Animal Subsistence of the Yangshao Period in the Wei River Valley: a Case-Study from the Site of Wayaogou in Shaanxi Province, China
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Animal Subsistence of the Yangshao Period in the Wei River Valley: A Case-Study from the Site of Wayaogou in Shaanxi Province, China Hua Wang Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University College London March 2011 DECLARATION I, Hua Wang, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. 1 ABSTRACT This thesis focuses on the subsistence economy of the Yangshao period in the Wei River Valley, how it changes through time and how it relates to environmental change and changing social complexity. The research is based on faunal analysis at the Wayaogou site (6,500-6,000 BP) in Shaanxi Province, China. Pig and sika deer remains are studied in detail since they dominate the faunal assemblage. For the pig, its domesticated status is documented and its husbandry strategies are explored in detail; for sika deer, human hunting practices are investigated. Based on this, the subsistence system, especially the balance between pig husbandry and sika deer hunting practices, is addressed. Meanwhile, the utilization patterns of animal bones are investigated using contextual analysis, to understand human refuse discard behaviour and residential strategies. Standard zooarchaeological methods and approaches are used in this study. For pig, size change, cull patterns, body part representation, and archaeological evidence is used to infer its domesticated status, husbandry regime and utilization. This study is enhanced by Linear Enamel Hypoplasia (LEH) analysis, which is applied to pigs from Wayaogou and other Neolithic sites in the Wei River valley, to explore further the environmental conditions and husbandry practices. For sika deer, the age structure, size change, body part representation and bone modifications provide information on human hunting strategies and selection, as well as other uses of the animal, such as for bone tools. Spatial analysis is undertaken to investigate the spatial distribution patterns of faunal remains from Wayaogou. Some special depositions and contexts are assessed to infer social meanings and implications of faunal remains. The animal subsistence study is put into a broader context in an attempt to understand the interactions between climate fluctuations, human responses, subsistence strategies and social development and decline throughout the Neolithic in this region. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration 1 Abstract 2 Tableofcontents 3 List of tables 6 List of figures 7 List of appendices 11 Acknowledgements 12 INTRODUCTION 14 CHAPTER 1 A Review of Zooarchaeology and Animal Domestication in China 20 1.1 Critical review of methods and approaches of zooarchaeological research in China 21 1.2 Theories and approaches for the identification of animal domestication 24 1.3 Research on the origins and development of Chinese livestock 35 1.4 Zooarchaeological research themes of the “Yangshao culture” in the Wei River valley 55 1.5 Key research interests and questions 57 CHAPTER 2 Background to the Study Area 60 2.1 Modern physiographic settings of the study area 60 2.2 The Holocene climate and environment in northwest China 62 2.3 The chronology of the Neolithic in the Wei River valley 65 2.4 Previous studies of the “Yangshao culture” in the Wei River valley 66 2.5 Archaeological work at the site of Wayaogou 68 2.6 Brief introduction to comparative sites 73 3 CHAPTER 3 Procedures of Zooarchaeological Analysis 76 3.1 Introduction 76 3.2 Sampling: retrieval and preparation 77 3.3 Sorting and recording 78 3.4 Animal bone identification 81 3.5 Quantification 83 3.6 Taphonomic considerations and recovery bias 84 3.7 Linear enamel hypoplasia 86 CHAPTER 4 Range and Relative Importance of Taxa 89 4.1 Introduction 89 4.2 Relative frequencies of taxa 90 4.3 The ecological diversity analysis 92 4.4 Species spectrum change 106 4.5 Discussion 110 CHAPTER 5 Pig Domestication and Husbandry Strategies 112 5.1 Introduction 112 5.2 Skeletal element representation for pig 113 5.3 Morphometrics of pig 115 5.4 Age profiles 123 5.5 Seasonality of pig slaughtering based on mandible wear stages 135 5.6 Linear enamel hypoplasia analysis 144 5.7 Discussion 158 4 CHAPTER 6 Hunting Practices for Sika Deer 162 6.1 Introduction 162 6.2 Skeletal element representation and the influence of various taphonomic processes 163 6.3 Morphometrics of sika deer 174 6.4 Sex and age profiles 177 6.5 Seasonality of sika deer hunting 191 6.6 Discussion 194 CHAPTER 7 Contextual Patterning: Intra-Site Analysis of Faunal Remains 197 7.1 Research questions 197 7.2 Theory and approaches 198 7.3 Taphonomic variations between different features 200 7.4 Contextual analyses of different