Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of human and animal skeletal remains unearthed at Zengpiyan and Dayan sites in Guilin
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Xiaodi Liu
Abstract
Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses, together with AMS radiocarbon dating of human and animal bones unearthed from the Zengpiyan and Dayan sites in Guilin of Guangxi suggest a relatively stable environment dominated by C3 plants, which was supplemented by a small amount of C4 plants. Although inhabitants of the two Neolithic sites relied mainly on freshwater resources, they differed significantly in their dietary structure from the Early to Middle phases. The Early Neolithic inhabitants (n=6) consumed similar foods in their diet. By contrast, the Middle Neolithic people (n=11) procured and consumed more terrestrial foods from diverse sources. The transition to a broad dietary spectrum was likely interlinked to the shifts in population structures, environmental adaptation, and foraging ranges.
Postscript
The original article 桂林市甑皮岩与大岩遗址人和动物骨骼的碳氮稳定同位素研究 was published in Kaogu 考古 (Archaeology) 2021.7:83–95 with three figures, six tables, and 36 notes. The abbreviated English version, translated by Tao Li 李涛, has removed three tables and notes and added further readings.
Further readings
Bar-Yosef, Ofer. 2014. Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers in Western Asia. In The Oxford handbook of the archaeology and anthropology of hunter-gatherers. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp.1–21.10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199551224.013.062Search in Google Scholar
Flannery, K. V. et al. 1969. The domestication and exploitation of plants and animals. In The rise and fall of civilizations: modern archaeological approaches to ancient cultures. Chicago: Aldine Publishing Company. pp.73–100.Search in Google Scholar
Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences 中国社会科学院考古研究所 et al. 2003. Guilin Zengpiyan 桂林甑皮岩 (The Zengpiyan site in Guilin). Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe.Search in Google Scholar
Jordan, Peter, and Vicki Cummings. 2014. Prehistoric hunter-gatherer innovations. In The Oxford handbook of the archaeology and anthropology of hunter-gatherers. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp.1–17.10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199551224.013.002Search in Google Scholar
Yu, Chong 余翀. 2018. 新石器时代至青铜时代岭南及周边地区的生业初探 (Preliminary study on subsistence economy in Lingnan and neighboring regions during the Neolithic to Bronze Age). Nanfang wenwu 南方文物 (Cultural relics in southern China) 2:180–187.Search in Google Scholar
© 2022 Walter De Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- New archaeological discoveries
- The Excavation of a Neolithic site at Jingtoushan in Yuyao, Zhejiang
- The Neolithic Shuanghuaishu site in Gongyi, Henan
- The Shang dynasty remains at the Guoyuanzui site in Lutai Mountain, Huangpi District, Wuhan
- The Western Zhou Yaoheyuan site in Pengyang County, Ningxia
- Tang remains from the Keyak Khduk Beacon site in Yuli County, Xinjiang
- The excavation of the 2018 Xuewei tomb No. 1 in Reshui cemetery, Dulan County, Qinghai
- Reports
- The 2016–2017 excavation of the bronze foundry zone at the Guanzhuang site, Xingyang, Henan
- The excavation of tomb M12 at Hujiacaochang cemetery in Jingzhou, Hubei
- The excavation of Liao dynasty tomb of Han Derang in Beizhen, Liaoning
- Research
- Research on prehistoric 凸-shaped house remains on the Loess Plateau
- The rise and fall of the Liangzhu society in the perspective of subsistence economy
- Boot-shaped antler artifacts and prehistoric leather production
- Archaeological culture, document texts, and the construction of early Wu Yue history
- Portable lodge from the fifth century BCE: a study of the tent of the Marquis Yi of Zeng
- Additional niches and architecture added in the Tang dynasty to the Vairocana niche in the Fengxian Temple at Longmen
- Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of human and animal skeletal remains unearthed at Zengpiyan and Dayan sites in Guilin
