Zhao Li, Yongchao Ma, Quan Li, Zhikun Ma, Changjiang Liu, Yan Li, Yong Cui, Xiaoyan Yang
{"title":"Intensive consumption of Lithocarpus nuts in the Neolithic Pearl River Delta, China","authors":"Zhao Li, Yongchao Ma, Quan Li, Zhikun Ma, Changjiang Liu, Yan Li, Yong Cui, Xiaoyan Yang","doi":"10.1007/s12520-025-02249-9","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The economic importance of Fagaceae nuts among prehistoric forest inhabitants has been highlighted, but we know little about the specific assemblages due to limited species identification. Here, we analyse Fagaceae remains from the waterlogged Guye site, offering a significant insight into the indigenous exploitation strategies of foodstaples in the Pearl River Delta, from 5,900 to 5,400 BP. The results reveal that Guye subsistence relied on Fagaceae nuts and may have had a strong tendency for anthropogenic selection, that is, favouring <i>Lithocarpus</i>. This <i>Lithocarpus</i>-based diet pattern was first identified in south subtropical China and is clearly distinct from other regions, suggesting a regionally different and adapted choice by the Guye people. Therefore, we hypothesize that the Guye people accumulated in-depth knowledge about arboreal foodstuffs in the surrounding forest, supporting their sedentism stably.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":8214,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences","volume":"17 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12520-025-02249-9","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ANTHROPOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The economic importance of Fagaceae nuts among prehistoric forest inhabitants has been highlighted, but we know little about the specific assemblages due to limited species identification. Here, we analyse Fagaceae remains from the waterlogged Guye site, offering a significant insight into the indigenous exploitation strategies of foodstaples in the Pearl River Delta, from 5,900 to 5,400 BP. The results reveal that Guye subsistence relied on Fagaceae nuts and may have had a strong tendency for anthropogenic selection, that is, favouring Lithocarpus. This Lithocarpus-based diet pattern was first identified in south subtropical China and is clearly distinct from other regions, suggesting a regionally different and adapted choice by the Guye people. Therefore, we hypothesize that the Guye people accumulated in-depth knowledge about arboreal foodstuffs in the surrounding forest, supporting their sedentism stably.
期刊介绍：
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences covers the full spectrum of natural scientific methods with an emphasis on the archaeological contexts and the questions being studied. It bridges the gap between archaeologists and natural scientists providing a forum to encourage the continued integration of scientific methodologies in archaeological research.
Coverage in the journal includes: archaeology, geology/geophysical prospection, geoarchaeology, geochronology, palaeoanthropology, archaeozoology and archaeobotany, genetics and other biomolecules, material analysis and conservation science.
The journal is endorsed by the German Society of Natural Scientific Archaeology and Archaeometry (GNAA), the Hellenic Society for Archaeometry (HSC), the Association of Italian Archaeometrists (AIAr) and the Society of Archaeological Sciences (SAS).
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
京公网安备 11010802042870号
