Elsevier

Quaternary International

Volume 426, 28 December 2016, Pages 75-85
Quaternary International

Archaeobotanical analysis of diverse plant food resources and palaeovegetation at the Zhumucun site, a late Neolithic settlement of the Liangzhu Culture in east China

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2016.01.010Get rights and content

Abstract

Floatation of archaeological remains from sediments of the Neolithic Zhumucun site, attributed to the Liangzhu Culture (5300–4300 BP), demonstrates the diverse plant resources available at this site. The plant remains suggest a generally warm and humid wetland landscape where rice-based subsistence was possible. Domesticated rice was cultivated in paddy fields and served as the only cereal, while some melons and fruits, such as muskmelon (Cucumis melo) were probably cultivated as well. In addition, some species of Polygonum might have been utilized as vegetables. Furthermore, herbs such as Potentilla sp., Zehneria indica, and Lagenaria siceraria var. microcarpa were probably collected for medical purposes.

Introduction

To date, a large number of archaeological surveys and excavations have been carried out in the lower Yangtze River, which has contributed much to establish Neolithic sequences of archaeological cultures there. In particular, the Yangtze River Delta region has been closely examined by archaeologists, agriculturalists, as well as environmentalists. According to geographical and Neolithic archaeological features, this area can be divided into two geo-archaeological regions (Fig. 1) where the corresponding cultural sequences are relatively complete (IACASS, 2010, Jiang, 2013) as is shown in Supplementary Table S1 online. The Liangzhu Culture (∼5300–4300 BP) is particularly noteworthy for its cultural factors which highlight the evolution of Chinese civilization in the region (Li, 2011). In particular, a landscape of an ancient city with 40–60 m wide walls covering an area of 2.9 million square meters, include an altar, aristocratic cemetery, and jades with religious decorations, were present in the Mojiaoshan site are attributed to the Liangzhu Culture by the presence of jade Cong and Bi, for example (Shuo, 2000, ZPICRA, 2005, SACH, 2006, Liu, 2009, IACASS, 2010). In addition, a large area of ancient paddy fields was discovered, among which the area of one block at the Maoshan site even reached almost 2000 square meters (ZPICRA, 2010).

Macro-plant remains, including seeds, fruits, charcoal, plant imprints, provide importance clues for palaeobotanical and palaeoenvironmental studies, and can also help us to understand the history of ancient civilization and agriculture (Liu et al., 2004). Recent work has also shown the significance of macro-plant remains for reconstructing palaeodiet (e.g. Gong et al., 2011, Qiu et al., 2012, Qiu et al., 2014c), plant use (Jiang et al., 2006, Jiang et al., 2007a, Jiang et al., 2013), and craft, as well as values (Jiang et al., 2007b, Jiang et al., 2008). Floatation has proved a most effective way of extracting macro-plant remains from archaeological cultural sediments (Pearsall, 2000) and it was introduced into China in the 1980s (Zhao, 2004). However, experimental data suggest that the techniques applied to collect and process floatation samples can negatively affect the yield of carbonized plant remains, and thus critically alter the results of the analysis (Wright, 2005). This is probably one reason why only a small number of macro-plant remains have been recovered from archaeological sites in East and South China (Qiu et al., 2014a).

