Shifting Diets and the Rise of Male-Biased Inequality on the Central Plains of China During Eastern Zhou

Shifting diets and the rise of male-biased inequality on the Central Plains of China during Eastern Zhou Yu Donga, Chelsea Morganb, Yurii Chinenovc,1, Ligang Zhoud, Wenquan Fane, Xiaolin Maf, and Kate Pechenkinag,1,2 aSchool of History and Culture, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong 250100, China; bSchool of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia; cThe David Rozensweig Genomics Center, Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY 10021; dResearch Division of Archaeological Science, Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Zhengzhou 450000, China; eResearch Division of Shang and Zhou Dynasties, Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Zhengzhou 450000, China; fHenan Provincial Administration of Cultural Heritage, Zhengzhou 450000, China; and gDepartment of Anthropology, Queens College, City University of New York, New York, NY 11367 Edited by Clark Spencer Larsen, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, and approved December 9, 2016 (received for review July 18, 2016) Farming domesticated millets, tending pigs, and hunting constituted health and infer inequality in parental investment. Finally, we the core of human subsistence strategies during Neolithic Yangshao compare the distribution of grave goods and elaboration in grave (5000–2900 BC). Introduction of wheat and barley as well as the construction between male and female individuals. The Eastern addition of domesticated herbivores during the Late Neolithic Zhou Dynasty communities are represented by two recently exca- (∼2600–1900 BC) led to restructuring of ancient Chinese subsistence vated skeletal series from cemeteries associated with the Ancient strategies. This study documents a dietary shift from indigenous City of Zheng Han: Changxinyuan and Xiyasi (8) (Fig. 1). Animal millets to the newly introduced cereals in northcentral China during data were obtained from the Zheng Han-associated site of Tianli. the Bronze Age Eastern Zhou Dynasty (771–221 BC) based on stable The skeletal materials from five Yangshao (5000–2900 BC) archae- isotope analysis of human and animal bone samples. Our results ological sites, including Jiangzhai, Shijia, Xipo, Guanjia, and Xishan show that this change affected females to a greater degree than (9–12), serve as the Neolithic reference for early farming commu- males. We find that consumption of the newly introduced cereals nities of China’s Central Plains. was associated with less consumption of animal products and a higher rate of skeletal stress markers among females. We hypothe- Development of Indigenous Subsistence Strategies on the sized that the observed separation of dietary signatures between Central Plains of China males and females marks the rise of male-biased inequality in early The Central Plains region, formed by deposits of the Yellow River ANTHROPOLOGY China. We test this hypothesis by comparing Eastern Zhou human and its tributaries, spans the fertile lands of Henan, southern skeletal data with those from Neolithic Yangshao archaeological con- Hebei, southern Shanxi, and the western portion of Shandong as texts. We find no evidence of male–female inequality in early farm- well as those of the Guanzhong Plain of the Wei River Valley in ing communities. The presence of male-biased inequality in Eastern Shaanxi (Fig. 1). Two species of drought- and cold-resistant cereals Zhou society is supported by increased body height difference be- collectively known as millets (Setaria italica and Panicum mil- tween the sexes as well as the greater wealth of male burials. iaceum) were first domesticated in the area by 8000 BC (13, 14) and persisted as principal crop plants through much of the history stable isotopes | bioarchaeology | paleo diet | Yangshao | East Asia of the region (15–18). Remains of cabbage, grapes, poppy, rice, and acorns were also recovered from Yangshao sites, albeit in small astern Zhou (771–221 BC), the last preimperial dynasty, quantities (18). Wheat (Triticum aestivum)andbarley(Hordeum nominally ruled much of China before the unification of its vulgare) were introduced into the area from the west sometime E ∼ – – vast territory by Qin Shi Huang. A system of ethical and philo- during the Late Neolithic ( 2600 1900 BC) (19 21). However, the sophical thought that has permeated Chinese social life through proportion of wheat and barley among the botanical remains much of its history developed during Eastern Zhou from the teachings of Confucius (551–479 BC). Teachings recorded by his Significance followers as The Analects of Confucius laid the foundation for the principles of Chinese society and government as well as pre- Male-biased inequality in Imperial China imposed strong limita- scribed men’s behavior in great detail (1). In The Analects of tions on the economic and intellectual contribution of women to Confucius (論語), Confucius mentions women only once, stating the society and fostered male-biased resource distribution, be- that “唯女子與小人爲難養也。