Dietary adaptation during the Longshan period in China: stable isotope analyses at Liangchengzhen (southeastern Shandong)

Radiocarbon dating and stable carbon isotopic analyses of Neolithic and Bronze Age staple crops in the lower Yellow River area and their paleodietary implications

“…After being corrected for the charring effect using the data mentioned above, the average δ 13 C value is −24.64 ‰ for prehistoric rice grains. Previous work showed that the mean δ 13 C value of modern rice grains in this area is −24.6‰ (Lanehart et al., ). The difference between the mean δ 13 C value of modern and prehistoric rice grains is only 0.04‰.…”

“…Stable carbon isotopic analyses of human skeletal remains have been increasingly used in paleodietary reconstructions (Atahan et al, 2014;Hu, 2005;Lanehart et al, 2011;Pechenkina et al, 2005;Wang et al, 2012), offering an alternate perspective on human agricultural adaption to climatic changes during the Neolithic period. However, theoretical and observational studies show that the 13 C value of both C3 and C4 plants depends on the atmospheric 13 C level and photosynthesis rate, and particularly for C3 plants (Farquhar, Ehleringer, & Hubick, 1989), it is also a function of climatic and environmental variables (Farquhar, Caemmerer, & Berry, 1980).…”

“…Therefore, studying past human dietary structure may provide deep insight into the origin and spread of agriculture. Stable carbon isotopic measurements of archaeological human skeletal remains have opened a new avenue to paleodietary reconstructions (Atahan et al, 2014;Hu, Wang, Luan, Wang, & Richards, 2008;Lanehart et al, 2011;Pechenkina, Ambrose, Ma, & Benfer, 2005;Wang et al, 2012). This method relies on the fact that the observed 13 C/ 12 C ratio in human tissue is a result of mixing of two end members-C3 (e.g., rice, wheat, barley, and soybean) and C4 (e.g., millet, maize, and sorghum) crops, each of which has a characteristic 13 C value (e.g., ca.…”

Tracing the locality of prisoners and workers at the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang: First Emperor of China (259-210 BC)

“…For instance, in Shanxi Province, Pei et al 46 suggested that the Neiyangyuan people mainly relied on stockbreeding, and the high C 4 signatures in the δ 13 C values shows that the consumption of millet made a significant contribution to the diet by direct consumption and/or as fodder for their livestock. The isotopic results for people from the eastern Province of Shandong also show a reliance on millet27484950, but the Neolithic Xigongqiao population had a mixed C 3 /C 4 diet51. The hot and humid climate of south China is unfavorable for collagen preservation, and this has resulted in significantly less isotopic research in this region.…”

Diet Transition or Human Migration in the Chinese Neolithic? Dietary and Migration Evidence from the Stable Isotope Analysis of Humans and Animals from the Qinglongquan Site, China

“…Although a dichotomy between the primitive rice agriculture in southern China and the primitive millet agriculture (foxtail millet and common millet) in Northern China during the Neolithic period is widely believed (Chen, 2005;Ren, 2005;Barton et al, 2009;Zhao, 2011;Liu et al, 2012), recent studies based on archaeological findings, archaeobotanical analysis and stable isotopic analysis have indicated that a mixed agricultural system of rice and millet was present from 5000 BC between the Yangtze River valley and the Yellow River valley (Hu et al, 2006;Lanehart et al, 2008;Fu et al, 2010;Lanehart et al, 2011;Guo et al, 2011;Zhang et al, 2014). This dynamic system was then more firmly established from 3500 to 2000 BC in the larger region including: Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Shaanxi, Anhui and Jiangsu Provinces.…”