Previously, Neolithic archaeobotanical studies of the lower and middle reaches of the Yangtze River (Basin) focused on the origin and spread of rice farming (Chen et al., 2005, Chen et al., 2008, Fuller et al., 2007, Liu et al., 2007, Atahan et al., 2008, Zhang and Hung, 2010, Zhao, 2010a, Long et al., 2014, Qiu et al., 2014b) and the importance of rice in the diet of early cultures (before the Liangzhu Culture, i.e. pre 5300 BP) (Zong et al., 2007, Innes et al., 2009). Some attention has been paid to early cultivation and domestication of non-rice plant food resources, such as peach (Zheng et al., 2014), muskmelon (Zheng and Chen, 2006), grape (Zheng and You, 2006) and bottle gourd (Fuller et al., 2010), however, the diversity of plants as a whole in the diet during the Liangzhu Culture has been overlooked. Generally, the study of the Neolithic sites of the lower Yangtze River, such as Shangshan (c. 11,400–8600 BP), Kuahuqiao (c. 8500–7500 BP), Hemudu (c. 7000–5800 BP), and Majiabang (c. 7000–5800 BP) cultures has consisted of a combination of palaeoethnobotanical and palaeoclimatic investigations, and settlement patterns of the archaeological sites. Among these, systematic and refined archaeobotanical research was undertaken on the ruins attributed to the Hemudu Culture at the Tianluoshan site (Fuller et al., 2009, Fuller et al., 2011, Zheng et al., 2009, Zheng et al., 2011). All the above studies indicated that the subsistence pattern along the lower reaches of the Yangtze River during 10,000–6000 BP can be attributed to “resource production”, while agricultural forms or agroecology in this area were well developed (Pan, 2011).

Considering the above mentioned situations, this investigation suggests some improvements to the floatation method, which are applied in a case study to reconstruct the plant resources in human diet during the Liangzhu Culture (5300–4300 BP), and compare it to that of the Hemudu Culture (7000–5800 BP).

Section snippets

Physical settings and archaeological context

The Zhumucun site is located at the Zhumu village of the Kunshan city, to the east of Taihu (Lake), China (AISC and BCHMKC, 2014). The climate of the Taihu plain is influenced by the subtropical monsoon, having four distinct seasons, with a moderate and moist climate. The mean annual temperature is 15–17 °C, and mean annual precipitation is 1000–1400 mm (Sun and Huang, 1993, Wang and Dou, 1998). Today this area is mostly under cultivation, especially for rice (Oryza sativa) (Wang, 1996).

Material

Utilizing typical sampling principles (Zhao, 2010b), 9 sedimentary samples (see Supplementary Table S2 online) including paddy fields (S1–S5), river channel (HD3), pits (H44, H76) (Fig. 2 and Supplementary Fig. S2 online), and other cultural deposit were taken for floatation from four excavating trenches at the Zhumucun site. The average amount of each sample was about 40 l.

AMS 14C dating

Charred rice grains and seeds of Polygonum lapathifolium were selected and sent to Peking University for dating by an

AMS 14C dating

The four AMS 14C dates obtained from charred seeds ranged from about 5000 cal yr BP to 4300 cal yr BP (Table 1), which is in good agreement with the mid-late Liangzhu Culture period inferred from artifacts unearthed at the Zhumucun site.

. Results of radiocarbon dating.

Sample No.SampleDeposition unit14C years (T1/2 = 5568)BPDendrocalibrated age ranges (±1δ, 68.2%) BPDendrocalibrated age ranges (±2δ, 95.4%) BP
BA131751Polygonum lapathifoliumS14170 ± 204830 (10.6%) 48004830 (19.1%) 4780
4760 (41.8%)

Discussion

A large quantity and variety of plant food resources were unearthed from the Zhumucun site dated to 5000–4300 cal yr BP, including cereal, melon, fruit, vegetables as well as herbs (see Supplementary Table S3 online). Among these, rice is the only cereal and was presumably cultivated. Besides, Cucumis melo was probably also cultivated at or in the vicinity of the site, while a large number of wild plants belonging to different families were collected as supplementary food resources.

The

Conclusion

The archaeobotanical assemblages obtained from the Zhumucun site suggest a generally warm and humid wetland environment at or around this site about 5000–4300 cal yr BP. Plant resources and the environment at Zhumucun suggest that it was consistent with the general characteristics of an agrarian life style, whereby the contribution of wild plant resources was greatly reduced. The occupants lived mainly on cultivated and domesticated rice, together with some melons, fruits, vegetables, and

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Prof. Changjiang Liu for suggestions regarding plant remains identification, Dr. Zhaoxia Zhang for help with the SEM, and Prof. John R. Dodson for useful suggestions as well as English editing. This study was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program – Climate Change: Carbon Budget and Relevant Issues, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. XDA05130501) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41471167 and 41102114). We are grateful

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