Social stratification and human diet in the Eastern Zhou China: An isotopic view from the Central Plains

Zhou, Ligang; Yang, Shugang; Han, Zhaohui; Sun, Lei; Garvie‐Lok, Sandra

doi:10.1016/j.ara.2019.100162

Cited by 17 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…The absolute number and the present frequency of charred plant remains from Chengyao (Zhong, Zhang, et al, 2018), Wangchenggang (Zhao & Fang, 2007) and the present frequency of starch grains extracted from Dongzhao human dental calculus (Sun et al, 2018) reveal that millets and wheat became the two most important crops and food sources (Ma, 2017). Stable isotope data from many sites of this period such as ancient Xinzheng City, Songzhuang, Dashengzhao and Xiyasi/Changxinyuan confirm this (Dong et al, 2017; Zhang, 2019; Zhou et al, 2017; Zhou et al, 2019; Table. 5).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 71%

“…Wangchenggang (Zhao & Fang, 2007) and the present frequency of starch grains extracted from Dongzhao human dental calculus (Sun et al, 2018) reveal that millets and wheat became the two most important crops and food sources (Ma, 2017). Stable isotope data from many sites of this period such as ancient Xinzheng City, Songzhuang, Dashengzhao and Xiyasi/Changxinyuan confirm this (Dong et al, 2017;Zhou et al, 2017;Zhou et al, 2019; Table. 5). Our research, combing the archaeobotanical remains with stable isotopic data, furtherly demonstrates that wheat as a C 3 crop made visible contribution to human diet in the Warring States period.…”

Section: Wheat Consumption On the Central Plains Since Longshan Periodmentioning

confidence: 66%

“…However, the dietary roles of each C 3 crop (wheat, rice and soybean) are not well understood in this key period. Some scholars argue that wheat made the biggest contribution to human diet among these C 3 plant foods (Zhou et al, 2017(Zhou et al, , 2019. Due to the absence of direct archaeobotanical data in their discussions, this argument needs more evidences to be proved.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Investigating wheat consumption based on multiple evidences: Stable isotope analysis on human bone and starch grain analysis on dental calculus of humans from the Laodaojing cemetery, Central Plains, China

Tao

Zhang

Zhou

et al. 2020

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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The introduction and spread of wheat contributed to the transformation of the tradition millets agriculture in North China. However, when and how wheat came to be a staple crop in China is still unclear. Stable isotope data from some archaeological sites suggested that the dietary change from C 4 based diet to C 3 /C 4 mixed diet occurred during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-221 BC) on the Central Plains of China. However, the role of each C 3 crop (wheat, rice and soybean) in human diet is not well understood in this key period. Some scholars have argued that wheat made the biggest contribution to human diet among the C 3 crops. To further investigate the dietary role of wheat and agricultural economy in the Eastern Zhou on the Central Plains of China, combined methods of stable isotope analysis on human bones and starch grain analysis on human dental calculus were conducted at Laodaojing cemetery during the Warring States period. The mean δ 13 C values (−14.7 ± 2‰, n = 24) and mean δ 15 N values (9.1 ± 0.9‰, n = 24) of individuals from Laodaojing cemetery suggest that Laodaojing humans had a reliance on the mixture of C 3 /C 4 foods and a certain proportion of animal protein was consumed. Given that the small elevation of δ 15 N values (<3‰) of Laodaojing humans, the contribution of domesticated animals to the mixed C 3 /C 4 diet of Laodaojing population is relatively limited. Combined with starch grains extracted from human dental calculus, we argue that C 3 and C 4 foods at Laodaojing were mainly derived from wheat and millets respectively. Temporal investigations of stable isotope data and archaeobotanical evidences from the late Longshan period to Eastern Zhou Dynasty show the importance of wheat increased in agricultural economy slowly since its introduction into the Central Plains of China. Until the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, wheat as a C 3 crop played an important dietary role in human diet of the Central Plains. A transformation from millet-based to millets/wheat-based agricultural economy occurred along with the shift of dietary pattern during this period.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 71%

Section: Wheat Consumption On the Central Plains Since Longshan Periodmentioning

confidence: 66%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Investigating wheat consumption based on multiple evidences: Stable isotope analysis on human bone and starch grain analysis on dental calculus of humans from the Laodaojing cemetery, Central Plains, China

