Human Dietary Complexity in Tianshan Region and the Influence of Climate on Human Paleodiet

Abstract

With the popularization of carbon and nitrogen stable-isotope analysis methods used on archaeological samples from Xinjiang, the ancient paleodiet there has been revealed. However, research about isotopic analysis combined with environmental factors is rare, especially in such a variable and complex climate as that of the Tianshan region. We systematically analyzed the δ13C and δ15N results from animals and humans for dietary reconstruction of nomadic pastoralists from the Tianshan region during 3900–1200 cal BP. The δ13C and δ15N values for animals (sheep/goat, horse and cattle; n = 57) have a wide range from –20.8‰ to –14.7‰ for δ13C (–19.2 ± 1.0‰) and 3.2‰ to 9.9‰ for δ15N (7.0 ± 1.2‰). The δ13C and δ15N values from humans range from –19.6 to –12.3‰ (–16.0 ± 1.5‰) and 7.1 to 16.7‰ (–13.6 ± 1.5‰), respectively. The animal δ15N results indicate that the dry environment in the Tianshan region may result in elevated δ15N values. Synthesizing animal and human isotope results suggests that the inhabitants engaged in mobile herding economies subsidized with crops and wild animal meat from the Tianshan Mountains. In conclusion, we found that the regional environment closely relates to crop types, and temporal climate change has an effect on human dietary structure. Therefore, climate condition cannot be ignored when studying human paleodiet.

Art historical and archaeometric analyses of the ‘animal style’ gold and silver ornaments (fourth–third centuries bce) found in north‐west China

“…In addition to lacquer fragments, potteries and iron products, an array of gold and silver ornaments was found (Xinjiang Cultural Relics and Archaeology Institute, 2009). An isotopic analysis of animal and human bones found at Dongheigou suggested that the tomb occupants had been a group of people engaged in mobile herding economies subsidized with crops and wild animal meat in the Tianshan Mountains (Zhao & Zhou, 2020). The radiocarbon results suggest that while both the tomb's occupant and the human sacrifice in Tomb 12 can confidently be dated to the fourth to the second centuries bce (Figure 2) (see also Supplementary Material 01: Table S1 in the additional supporting information), the charcoals from early settlements in this archaeological site could be dated to as early as the eleventh century bce (Xinjiang Cultural Relics and Archaeology Institute, 2009).…”

Study of snow cover/depth evolution characteristics in Tianshan region of China based on geographical partition

“…The mountains run east–west, starting from Uzbekistan in the west and extending to Kyrgyzstan and northwestern China and southwestern Mongolia in the east, with a total length of about 2500 km, it is the largest independent latitudinal mountain system in the world 25 , 26 . The study area is the Tianshan Mountains in China region (Tianshan region, Xinjiang, China) 27 , 28 , located in the hinterland of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, west to Yili Prefecture, east to Hami City, north to Bo Prefecture, and south to Aksu Region, Geographic location is 79E–96E, 41N–45N, with an area of 237,253.21 km 2 . The Tianshan region (study area) accounts for two-thirds of the length of The Tianshan Mountains and is about 1700 km long and 350 km wide 29 .…”

New evidence for regional pastoral practice and social complexity in the Eastern Tianshan Mountains in the first millennium BCE

“…Understanding these early pastoral societies and their economy is, therefore, particularly important for the study of late Eurasian prehistory.Zooarchaeological research in Xinjiang has provided a window into the subsistence strategies and herd management of pastoralist and agro-pastoralist groups, who appear to have relied on the husbandry of a suite of animals, including cattle, horses, sheep, goats and dogs 12,13 . A growing corpus of isotopes and dental pathology analyses has enhanced our knowledge of domestication and ancient diets [14][15][16][17] . These methods have shown that by the first millennium BCE domesticated bovids were ubiquitously exploited to varying degrees of intensity in Northwest China.…”