The prehistoric roots of Chinese cuisines: Mapping staple food systems of China, 6000 BC–220 AD

Abstract

We conducted a meta-analysis of published carbon and nitrogen isotope data from archaeological human skeletal remains (n = 2448) from 128 sites cross China in order to investigate broad spatial and temporal patterns in the formation of staple cuisines. Between 6000–5000 cal BC we found evidence for an already distinct north versus south divide in the use of main crop staples (namely millet vs. a broad spectrum of C 3 plant based diet including rice) that became more pronounced between 5000–2000 cal BC. We infer that this pattern can be understood as a difference in the spectrum of subsistence activities employed in the Loess Plateau and the Yangtze-Huai regions, which can be partly explained by differences in environmental conditions. We argue that regional differentiation in dietary tradition are not driven by differences in the conventional “stages” of shifting modes of subsistence (hunting-foraging-pastoralism-farming), but rather by myriad subsistence choices that combined and discarded modes in a number of innovative ways over thousands of years. The introduction of wheat and barley from southwestern Asia after 2000 cal BC resulted in the development of an additional east to west gradient in the degree of incorporation of the different staple products into human diets. Wheat and barley were rapidly adopted as staple foods in the Continental Interior contra the very gradual pace of adoption of these western crops in the Loess Plateau. While environmental and social factors likely contributed to their slow adoption, we explored local cooking practice as a third explanation; wheat and barley may have been more readily folded into grinding-and-baking cooking traditions than into steaming-and-boiling traditions. Changes in these culinary practices may have begun in the female sector of society.

Localized management of non-indigenous animal domesticates in Northwestern China during the Bronze Age

“…As published previously 19 , 21 , humans pre-dating the 1900 cal BCE transition (WUB and MOZ) exhibit δ 13 C values that are strongly influenced by C 4 plant inputs (Fig. 3 ).…”

“…The results from the Hexi Corridor show that people moved fairly readily between varying modes of subsistence and coexisted with neighboring populations that employed different modes. It has been demonstrated, ethnographically and archaeologically, that the same people may have practiced more than one subsistence mode in a single lifetime, reflecting the choices of people under certain social and environmental conditions rather than a proscribed stage of ‘economic development’ 21 , 69 , 70 .…”

“…Because the introduction of wheat and barley into the Hexi Corridor was likely accompanied by the flour-based grinding and baking cuisines from the West, these crops were readily adapted here by the local communities. Their lower adaptability to the boiling and steaming tradition characterizing the culinary system to the East, however, meant that they were initially rejected by communities in the Loess Plateau 21 , 23 .…”

Early agropastoral settlement and cultural change in central Tibet in the first millennium BC: excavations at Bangga

“…Such a cooking preference could have consequences for the selection of grain quality, with high-gluten content being the priority, as high-gluten grains go further in grinding (Liu & Reid 2020: 17). This is consistent with archaeobotanical evidence showing barley to have been the main crop at Bangga, and resonates with recent discussion on the culinary driver behind the eastern dispersal of crops from the Fertile Crescent (Liu & Reid 2020).…”

“…We argue that the differences were primarily driven by regional diversities, as populations move fairly readily between distinct modes of subsistence, combining those different modes in a variety of innovative ways, as illustrated in other parts of Tibet and across China (e.g. Zhang et al 2019;Liu & Reid 2020).…”