Fishing or farming? Isotopic evidence of human subsistence strategies at the Dashuitian site during the middle Neolithic in the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, China

IF 0.9 2区历史学 0 ARCHAEOLOGY

Archaeological Research in Asia Pub Date : 2024-10-27 DOI:10.1016/j.ara.2024.100564

Bing Yi , Jiujiang Bai , Yubiao Dai , Quyi Jiang , Haibing Yuan , Yaowu Hu

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

The Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, with its deep canyons, abundant freshwater resources, and unique geographic location at the crossroads in the spread of rice-millet agriculture in the Middle Neolithic, is of great significance for understanding the interaction between fishing-hunting-gathering and farming in inland freshwater environments. However, few direct evidence for human subsistence strategies had been published in this region. This study presents results of carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses on human bones, animal and millet remains from the Dashuitian site (c. 6000–5500 BP) in the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, China, to investigate the diet and subsistence and intrapopulation dietary variations in this region. The results indicate that the humans at the site consumed mostly freshwater fish foods and supplemented by terrestrial animals, with no discernable input from millets. They had consistently relied on a fishing, hunting, and gathering economy during the occupation of the site in the Middle Neolithic (c. 6000–5500 BP), differing from humans in other areas especially along the rivers and coasts of the lower Yangtze River valley for the roughly same period, further showing the extensive utilization of and adaptation to the available environmental resources. In addition, intrapopulation dietary variations based on burial style and sex provide evidence that differentiation and inequality, at least regarding to food consumption, existed at the Three Gorges region during the Middle Neolithic. Here, our findings provide isotopic evidence about the Middle Neolithic human subsistence strategies in the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, providing a glimpse into the complexity related to inequality in food access among fisher-hunter-gatherers in inland areas, and new insights into understanding past human-environment interactions.

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捕鱼还是耕作？中国长江三峡新石器时代中期大水田遗址人类生存策略的同位素证据

长江三峡峡谷幽深，淡水资源丰富，地理位置独特，处于新石器时代中期稻作农业传播的十字路口，对于了解内陆淡水环境中渔猎采集与农耕之间的互动具有重要意义。然而，该地区很少有关于人类生存策略的直接证据。本研究介绍了对中国长江三峡大水田遗址（约公元前 6000-5500 年）出土的人骨、动物和粟遗骸进行碳和氮稳定同位素分析的结果，以研究该地区人类的膳食和生存方式以及种群间的膳食差异。研究结果表明，该遗址的人类主要食用淡水鱼类食物，并以陆生动物为辅，没有明显的黍类食物。他们在新石器时代中期（约公元前 6000-5500 年）占据该遗址期间一直依赖于捕鱼、狩猎和采集经济，这与其他地区尤其是长江下游流域沿江和沿海地区大致相同时期的人类不同，进一步显示了对现有环境资源的广泛利用和适应。此外，基于埋葬方式和性别的种群内饮食差异也证明了新石器时代中期三峡地区至少在食物消费方面存在着分化和不平等。在此，我们的研究结果提供了长江三峡地区新石器时代中期人类生存策略的同位素证据，为了解内陆地区渔猎采集者食物获取不平等的复杂性提供了一瞥，并为理解过去人类与环境的互动关系提供了新的见解。

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来源期刊

Archaeological Research in Asia ARCHAEOLOGY-

CiteScore

2.50

自引率

13.30%

发文量

期刊介绍： Archaeological Research in Asia presents high quality scholarly research conducted in between the Bosporus and the Pacific on a broad range of archaeological subjects of importance to audiences across Asia and around the world. The journal covers the traditional components of archaeology: placing events and patterns in time and space; analysis of past lifeways; and explanations for cultural processes and change. To this end, the publication will highlight theoretical and methodological advances in studying the past, present new data, and detail patterns that reshape our understanding of it. Archaeological Research in Asia publishes work on the full temporal range of archaeological inquiry from the earliest human presence in Asia with a special emphasis on time periods under-represented in other venues. Journal contributions are of three kinds: articles, case reports and short communications. Full length articles should present synthetic treatments, novel analyses, or theoretical approaches to unresolved issues. Case reports present basic data on subjects that are of broad interest because they represent key sites, sequences, and subjects that figure prominently, or should figure prominently, in how scholars both inside and outside Asia understand the archaeology of cultural and biological change through time. Short communications present new findings (e.g., radiocarbon dates) that are important to the extent that they reaffirm or change the way scholars in Asia and around the world think about Asian cultural or biological history.