Water and soil management strategies and the introduction of wheat and barley to northern China: an isotopic analysis of cultivation on the Loess Plateau

Abstract

Studies of ‘food globalisation’ have traced the dispersal of cereals across prehistoric Eurasia. The degree to which these crops were accompanied by knowledge of soil and water preparation is less well known, however. The authors use stable isotope and archaeobotanical analyses to trace long-term trends in cultivation practices on the Loess Plateau (6000 BC–AD 1900). The results indicate that ancient farmers cultivated grains originating in South-west Asia and used distinct strategies for different species. Barley was integrated into pre-existing practices, while wheat was grown using novel soil and water management strategies. These distinct approaches suggest that the spread of prehistoric crops and knowledge about them varied by local context.

Human planting strategies and its relation to climate change during ∼4,800–3,900 BP in the mid-lower Hulu River Valley, northwest China

“…To reduce sampling error (houses vs. ash pits), we compared the Lower Changshan data with all data derived from various Qijia residential contexts in the Western Loess Plateau. We found that the weed proportion of ash pits derived from other Qijia sites was 9%-16.8% (Yang, 2014;Li, 2018;Li et al, 2022b), which is closer to the Qijia result of this study (12.28%). It suggests that results from different residential contexts (houses vs. ash pits) may not be influenced in this case.…”

“…The significance of foxtail millet in plant subsistence strategy was slightly higher in the Qijia period than in the Lower Changshan period. The increased weight of foxtail millet relative to broomcorn millet as a cropping strategy in the MLHRV during the Qijia period in comparison to the Banpo-Miaodigou period (~6,100-5,500 BP) and the late Yangshao period (~5,500-4,800 BP) were reported in previous archaeobotanical studies (Li et al, 2022b;Yang Y et al, 2022). Our results from the ZTXFC site are the first reported archaeobotanical data of the Lower Changshan culture.…”

“…The burial forms mainly include vertical pit graves, vertical and side chambers (Xie, 1986;Qian et al, 2014;Yang, 2017), and the skeletal position is mainly supine and extended and flexed and lying on the side (Chen, 2003;Underhill, 2013). The Qijia culture, dating to 4,600-3,500 BP, is mainly centered around 4,300-3,900 BP (Wang, 2012), and is dated between 4,200 and 3,600 BP in the mid-lower Hulu River Valley (Li et al, 2022b;Yang Y et al, 2022). Based on limited studies (Chen et al, 2020;Li et al, 2022b), the Lower Changshan and Qijia populations were mainly engaged in millet farming, supplemented by pig raising and hunting (Xie, 1975; The Institute of Archaeoloogy Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, 1999;Womack et al, 2021).…”

“…The Qijia culture, dating to 4,600-3,500 BP, is mainly centered around 4,300-3,900 BP (Wang, 2012), and is dated between 4,200 and 3,600 BP in the mid-lower Hulu River Valley (Li et al, 2022b;Yang Y et al, 2022). Based on limited studies (Chen et al, 2020;Li et al, 2022b), the Lower Changshan and Qijia populations were mainly engaged in millet farming, supplemented by pig raising and hunting (Xie, 1975; The Institute of Archaeoloogy Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, 1999;Womack et al, 2021). The Hulu River (34.72 °-36.5 °N, 105.5 °-106.5 °E) is located on the western Loess Plateau, with the Liupan Mountains to the east and the Qinling Mountains to the south (Han et al, 2020).…”

“…Recent archaeobotanical and stable isotope analysis of crops remains from investigated sites in the MLHRV provided a valuable dataset to facilitate understanding of cropping pattern variations and water and soil management for crops since ~6,000 BP (Li et al, 2022b). However, data from the excavated sites of the Lower Changshan and Qijia cultures are still scarce.…”