A study of food remains found on ancient pottery shows what Chinese people ate during the Neolithic period.
Analysis of ancient carbonized material (foodcrust) on pottery found in the Taihu Lake region of eastern China has revealed the consumption of rice, seafood, and the southward spread and cultivation of millet in the 4th millennium BC.
The study, conducted by researchers from the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing Museum and Capital Normal University, provides evidence to understand the food strategies of ancient people in the late Neolithic around Lake Taihu.
In the study, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, the researchers analyzed 57 pottery sherds containing food shells, mostly dating to the Songze cultural period. They used a lipid analysis platform (including gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, gas chromatography-burning isotope ratio mass spectrometry, etc.) and identified compounds preserved in the food shells attached to the inner wall of the pots.
According to the researchers, these food shells contained compounds derived from starch crops such as rice and millet, as well as freshwater and seafood oils, fats from non-ruminant and ruminant animals.
Millet was found in some samples from the Songze culture period, representing the first discovery of millet remains in prehistoric sites in the Lake Taihu region. This discovery suggests that millet had a new southward transmission route and that millet must have been transferred to the Lake Taihu region before 5800 BC.
Muscle proteins from large yellow croaker and mandarin fish were detected in some samples, as well as mammalian collagen proteins from wild Caprinae and an unsequenced Perissodactyla species. Marine fish remains (large yellow croaker) from this period were discovered for the first time.
The researchers also show that some of the pottery was used to cook a variety of animal and plant materials, indicating its versatile use.
This study provides direct evidence for the exploitation of animal and plant resources in Neolithic East China, including freshwater products, marine fish, rice and millet, and reveals a diet of rice and fish.
Compared to lipid analysis, proteomic analysis offers greater precision in species and tissue identification. These two methods provided complementary insights into the dietary strategies of ancient humans. “The application of lipid analysis in Chinese archaeology is still in its infancy, but it will undoubtedly support the development of Chinese archaeology and enhance ancient civilization research,” said lead researcher Professor YANG Yimin from UCAS.
Cover photo credit: Artem Maltsev