Rowan Flad

Early wheat in China: Results from new studies at Donghuishan in the Hexi Corridor

The earliest direct dates of wheat in East Asia come from Donghuishan in Gansu Province, China. Few other dates of wheat in East Asia are direct dates. The previous direct dates at Donghuishan were obtained from wheat without secure context. New samples were taken from a stratigraphic profile at Donghuishan and directly dated. The wheat remains are earlier than any other directly dated wheat east of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, but considerably later than the previously dated specimen from the same site. These new dates, from the early second millennium BC, are the earliest evidence of significant wheat and barley production and show that the Hexi Corridor played a critical role in the introduction of wheat to China.

Pig domestication in ancient China

The pig appears to have been among the earliest domesticated animals in China, with evidence for pig domestication at Cishan from 8000 BP. The authors propose a model for the development of animal domestication.

Zooarcheological evidence for animal domestication in northwest China

Abstract The history of prehistoric domesticated animal exploitation in the northwestern areas of modern China is complex and involves different processes for each of the various animals that have been documented. This chapter comprehensively summarizes the zooarchaeological evidence for animal domestication in this region and summarizes our current understanding of dog, pig, cattle, water buffalo, yak, sheep/goat, camel, donkey, and horse exploitation.

Meat-acquisition Patterns in the Neolithic Yangzi River Valley, China

The authors provide an overview of animal exploitation in the Chinese Neolithic, emphasising regional differences in meat procurement strategies. While the Yellow river peoples turned from hunting wild animals to the rearing of pigs, dogs, sheep and cattle during the Neolithic, the peoples of the Yangzi valley continued to rely on an abundant supply of wild creatures into their Bronze Age. Their staples were deer, fish and birds and there was a special relationship with fish that extended even to the grave.

Divination and Power : A Multiregional View of the Development of Oracle Bone Divination in Early China

Divination is a ritual practice frequently employed as a source of social and political power. Elaborate forms of divination can be crucial to state control and have widespread influence. In ancient China as elsewhere, divination was the domain of ritual specialists who used their skills to mediate uncertainty, but the role that these specialists played in society differed considerably from one place to another. An examination of divination remains from the Neolithic, Shang, and Zhou periods of China suggests that more elaborate divination procedures are associated with bureaucratic institutions as a source of state power.

Is poverty in our genes? A critique of Ashraf and Galor, "The 'out of Africa' hypothesis, human genetic diversity, and comparative economic development," American Economic Review (Forthcoming)

We present a critique of a paper written by two economists, Quamrul Ashraf and Oded Galor, which is forthcoming in the American Economic Review and which was uncritically highlighted in Science magazine. Their paper claims there is a causal effect of genetic diversity on economic success, positing that too much or too little genetic diversity constrains development. In particular, they argue that “the high degree of diversity among African populations and the low degree of diversity among Native American populations have been a detrimental force in the development of these regions.” We demonstrate that their argument is seriously flawed on both factual and methodological grounds. As economists and other social scientists begin exploring newly available genetic data, it is crucial to remember that nonexperts broadcasting bold claims on the basis of weak data and methods can have profoundly detrimental social and political effects.

Ritual or Structure? Analysis of Burial Elaboration at Dadianzi, Inner Mongolia

For an analysis of the Early Bronze Age cemetery site at Dadianzi in Inner Mongolia a model is proposed which combines aspects of various anthropological approaches to burial studies. The effectiveness of this model is demonstrated using measures that assess the elaboration of individual graves at the site. These values are used to examine political and social action in the context of mortuary ritual. The evidence suggests that the social system associated with these burials underwent a change over time from one in which individuals used the burial ritual as a political arena for negotiating social relationships and power to one in which the funeral process acted as a mechanism by which those with institutionalized power and prestige could reify the existing social structure.

Evaluating Fish and Meat Salting at Prehistoric Zhongba, China

Abstract Cultural deposits at Zhongba, one of the most important archaeological sites in the Three Gorges Dam reservoir area in central China, provide a comprehensive perspective on diachronic changes from the late Neolithic through the end of the Bronze Age, or from ca. 2500 to 200 B.C. (calibrated radiocarbon years). Excavations produced large quantities of pottery, stone tools, small finds, and animal bones, which document the changes in the organization of specialized salt production and associated activities. The occurrence of large numbers of animal bones at a salt production site suggests that the salting of fish and mammal meat may have taken place there. This study provides one of the first detailed discussions of a faunal assemblage from this region of the world, allowing for preliminary tests of the “preservation hypothesis” through analyses of prevalence, diversity, and part representation of various taxa. Some, but not all, of the expected patterns consistent with the hypothesis of fish and meat salting were identified. It is clear that the increase in the importance of fish and in the diversity of mammals at Zhongba coincides with the increase in the scale of salt production.

Survey, Excavation, and Geophysics at Songjiaheba—A Small Bronze Age Site in the Chengdu Plain

Archaeological survey in the Chengdu Plain of Sichuan Province has revealed settlement patterns surrounding Late Neolithic walled sites, including large numbers of small settlements from the Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Han Dynasty eras. Here geophysical survey and excavation at one of these small-scale sites dating to the Middle Bronze Age are reported, showing for the first time the value of high-resolution geophysics for evaluating site size and integrity in the Chengdu region.

Radiocarbon Dates and Technological Change in Salt Production at the Site of Zhongba in the Three Gorges, China

The prehistoric chronology of the Three Gorges region along the Yangzi River in China has only become the focus of significant archaeological research in the last decade. The site of Zhongba is one of the most significant sites among those recently studied. Thirty-two radiocarbon dates produced by the C-14 laboratory at Peking University, and five additional dates from the Beta Analytic laboratory in the United States show a clear chronological profile of the activity periods at the site of Zhongba. This radiocarbon profile clarifies two very important issues related to the prehistory of the Three Gorges region. The dates anchor an emerging ceramic-based relative chronology in a series of stratigraphically associated absolute dates. This article discusses these results and suggests explanations for several anomalous dates. The sequence demonstrates the need to reassess radiocarbon sequences by means of ceramic seriation. The dates also demonstrate that three different vessel classes, which dominate the ceramic assemblage at Zhongba and which are believed to have been used in salt production at the site, date to three chronologically distinct phases of activity. The differences among the three types suggest that they represent a sequence of technological changes in the process of salt production at the site.