types of features 206 7.5 The social implications of the spatial distributions of the features 217 7.6 Discussion and conclusions 220 CHAPTER 8 Discussion and Conclusions 223 8.1 The interaction between people and pigs in ancient China 227 8.2 The animal subsistence strategies of the middle Neolithic in the Wei River valley 231 8.3 Animal subsistence in the broader context: changes in the subsistence strategies through the Neolithic and their relationship to social complexity in the Wei River valley 246 8.4 Conclusions and future research directions 262 BIBLIOGRAPHY 303 5 LIST OF TABLES 2.1 The chronology of the Neolithic period in the Wei River valley 66 4.1 Relative taxonomic abundance at Wayaogou by NISP and NISP% 91 4.2 Generalized feeding strategies and habitat preferences of various species at Wayaogou 98 4.3 Taxonomic Habitat Index (THI) weightings for the large mammal assemblage from Wayaogou 99 4.4 Taxonomic Habitat Index (THI) weightings for the micro-mammal assemblage from Wayaogou 100 5.1 Survivorship for pig based on epiphyseal fusion of skeletal parts at Wayaogou 127 5.2 Tooth eruption and wear stages for pig 133 5.3 Inventory of pig dental material studied for all sites 145 5.4 Average number of individual LEH episodes recorded per tooth cusp 146 6.1 Frequency of pig and sika deer bones showing evidence of having been worked 167 6.2 Survivorship based on epiphyseal fusion for sika deer from Wayaogou 181 6.3 Tooth eruption and replacement in sika deer 184 6.4 Wear stages of mandibular teeth in sika deer from Wayaogou 187 6.5 The seasonality of sika deer based on antlers and skulls from Wayaogou 193 7.1 Number of all specimens (NSP) and number of identified specimens (NISP) from different contexts at Wayaogou 201 7.2 The percentage of burnt bones for various species at Wayaogou 206 7.3 The various taphonomic signatures on the faunal remains for the three groups of pits at Wayaogou 214 8.1 List of metapodia with infections from Wayaogou 239 6 LIST OF FIGURES 1.1 The distribution of sites with evidence of early pig domestication 39 1.2 The distribution of sites with evidence of early Chinese livestock 51 2.1 The landscape of the Wei River valley 61 2.2 The distribution of the Yangshao sites in the Wei River valley 67 2.3 Modern physiographic setting of Wayaogou 70 2.4 Photograph of Wayaogou showing its local setting 71 2.5 Plan of the archaeological features at Wayaogou 73 3.1 The identification of linear enamel hypoplasia 87 4.1 Bamboo rat mandible with polish mark on the molar teeth and around the alveoli 101 4.2 Taxonomic Habitat Index (THI) for small mammals and large mammals from Wayaogou 104 4.3 THI for large mammals and small mammals from Neolithic sites in the Wei River valley 105 4.4 Relative proportions of mammalian taxa from Wayaogou 107 4.5 Diachronic changes in the proportions of pigs, deer and other taxa at Neolithic sites in the Wei River valley 108 5.1 Body part representation for pig at Wayaogou 113 5.2 Scatterplot of % survivorship of pig skeleton parts from Wayaogou against pig bone mineral density values 114 5.3 Comparison of the length and width of the lower M3 of pig from Neolithic sites and early Bronze Age sites in the Wei River Valley 117 5.4 The lengths of lower third molars of Sus from sites across China 118 7 5.5 Standard animal values for pig postcranial bones at Wayaogou 124 5.6 Summary of log size index data for pig from Wayaogou, Lingkou and Quanhucun. 125 5.7 Survivorship curves for pig based on epiphyseal fusion for Wayaogou, compared with the Xipo site 128 5.8 Code for recording pig tooth wear stages 129 5.9 Kill-off patterns for pig from Wayaogou, Xipo and Donglongshan based on tooth eruption and wear 134 5.10 Example of a theoretical distribution of age classes for single farrowing pig population 137 5.11 MWS distribution for pigs from Wayaogou and Quanhucun 138 5.12 Example of a theoretical distribution of age classes for double farrowing pig population 142 5.13 Linear enamel hypoplasia on the lingual surface of mandibular second and third molars of pigs from Wayaogou 145 5.14 Linear enamel hypoplasia index values for all sites studied 147 5.15 Frequency of tooth cusps with LEH presence for four sites studied 149 5.16 Theoretical representation of the occurrence of LEH on the permanent Molars, compared with major events in the life cycle of the primitive domestic pig 151 5.17 Frequency distribution of LEH height per LEH type for pig molars 153 5.18 Schematic representation of the occurrence of LEH, compared with major events in the life cycle of the primitive domestic pig from the Neolithic sites in the Wei River valley 154 6.1 Body part representation for sika deer at Wayaogou 164 6.2 Scatterplot of % survivorship of sika deer skeletal parts from Wayaogou against bone mineral density values for different skeletal