Animal procurement in the Late Neolithic of the Yangtze River Basin: Integrating the fish remains into a case-study from Tianluoshan Ying Zhang University College London Institute of Archaeology PhD. 2014 Funded by KWOKS Foundation, CCKF, UCCL, and UCL Graduate School DECLARATION I, Ying Zhang, 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 aims to investigate the subsistence economy in the late Neolithic Lower Yangtze River region, by studying the faunal remains from Tianluoshan (4,900- 4,000 Cal BC), and integrating with the other environmental data. Considering that the excavation at Tianluoshan is still proceeding, this research only includes the animal remains which were collected until the year of 2010. There are mainly two categories of animal remains in the Tianluoshan assemblage, fish and mammals, which are analysed separately due to the differences in retrieval strategies and research methodologies. The study of fish remains is emphasised, as it is a new area in the archaeological research about this area, and may contribute to broadening our understandings about subsistence. Standard zooarchaeological methods and approaches are applied in the study of both remains. The methods of body length reconstruction and seasonality assessment using skeletal parts are used to study three predominant fish in the assemblage, snakehead (Channa argus), crucian carp (Carassius auratus) and common carp (Capio capio), to infer the fishing strategies and scheduling. In addition, an extra step of building up a fish reference collection was necessary for this research. Three major mammalian species are studied in detail, which are sika deer, muntjac and pig. Cull patterns, body part representation and body dimensions are used to analyse them, however, for different purposes. As the most intensively captured cervids at Tianluoshan, sika deer and muntjac are used to interpret the hunting activities. On the other hand, the analysis of pig remains at Tianluoshan aims to identify its domestication status, since the process of pig domestication in the Lower Yangtze River region is still under debate. Finally, I will attempt to place the food resources back in the ecosystem, in order to interpret the subsistence economy with each element placed in a broader background, e.g. the interaction and inter-relationship between the use of mammals, fish, plants and environment. This study will contribute to understanding the subsistence economy of the middle Neolithic Age in the Lower Yangtze River region, especially regarding the use of aquatic resources and the development of pig domestication. 2 Contents List of figures FIGURE 2.1 THE LANDFORMS OF THE NINGBO-SHAOXING PLAIN AREA AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF EARLY TO MIDDLE NEOLITHIC SITES .............................................................................................. 20 FIGURE 2.2 GEOMORPHOLOGICAL MAP OF THE AREA AROUND TIANLUOSHAN ................................. 21 FIGURE 2.3 THE VEGETATION RECONSTRUCTION OF HEMUDU CULTURE PERIOD IN THE SOUTH OF HANGZHOU BAY AREA, INCLUDING NINGBO-SHAOXING PLAIN ................................................... 25 FIGURE 2.4 MAXIMUM MARINE TRANSGRESSION DURING THE HOLOCENE IN THE CHINA SEA. .......... 27 FIGURE 2.5 PADDY FIELD AT CHUODUN, LATE MAJIABANG PHASE, AND AT CHENGHU, SONGZE CULTURE ........................................................................................................................................ 34 FIGURE 2.6 THE DISTRIBUTIONAL AREA OF LIANGZHU CULTURE ON THE YANGTZE RIVER DELTA ......... 35 FIGURE 2.7 JADE OBJECTS FROM LIANGZHU CULTURE .......................................................................... 36 FIGURE 2.8 FEATURE AND ARTEFACTS FROM HEMUDU. ........................................................................ 39 FIGURE 2.9 A RECONSTRUCTION OF THE WOODEN PILE-STRUCTURED DWELLING AT HEMUDU ......... 40 FIGURE 2.10 THE PLAN OF TIANLUOSHAN, SHOWING THE AREAS OF THE FOUR SEASONS OF EXCAVATION.. ................................................................................................................................ 42 FIGURE 2.11 THE RADIOCARBON DATES OF TIANLUOSHAN. ................................................................. 43 FIGURE 2.12 DISTRIBUTION OF THE MAJOR FEATURES AT TIANLUOSHAN, SHOWING ONLY THE MAIN EXCAVATION AREA IN 2007 ........................................................................................................... 44 FIGURE 2.13 BIRD VIEW ON THE LOW-LYING WESTERN PART OF THE EXCAVATION AREA, SHOWING DETAILS OF THE FENCES AND LOG. ............................................................................................... 46 FIGURE 2.14 UNDERGROUND PROFILE OF HEMUDU AND DETAILED VIEW ON THE RICE REMAINS ..... 