Tao

Zhang

Zhou

et al. 2020

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Unequal access to certain dietary resources is not unique to the post-Wari world of the Andes. In the Eastern Zhou region of China (770-221 BCE), stable isotope analysis shows that two noble individuals consumed much more animal protein (and perhaps fish) relative to the non-nobles, isotopic data that accord with written accounts noting the sumptuary rules associated with consuming meat (i.e., reserved for nobles) and celebrating nobles as the "meat eaters" (Zhou et al 2019). Plant foods were also markers of status, and nobles consumed no wheat and ate millet only in this pre-imperial era (Zhou et al 2019).…”

Section: S000mentioning

confidence: 80%

“…In the Eastern Zhou region of China (770-221 BCE), stable isotope analysis shows that two noble individuals consumed much more animal protein (and perhaps fish) relative to the non-nobles, isotopic data that accord with written accounts noting the sumptuary rules associated with consuming meat (i.e., reserved for nobles) and celebrating nobles as the "meat eaters" (Zhou et al 2019). Plant foods were also markers of status, and nobles consumed no wheat and ate millet only in this pre-imperial era (Zhou et al 2019). In the later imperial period, class distinctions marked by the consumption of certain plant foods fell away, and people of all social classes began consuming large quantities of wheat (Zhou et al 2017).…”

Section: S000mentioning

confidence: 80%

Making and Marking Maleness and Valorizing Violence

Tung¹

2021

Current Anthropology

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The unmarked category of man and claims of innate violence have been tightly linked in the public imagination and in much scholarly work, both in views of the past and the present and in how those temporalities mutually inform one another. However, these notions of the naturally violent man eschew the evidence showing how social, political, and other processes interact to make and mark gender and connect narratives about violence with gender and other aspects of identity. Drawing on examples from the pre-Hispanic and early Spanish colonial Andean world, I explore how (bio)archaeology investigates both overt physical violence and structures of violence that can be hidden yet are deeply impactful. This kind of analysis places the archaeological body at the core, also interrogating how norms about violence become embodied. Through a consideration of this constructive process, I examine the corporal effects of various narratives about violence, gender, and the body in the (pre)historic Andes. These (bio)archaeological and ethnohistoric data are also examined to scrutinize how these stories of past violence are used in the service of normalizing and naturalizing (male) violence today.

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Toward a bioarchaeology of urbanization: Demography, health, and behavior in cities in the past

Betsinger

DeWitte

2021

American J Phys Anthropol

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Urbanization is one of the most important settlement shifts in human history and has been the focus of research within bioarchaeology for decades. However, there have been limited attempts to synthesize the results of these studies in order to gain a broader perspective on whether or how urbanization affects the biology, demography, and behavior of humans, and how these potential effects are embodied in the human skeleton. This paper outlines how bioarchaeology is well-suited to examine urbanization in the past, and we provide an overview and examples of three main ways in which urbanization is studied in bioarchaeological research: comparison of (often contemporaneous) urban and rural sites, synchronic studies of the variation that exists within and between urban sites, and investigations of changes that occur within urban sites over time. Studies of urbanization, both within bioarchaeology and in other fields of study, face a number of limitations, including a lack of a consensus regarding what urban and urbanization mean, the assumed dichotomous nature of urban versus rural settlements, the supposition that urbanization is universally bad for people, and the assumption (at least in practice) of homogeneity within urban and rural populations. Bioarchaeologists can address these limitations by utilizing a wide array of data and methods, and the studies described here collectively demonstrate the complex, nuanced, and highly variable effects of urbanization.

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Social stratification and human diet in the Eastern Zhou China: An isotopic view from the Central Plains

Cited by 17 publications

References 43 publications

Investigating wheat consumption based on multiple evidences: Stable isotope analysis on human bone and starch grain analysis on dental calculus of humans from the Laodaojing cemetery, Central Plains, China

Investigating wheat consumption based on multiple evidences: Stable isotope analysis on human bone and starch grain analysis on dental calculus of humans from the Laodaojing cemetery, Central Plains, China

Making and Marking Maleness and Valorizing Violence

Toward a bioarchaeology of urbanization: Demography, health, and behavior in cities in the past

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