Subsistence and survival along the medieval long-wall system of northern China and Mongolia: A zooarchaeological and historical perspective

IF 0.9 2区历史学 0 ARCHAEOLOGY

Archaeological Research in Asia Pub Date : 2025-06-04 DOI:10.1016/j.ara.2025.100639

Tikvah Steiner , Gideon Shelach-Lavi , Johannes S. Lotze , Zhidong Zhang , Amartuvshin Chunag , Angaragdulguun Gantumur , Rivka Rabinovich

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Abstract

The medieval wall and trench system of China and Mongolia covers ∼4000 km and consists of a series of rammed-earth walls, ditches, and hundreds of associated structures. This was not a unified system but rather different sections that were built by different political entities and perhaps for different purposes between ca. 1000 to 1220 CE. Among those lines, the earliest is the northernmost section dated to the period of the Liao empire (916–1125 CE). It is located deep in the sparsely populated steppe of today's northeastern Mongolia (Dornod Province) as well as in parts of China and Russia. Recent excavations at Site 23 along the northern line revealed a rich and well-preserved faunal assemblage from a midden pit dated towards the end of the Liao empire (ca. 1050 CE). Common Mongolian domesticates sheep, goat, horse, cow, and dog were identified, as well as wild species: gazelle, rabbit, mustelids, large raptors, and fish, including Amur catfish. Based on bone fusion, size, and teeth eruption, many of the sheep/goat bones and dogs belong to very young animals under six months. Historical texts, such as the Liaoshi (Liao history) and Qidan guozhi (Records of the Kitan empire), were the only source of knowledge available regarding human-animal relations, as very little is known of subsistence practices during the Liao period from faunal analysis in itself. The historical record documents aspects of Liao-era animal husbandry, hunting, fishing, and imperial diplomatic/tributary animal exchange between the Liao governors and local tribes. Through integration of textual evidence and the excavated faunal material, we can interpret the subsistence activities of a distinct Liao frontier garrison for the first time, going beyond the often-generic descriptions of the historical record which pertain more to the elite than the common people. This analysis allows us a glimpse behind the texts at the varied and flexible economic practices taking place deep in the Mongolian steppe.

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中国北方和蒙古中世纪长墙系统的生存和生存：一个动物考古学和历史的视角

中国和蒙古的中世纪城墙和沟渠系统覆盖约4000公里，由一系列夯土墙、沟渠和数百个相关结构组成。这不是一个统一的系统，而是不同的部分，由不同的政治实体建造，可能是为了不同的目的，大约在公元1000年到1220年之间。在这些线路中，最早的是辽朝时期（公元916-1125年）的最北段。它位于今天蒙古东北部（多诺德省）人烟稀少的草原深处，也位于中国和俄罗斯的部分地区。最近在23号遗址沿着北线的挖掘发现了一个丰富而保存完好的动物群落，这些动物来自一个中坑，可以追溯到辽朝末期（约公元1050年）。发现了常见的蒙古驯养动物绵羊、山羊、马、牛和狗，以及野生物种：瞪羚、兔子、mustelids、大型猛禽和鱼类，包括黑龙江鲶鱼。根据骨融合、大小和牙齿的生长情况，许多绵羊/山羊和狗的骨头属于6个月以下的非常年幼的动物。历史文献，如《辽史》和《契丹国志》，是关于人与动物关系的唯一知识来源，因为从动物分析本身来看，辽时期的生存实践所知甚少。这些历史记录记录了辽朝时期的畜牧业、狩猎、渔业，以及辽朝统治者与地方部落之间的帝国外交/朝贡动物交换。通过对文字证据和出土动物材料的整合，我们第一次可以解释一个独特的辽朝边防部队的生存活动，超越了通常属于精英而不是普通人的历史记录的一般描述。这种分析使我们得以一窥文本背后发生在蒙古大草原深处的各种灵活的经济实践。

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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.