Assessing the occurrence and status of wheat in late Neolithic central China: the importance of direct AMS radiocarbon dates from Xiazhai

Abstract

The introduction of wheat into central China is thought to have been one of the significant contributions of interactions between China and Central Asia which began in the 3rd millennium bc. However, only a limited number of Neolithic wheat grains have been found in central China and even fewer have been directly radiocarbon dated, making the date when wheat was adopted in the region and its role in subsistence farming uncertain. Based on systematic archaeobotanical data and direct dating of wheat remains from the Xiazhai site in central China, as well as a critical review of all reported discoveries of Neolithic and Bronze Age wheat from this region, we conclude that many wheat finds are intrusive in Neolithic contexts. We argue that the role of wheat in the subsistence of the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age of central China was minimal, and that wheat only began to increase in its subsistence role in the later Bronze Age during the Zhou dynasty after ca. 1000 bc.

Dietary shift and social hierarchy from the Proto-Shang to Zhou Dynasty in the Central Plains of China

“…An increased consumption of wheat in the Eastern Zhou (Dong et al 2017b, Zhou et al 2017 diet is consistent with the archaeobotanical data, which shows a rapid increase in the frequency and/or ubiquity of wheat in the crop assemblages during this period (e.g. Liu et al 2017, Ma 2017, Deng et al 2019. And historical documentary records also support this increase.…”

“…Furthermore, wheat is much more high-yielding than millet (Peng 2010), probably facilitating, in part, the rapid increase of population from 10 million to 20 million (Lu and Teng 2000) in the Central Plains from 1046 to 771 BCE, which might in turn have promoted a dependency by society on wheat production, especially in Henan, the core area of the Eastern Zhou government. Even in the Han Dynasty (202 BCE-220 CE), the importance of wheat in the food assemblage slightly exceeded that of millet (Hou et al 2012, Deng et al 2019.…”

“…wheat) from Shang to Western Zhou. With the adoption and expansion of wheat cultivation in the Central Plains (Ma 2017, Tang et al 2018, Zhong et al 2018, Deng et al 2019, wheat would have gradually increased in the daily diet and would have assumed increasing agricultural importance for all individuals during Eastern Zhou, but especially for the lowerstatus individuals (supplementary table S3, figures 4(a), (b)). This could have occurred because wheat was not scarce, and although it tasted bad in comparison to millet, the people in the Central Plains before the end of the Han Dynasty (Zeng 2005) would have opted to steam or boil the whole grain.…”

Synthesis of stable isotopic data for human bone collagen: A study of the broad dietary patterns across ancient China

“…Over the last half century, a range of archaeological theories and scientific approaches have been employed to study the spatiotemporal development of agriculture in China, and its interaction with other aspects of human society. Major contributions have been made by palaeobotanical analyse (Zhao, 2011), stable isotopes (Hu, 2018), phytolith and palynological analyses (Weisskopf, 2017), starch residue studies (Yang et al, 2012), radiocarbon dating (Deng et al, 2020), and genetics (Lu et al, 2019).…”

Two-season agriculture and irrigated rice during the Dian: radiocarbon dates and archaeobotanical remains from Dayingzhuang, Yunnan, Southwest China

“…However, in much northern and central China early wheat occurred in the absence of evidence for barley so it may not be the case that these crops spread together (e.g. Flad et al 2010 ; Boivin et al 2012 ; Liu et al 2017 ; Deng et al 2020 ). Wheat and barley co-occur the site of A’shaonao, on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau in Sichuan, where the crops have been directly dated to c. 1400 BC (d'Alpoim Guedes et al 2015 ), contemporary to the finds of Haimenkou.…”