近之則不孫、遠之則怨。 [It is not cause females were subordinated to the priorities of the pa- pleasing to have to do with women/wives or petty men/servants]” triarchal state. Analyzing human skeletal remains from early (ref. 1, p. 219), apparently consigning women to oblivion (2, 3). It agricultural and later preimperial archaeological sites, we find remains unclear whether this neglect of women in the teachings no evidence of inequality between males and females in early reflects that lower status for women was already institutionalized farming communities. The observed differences between male during Eastern Zhou, because few early historic sources define and female skeletons from Eastern Zhou archaeological con- the position of women in China during the early dynasties (4). texts allow us to infer a decline in female social status after the The objective of this paper is to investigate whether the status of introduction of new crop plants and domesticated herbivores women changed during the Bronze Age (1700 to ∼221 BC) (5) in preimperial China. The analysis reveals that male-biased in- compared with their status in Neolithic Yangshao (5000–2900 BC). equality and subsistence change became intertwined with the After the end of Yangshao, introduction of new cereals and do- rise of social complexity. mesticated herbivores to northcentral China led to restructuring of indigenous Chinese subsistence strategies. Research in other parts Author contributions: Y.C. and K.P. designed research; Y.D., L.Z., W.F., X.M., and K.P. per- of the world has shown that subsistence restructuring frequently formed research; C.M., Y.C., and K.P. analyzed data; and Y.D., Y.C., and K.P. wrote the paper. affected the social status of women and parental investment in fe- The authors declare no conflict of interest. male offspring (6, 7). We hypothesize that subsistence change during This article is a PNAS Direct Submission. the Bronze Age would have similarly affected the position of women 1Y.C., and K.P. contributed equally to this work. in China. We use stable isotope analysis to test for dietary differ- 2To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: [email protected]. ences between men and women during Yangshao and Eastern This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10. Zhou. Skeletal analysis allows us to compare male and female 1073/pnas.1611742114/-/DCSupplemental. www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1611742114 PNAS Early Edition | 1of6 Downloaded by guest on September 24, 2021 source of calories in the human diet from the beginning of Yangshao (9–12).Littlestableisotopedataareavailableforbonesamplesfrom dynastic China. There is no clear understanding as to when wheat, barley, and legumes began to contribute significantly to the human diet. Results Dietary Differences Between Yangshao and Eastern Zhou. We analyzed human bone samples from two Eastern Zhou sites (30 from Xiyasi and 16 from Changxinyuan) as well as 23 samples from the Middle Yangshao site of Guanjia. One Changxinyuan sample and two Guanjia samples were excluded from the analysis because of low collagen yield. Previously reported data from the Jiangzhai, Shijia, Xipo, and Xishan archaeological sites (n = 109) (9–12) were also included in the analysis (Fig. 2, Dataset S1,andSI Appendix,Table Fig. 1. Geographical locations of the archaeological sites used in the study. S1). Isotopic composition of the Eastern Zhou human bone col- 郑韩故城新郑 (1) Ancient City of Zheng Han ( ) and contemporary Xinzheng ( ). lagen is significantly different from that of Yangshao samples for Eastern Zhou sites (771–221 BC): (2) Xiyasi (西亚斯; 34.40° N, 113.76° E), (3) δ13 δ13 = − − ‰ = × 畅馨园天利 both C values [median (Mdn) C 11.2 vs. 8.8 , P 5.5 Changxinyuan ( ; 34.38° N, 113.74° E), and (4) Tianli ( ; 34.37° N, −12 = − = ‰ 113.74° E). Yangshao: (5) Jiangzhai (姜寨; 4790–3360 BC; 34.37° N, 109.22° E), 10 , Z 6.5, exact Wilcoxon test (EWT), SDE.Zhou 2.1 , = ‰ δ15 δ15 = ‰ (6) Shijia (史家; ∼3938–3375 BC; 34.25° N, 108.18° E), (7) Xipo (西坡; 3300– SDYangshao 1.4 ]and N values [Mdn N 7.7 vs. 8.7 , 2900 BC; 34.50° N, 110.66° E), (8) Guanjia (关家; 4000–3500 BC; 35.04° N, P = 0.003, Z = −2.93, EWT, SDE.Zhou = 1.0‰,SDYangshao = 112.00° E), and (9) Xishan (西山; 4500–3800 BC; 34.90° N, 113.53° E). 1.3‰]; 12 of 45 Eastern Zhou bone samples display more negative δ13C values than any of 130 Yangshao samples, indicating a mixed C3/C4 diet. Significant correlation between δ13Candδ15Nvaluesin recovered from Late Neolithic and Bronze Age archaeological sites the Eastern Zhou sample (Spearman’scorrelationρ = 0.61, P = 8.74 × − was persistently low compared with remains of indigenous millets 10 6) suggests that either consumption of C3 plants was associated (15, 22, 23). Domesticated soybeans (Glycine max)oftheLeguminosae with a lower proportion of animal products in the diet during family also first appeared during the Late Neolithic and became Eastern Zhou or C3 and C4 staple cereals had different δ15Nvalues.

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