47 FIGURE 2.15 PROPORTION OF PLANT REMAINS FROM SIEVED SAMPLES FROM THE THREE PERIODS AT TIANLUOSHAN .............................................................................................................................. 48 FIGURE 2.16 PROPORTIONS OF WILD, IMMATURE, AND DOMESTICATED RICE SPIKELET BASED FROM THREE SEQUENTIAL PERIODS AT TIANLUOSHAN. ......................................................................... 48 FIGURE 2.17 TWO LAYERS OF RICE GROWING FIELDS AT TIANLUOSHAN, AND THE RELEVANT FARMING TOOLS. ........................................................................................................................................... 50 FIGURE 3.1 THE HOMEPAGE OF THE FISH BONE ONLINE DATABASE BY NOTTINGHAM UNIVERSITY. ... 66 FIGURE 3.2 ANNUAL GROWTH MARKS (ANNULI) ON VERTEBRA, OPERCULUM, SCALE, AND OTOLITH… ...................................................................................................................................................... 72 FIGURE 3.3 THE GROWTH RINGS ON DIFFERENT SKELETAL PARTS OF A 76 CM LONG PIKE CAUGHT IN OCTOBER, FEATURING THE OUTERMOST LAYERS WHICH ARE ALMOST COMPLETED. ................. 75 FIGURE 3.4 THE BODY LENGTH DISTRIBUTION PATTERNS OF COMMON CARP ASAHI IN YAYOI PERIOD, 3 AND IRIE-NAIKO IN JOMON PERIOD. ............................................................................................ 79 FIGURE 3.5 LENGTH FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION (PERCENTAGE) OF POND SMELT (HYPOMESUS OLIDUS) FROM BLACK LAKE, ALASKA, IN JULY AND SEPTEMBER ................................................................ 79 FIGURE 3.6 FISHING GEAR SELECTIVITY MODEL. .................................................................................... 87 FIGURE 3.7 THE BUTCHERING CUT MARKS ............................................................................................ 89 FIGURE 4.1 THREE GROUPS OF FISH REMAINS FROM TIANLUOSHAN.. ................................................. 95 FIGURE 4.2 PHARYNGEAL BONES OF CYPRINIDS AT TIANLUOSHAN. .................................................... 107 FIGURE 4.3 THE COMPARISON OF ANTERIOR ABDOMINAL VERTEBRAE (GROUP 4) OF COMMON CARP, CRUCIAN CARP, CATFISH, AND SNAKEHEAD ............................................................................... 108 FIGURE 4.4 PHARYNGEAL BONE AND THE MEASUREMENTS ON THE OBJECTIVE TOOTH A2. ............. 115 FIGURE 4.5 RIGHT PHARYNGEAL BONE OF CRUCIAN CARP FROM TIANLUOSHAN, AND THE MEASUREMENT DIAGRAM OF A1. .............................................................................................. 117 FIGURE 4.6 MEASUREMENTS ON THE SECOND VERTEBRA OF CRUCIAN CARP.. .................................. 117 FIGURE 4.7 THE CORRESPONDING DISTRIBUTIONS OF CRUCIAN CARP IN H1 AT TIANLUOSHAN ........ 117 FIGURE 4.8 REGRESSION ANALYSIS BETWEEN BODY LENGTH (STANDARD LENGTH) AND THE WIDTH OF SNAKEHEAD BASIOCCIPITAL. ....................................................................................................... 120 FIGURE 4.9 ANNULI ON THE ARTICULATION SURFACE OF MODERN SNAKEHEAD AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SPECIMEN. .................................................................................................... 121 FIGURE 4.10 TOOTH WEAR STAGES OF PIG TEETH ............................................................................... 122 FIGURE 4.11 TOOTH WEAR PATTERNS OF SIKA DEER MOLARS ............................................................ 124 FIGURE 4.12 TOOTH WEAR SCORING SCHEME FOR RED DEER AND FALLOW DEER, SHOWING THE SCORING LOCATIONS AND POINTS ............................................................................................. 125 FIGURE 5.1 THE RELATIVE PROPORTIONS OF THE PREDOMINANT FISH SPECIES AT TIANLUOSHAN IN SEQUENTIAL STAGES. .................................................................................................................. 131 FIGURE 5.2 RELATIVE PROPORTIONS OF FISH AT TIANLUOSHAN. COARSE-SIEVED AND FINE-SIEVED SAMPLES FROM EACH STAGE ARE SEPARATELY CALCULATED. .................................................... 132 FIGURE 5.3 H1 AT EXCAVATION, AND THE RETRIEVED FISH BONES WHICH ARE SORTED BY BODY PART . .................................................................................................................................................... 133 FIGURE 5.4 THE RELATIVE PROPORTIONS OF TAXA IN H1, CALCULATE FROM SUB-SAMPLES WHICH ARE TAKEN FROM THE SORTED VERTEBRAE, HEAD BONES, AND TEETH ........................................... 134 FIGURE 5.5 DEPOSITS FROM THE CONTEXTS ARE PILED UP BY CONTEXT AROUND THE EXCAVATION AREA, WAITING TO BE SIEVED. ...................................................................................................