Archaeobotanical Evidence of Hazelnut (Corylus heterophylla, Betulaceae) Exploitation in the Neolithic Northern China

Abstract

Hazelnut is an important nut food that was widely consumed throughout prehistory. Archaeologists frequently find the charred plant macrofossils of Corylus at archaeological sites throughout Eurasia. We present new records of charred Siberian hazelnut (Corylus heterophylla) that were recovered from the Beiniu site (109.32°E, 34.46°N) in Shaanxi Province, North West China, that are directly dated around 5,400 cal. yr BP. They are basic evidence that we use to reconstruct the early history of hazelnut use in the northern part of China. Our findings in China are much less abundant than the hazelnut remains recovered at archaeological sites in Europe and North America. We suggest that the hazelnuts deposited in the cultural layer of Beiniu site were not intentionally used as a fuel but rather were first broken and then consumed as food before their eventual charring in a refuse pit. These discoveries also contribute to our understanding of risk mitigation strategies in food production by ancient farmers in China.

Crops, weeds and gathered plants in the vicinity of the mediaeval Castle Kolno, near Brzeg, S-W Poland, and a morphometric approach for some taxa

“…In Corylus heterophylla Fisch. ex Trautv., the transverse fractures of the nut shell reveal numerous canals after following the vascular bundles that run parallel to the axis (Sheng et al 2019). This feature is also exhibited by the nuts of other species of the genus.…”

“…It can be convex, flat, or in rare cases slightly concave. Gibbosus directly contacts the abscission zone, developed between the pedicel and the nut (Roongsattham et al 2016), through which a single bundle penetrates in the center of the structure toward the ovules (Hagerup 1942) and numerous other bundles branch into the pericarp (Sheng et al 2019). The measured characters were selected from a larger set of data presented by Staszak (2004) for plum stones and by Kosina (1991) in the case of filbert nuts.…”

Yield and nut characteristics of hazelnut genotypes grown in San Joaquin Valley, California

“…ex Trautv.) was present in the Neolithic era in central China (Sheng et al., 2019). Its distribution spreads from eastern Asia to southeastern Siberia.…”

Corylus L. specimen’s conservation and reproduction in the botanic gardens and dendrological parks: an example of Corylus chinensis Franch.

“…Росте на гірських схилах у вологих лісах на висоті 1200-3500 метрів у провінціях Ганьсу (Gansu), Ґуйчжоу (Guizhou), Хубей (Hubei), Шеньсі (Shaanxi), Південно Західний Сичуань (SW Sichuan), Сізанг (Xizang), Північно Західний Юньнань (NW Yunnan). За критеріями Міжнародного союзу охорони природи у 1998 році C. chinensis був занесений як зникаючий (Endangered, En) до Світового списку дерев, що перебувають під загрозою зникнення, однак у Червоному списку Китаю він віднесений лише до категорії найменшого ризику (Least Concern, LC) на підставі того, що незважаючи на скорочення його кількості через вирубку лісів C. chinensis наразі досить поширений у цій країні (Ren et al, 2020;Shaw et al, 2014).…”