Local vegetation patterns of a Neolithic environment at the site of Tianluoshan, China, based on coprolite analysis

Zhang, Yunan; Geel, B. van; Gosling, William D.; McMichael, Crystal N.H.; Jansen, Boris; Absalah, Samira; Sun, Ge; Wu, Xiaohong

doi:10.1016/j.revpalbo.2019.104101

Cited by 12 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 90 publications

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“…Actinidia chinensis, Prunus mume , and Choerospondias axillaris ) in local forests, as has been observed in semi-managed forest systems of the Southeastern United States (Gremillion, 1993; VanDerwarker et al, 2013). Zhang et al (2019) suggested a similar practice of creating nearby vegetation catchments at another Neolithic site in the region. The fact that many plants in this niche (alongside Brassica spp., Diospyros spp., and Boehmeria spp.)…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Early millet cultivation, subsistence diversity, and wild plant use at Neolithic Anle, Lower Yangtze, China

Tang

Marston

Fang³

2022

The Holocene

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This study examines the archeological seed assemblage of Anle, a middle Neolithic site located in the Lower Yangtze region, China. The Lower Yangtze is thought to be the origin of domesticated rice and most studies of this region to date have focused on rice domestication and cultivation within its paleoenvironmental setting. In contrast, we highlight here diverse uses of non-rice plant resources. In addition to large quantities of rice remains (carbonized grains and spikelet bases), we identify both foxtail and broomcorn millet, both AMS radiocarbon dated earlier than 5750 cal BP, demonstrating the dispersal of millet cultivation to the Lower Yangtze in the middle Neolithic, earlier than previously securely documented. While most wild species identified in macrobotanical assemblages are traditionally categorized as weeds or incidental intrusions among food residues, many can be exploited for food and medicinal purposes. By analyzing the ecological and functional implications of identified plants, we infer ecological niches of cultivation, gathering, and possible propagation of wild plants as food and medicine. Analyses of diversity and seasonality of plant resources identified show that residents of Anle created a complex seasonal sequence of temporally compatible crops, constructing niches for two crops (rice and millet) and actively structuring opportunities to exploit available wild plant resources in their immediate environment.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Early millet cultivation, subsistence diversity, and wild plant use at Neolithic Anle, Lower Yangtze, China

Tang

Marston

Fang³

2022

The Holocene

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“…Especially for herbivores, identification of inclusions in their dung can indicate regional vegetation distribution, providing further information of the ecological interactions among various organisms and guidance for contemporary conservation and ecosystem restoration efforts (Carrión et al, 2007;Boast et al, 2018;Wang et al, 2018;Zhang et al, 2019). Biomarker analysis and detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) between pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs) were performed on dog coprolites from a Chinese Neolithic site, Tianluoshan.…”

Section: To Recover the Palaeoenvironmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Biomarker analysis and detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) between pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs) were performed on dog coprolites from a Chinese Neolithic site, Tianluoshan. And the biomarker analysis suggested the dogs with a plant-rich diet closely relating to humans while the pollen and NPPs results indicated three main internal vegetation types, indicating the vegetation patterns of the main areas affected by human activities in Tianluoshan (Zhang et al, 2019). For a decade, broader palaeobotanical analyses were applied to identify stomatal traits of coprolites to provide evidence of environmental factors in specific areas in the past.…”

Section: To Recover the Palaeoenvironmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Technological Advance and Application of Coprolite Analysis

et al. 2022

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Coprolites (mummified or fossilized feces), belonging to the group of ichnofossils, are fossilized remains of feces produced by animals. Various types of data from coprolites provide detailed evidence of the producer’s condition, like diet, intestinal microbiome, virus infection and parasites diseases. In addition, the palaeoenvironment information relevant to producers’ ecological niche can be drawn from taphonomy details the coprolites mirrored. At present, the phylogenetic clues of the producer’s population can be determined by advanced molecular biotechnologies. With the integration of multiple methods and techniques, coprolite has been widely accepted as an ideal material to study the diet, evolution, and palaeoenvironment of producers. In this paper, we reviewed the history of coprolite research, enumerated and interpreted the data recovered from coprolites, and explained their research value to palaeocoprology and evolutionary biology. Finally, we summarized the current directions of coprolite research and looked into its future prospects.

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“…Coprolites, or ancient feces, are increasingly under investigation by researchers interested in records of past economy, environment, and evolution (Hunt et al 2012; Qvarnström et al 2016; Shillito et al 2020). A variety of techniques are employed in coprolite analysis (e.g., Miller 1984; Poinar et al 1998; Kühn et al 2013; Linseele 2013; Camacho et al 2018; Égüez and Makarewicz 2018; Sistiaga et al 2014; Perrotti and van Asperen 2019; Zhang et al 2019; Wood et al 2020), and many studies apply multiple techniques to different coprolites in an assemblage (Reinhard and Bryant 1992; di Lernia 2001; Delhon et al 2008; Shahack-Gross 2011; Marinova et al 2013; Pineda et al 2017; Baeten et al 2018; Landau et al 2020). Yet the full benefits of the multi-proxy approach will be realized when different complementary analyses are applied to each individual coprolite investigated, making the most of this finite archaeological resource (Fuks and Dunseth 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Minimally Destructive Radiocarbon Dating of Caprine Dung

Fuks,

O’Neill-Munro,

Reimer

et al. 2023

Radiocarbon

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Archaeological dung pellets are time capsules of ancient herbivore diets and gut flora, informing on past agropastoral activity, ecology, and animal health. Improving multi-proxy approaches is key to maximizing this finite archaeological resource. Through experiments with standard pretreatments used in radiocarbon (14C) dating, we address a fundamental problem in maximal multi-proxy analysis: How to chronometrically date individual caprine pellets while conserving as much as possible for additional analyses? We applied acid-alkali-acid (AAA) or acid-only pretreatments to 37 samples of ancient and recent sheep/goat dung pellets from sites in the Negev desert, Israel, measuring weight-loss due to pretreatment. Shavings of outer surfaces and remaining inner pellets of four pairs were dated and compared. We found that (i) sample-specific factors affect pretreatment survivability, including preservation quality and initial sample size; (ii) given sufficient start weight, AAA can be used to pretreat sheep/goat coprolites; (iii) 100 mg appeared a desirable minimum sample weight before pretreatment; and (iv) shavings of coprolites’ outer surface produced 14C dates equivalent to dates obtained from inner coprolites. Whereas standard coprolite analysis protocols discard shavings removed from outer surfaces to avoid contamination, our findings indicate their efficacy for 14C dating. This offers an important addition to workflows for multi-proxy coprolite analysis.

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Local vegetation patterns of a Neolithic environment at the site of Tianluoshan, China, based on coprolite analysis

Cited by 12 publications

References 90 publications

Early millet cultivation, subsistence diversity, and wild plant use at Neolithic Anle, Lower Yangtze, China

Early millet cultivation, subsistence diversity, and wild plant use at Neolithic Anle, Lower Yangtze, China

The Technological Advance and Application of Coprolite Analysis

Minimally Destructive Radiocarbon Dating of Caprine Dung

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