Analysis of plant micro-remains and organic acid residues reveals the dietary conditions at the Chengyan site during the early Yangshao Culture in western Henan, central China

Abstract

The early Yangshao period (ca. 7.0–6.0 ka BP) is a pivotal transition stage for prehistoric human subsistence strategies from hunting and gathering to farming and husbandry. The western Henan Province constitutes the core area of Yangshao Culture. To investigate the dietary conditions of the early Yangshao ancestors in this area, analysis of plant micro-remains (starch grains and phytoliths) and organic acid residues was conducted on 34 pottery samples unearthed at the Chengyan Site in Lingbao City, western Henan Province, central China. The results revealed that the plant foods of the Chengyan people included Triticeae, Job's tears (Coix lacryma-jobi), rice (Oryza sativa), millet (Setaria italica and Panicum miliaceum), lotus root (Nelumbo nucifera), snake gourd root (Trichosanthes kirilowii), yam (Dioscorea), lily (Lilium brownii), legumes (Fabaceae), and acorn (Quercus), in which, some species served as raw materials for brewing fermented beverages. These findings demonstrate that botanical resource exploitation during this period in central China exhibited remarkable diversity, with foraging maintaining its significance as an essential subsistence strategy for early human populations in acquiring plant foods. The presence of rice at the Chengyan site indicates its spread to western Henan during the early Yangshao period, and a rice-millet mixed farming, dominated by foxtail millet and broomcorn millet, had developed in the area. This study provides valuable insights into the dietary patterns and agricultural production trajectories of the early Yangshao communities in the Central Plains region.