or millet) C 4 ‐based diets, and accompanying changes in social organization, often involving a shift to more complex, hierarchical societies having differential access to resources among their constituents (e.g., Dong et al, ; Winkler et al, ; various in Klaus, Harvey, & Cohen, ). For example, in the central Plains of China, when millet (a C 4 plant) is replaced by wheat (a C 3 plant) during the Bronze Age, females saw an increased consumption of wheat and reduced consumption of animal sources of protein (Dong et al, ). The dietary record and the archaeological context point to a pronounced social shift involving male‐biased inequality.…”

Section: Revolution 2: Stable Isotope Record For Reconstructing Dietmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The emphasis on context in bioarchaeology has stimulated many new investigations concerning a range of topics that are explicitly focused on the lived experience and social process, such as childhood, colonialism, ethnicity and ethnogenesis, identity, gender, violence, and inequality (e.g., Agarwal & Glencross, ; Dong et al, ; Geber, ; Gowland & Knüsel, ; Knudson & Stojanowski, ; Martin, Harrod, & Pérez, ; Murphy & Klaus, ; Tung, ; Stojanowski, ; Temple & Goodman, ; Thompson, Alfonso‐Durruty, & Crandall, ; Vercellotti et al, ; Winkler et al, ). This emphasis, coupled with the growth of techniques such as stable isotope analysis, cross‐sectional geometry, and next generation sequencing, has created new opportunities to study the past, with potential for understanding life and living conditions in today's world (cf., Armelagos, ; Martin et al, ).…”

Section: Looking Back Moving Forwardmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bioarchaeology in perspective: From classifications of the dead to conditions of the living

Larsen

2018

American J Phys Anthropol

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At no other time in either the history of physical anthropology or its flagship journal, the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, has there been such strong interest in the central role that human remains from archaeological settings play in developing an understanding of the remarkably dynamic last 10,000 years of the history, evolution, and contextual circumstances surrounding the human condition. Over the course of my association with bioarchaeology, I have watched the expanding interest in the study of the remains of post-Pleistocene humans as expressed in the number of articles in the pages of the AJPA, increasing class enrollments and student interest generally, number of faculty positions, summer field schools around the globe, graduate student interest and recruiting, volume of presentations at the annual meetings of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, growth in other related professional societies (e.g., Paleopathology Association, Dental Anthropology Association, British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology), new peerreviewed journals, book series, and presence in electronic news media. I knew that bones and teeth were amazingly interesting when I took my first osteology course taught by William Bass in my freshman year at Kansas State University, but I had no idea of the broad extent of the fund of data archaeological human skeletons provide for addressing hypotheses and questions about the human past, especially as these questions pertain to environment viewed broadly-diet, nutrition, climate, social and cultural circumstances, health, lifestyle, activity, biological relatedness, and social, cultural, and population dynamics. As bioarchaeology has shown, a person's skeleton contains their cumulative record of lived experiences and conditions, and skeletons from community cemeteries provide a record over many generations. Moreover, the individual and community genetic history gives us a baseline for addressing questions of how population history-from marriage patterns to large scale mobility-has shaped human biology through time and space.

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Shifting diets and the rise of male-biased inequality on the Central Plains of China during Eastern Zhou

Cited by 75 publications

References 32 publications

Dietary shift and social hierarchy from the Proto-Shang to Zhou Dynasty in the Central Plains of China

Dietary shift and social hierarchy from the Proto-Shang to Zhou Dynasty in the Central Plains of China

Thirty‐Four Years of Stable Isotopic Analyses of Ancient Skeletons in China: an Overview, Progress and Prospects

Bioarchaeology in perspective: From classifications of the dead to conditions of the living

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