Ancient Starch Remains Reveal the Vegetal Diet of the Neolithic Late Dawenkou Culture in Jiangsu, East China
The Liangwangcheng site, located in Pizhou County, Xuzhou City, northern Jiangsu Province, is one of the most important Neolithic Dawenkou Culture archeological sites in the Haidai area of China’s eastern seaboard. In recent years, archaeobotanical studies in the Haidai area, mainly focusing on Shan...
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doaj-f75cddb774c544c7a06bd4590dbe0ebb2021-08-25T06:43:13ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution2296-701X2021-08-01910.3389/fevo.2021.722103722103Ancient Starch Remains Reveal the Vegetal Diet of the Neolithic Late Dawenkou Culture in Jiangsu, East ChinaXi Zhang0Xi Zhang1Xi Zhang2Xiaoting Zhu3Yingfang Hu4Zhenyu Zhou5John W. Olsen6John W. Olsen7Ying Guan8Ying Guan9Ying Guan10Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaUniversity of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaCAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, ChinaNanjing Museum, Nanjing, ChinaNanjing Museum, Nanjing, ChinaInstitute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, ChinaKey Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaSchool of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United StatesKey Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaUniversity of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, ChinaCAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, ChinaThe Liangwangcheng site, located in Pizhou County, Xuzhou City, northern Jiangsu Province, is one of the most important Neolithic Dawenkou Culture archeological sites in the Haidai area of China’s eastern seaboard. In recent years, archaeobotanical studies in the Haidai area, mainly focusing on Shandong Province, have yielded fruitful results, while relatively few such studies have been undertaken in northern Jiangsu Province. Here, we report the results of dental residue analysis conducted on 31 individual human skulls unearthed from the Late Dawenkou Culture Liangwangcheng site. The starch granules extracted from these residue samples indicate that foxtail and broomcorn millet, rice, roots and tubers, and legumes comprised the vegetal diet of Liangwangcheng’s occupants. Evidence suggests that mixed rice–millet agriculture played a definite role, with the coexistence of gathering as an economic element. According to archaeobotanical evidence from surrounding cotemporaneous sites, the Late Neolithic human groups that lived in the lower Huang-Huai River drainage shared similar subsistence patterns. Our results provide new evidence for a more comprehensive understanding of plant resource utilization and agricultural development in northern Jiangsu during the Dawenkou period.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2021.722103/fullLiangwangcheng siteNeolithicancient starchprehistoric subsistenceDawenkou Culture |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Xi Zhang Xi Zhang Xi Zhang Xiaoting Zhu Yingfang Hu Zhenyu Zhou John W. Olsen John W. Olsen Ying Guan Ying Guan Ying Guan |
spellingShingle |
Xi Zhang Xi Zhang Xi Zhang Xiaoting Zhu Yingfang Hu Zhenyu Zhou John W. Olsen John W. Olsen Ying Guan Ying Guan Ying Guan Ancient Starch Remains Reveal the Vegetal Diet of the Neolithic Late Dawenkou Culture in Jiangsu, East China Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution Liangwangcheng site Neolithic ancient starch prehistoric subsistence Dawenkou Culture |
author_facet |
Xi Zhang Xi Zhang Xi Zhang Xiaoting Zhu Yingfang Hu Zhenyu Zhou John W. Olsen John W. Olsen Ying Guan Ying Guan Ying Guan |
author_sort |
Xi Zhang |
title |
Ancient Starch Remains Reveal the Vegetal Diet of the Neolithic Late Dawenkou Culture in Jiangsu, East China |
title_short |
Ancient Starch Remains Reveal the Vegetal Diet of the Neolithic Late Dawenkou Culture in Jiangsu, East China |
title_full |
Ancient Starch Remains Reveal the Vegetal Diet of the Neolithic Late Dawenkou Culture in Jiangsu, East China |
title_fullStr |
Ancient Starch Remains Reveal the Vegetal Diet of the Neolithic Late Dawenkou Culture in Jiangsu, East China |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ancient Starch Remains Reveal the Vegetal Diet of the Neolithic Late Dawenkou Culture in Jiangsu, East China |
title_sort |
ancient starch remains reveal the vegetal diet of the neolithic late dawenkou culture in jiangsu, east china |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
issn |
2296-701X |
publishDate |
2021-08-01 |
description |
The Liangwangcheng site, located in Pizhou County, Xuzhou City, northern Jiangsu Province, is one of the most important Neolithic Dawenkou Culture archeological sites in the Haidai area of China’s eastern seaboard. In recent years, archaeobotanical studies in the Haidai area, mainly focusing on Shandong Province, have yielded fruitful results, while relatively few such studies have been undertaken in northern Jiangsu Province. Here, we report the results of dental residue analysis conducted on 31 individual human skulls unearthed from the Late Dawenkou Culture Liangwangcheng site. The starch granules extracted from these residue samples indicate that foxtail and broomcorn millet, rice, roots and tubers, and legumes comprised the vegetal diet of Liangwangcheng’s occupants. Evidence suggests that mixed rice–millet agriculture played a definite role, with the coexistence of gathering as an economic element. According to archaeobotanical evidence from surrounding cotemporaneous sites, the Late Neolithic human groups that lived in the lower Huang-Huai River drainage shared similar subsistence patterns. Our results provide new evidence for a more comprehensive understanding of plant resource utilization and agricultural development in northern Jiangsu during the Dawenkou period. |
topic |
Liangwangcheng site Neolithic ancient starch prehistoric subsistence Dawenkou Culture |
url |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2021.722103/full |
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