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Multipurpose animal utilization underpinned early Bronze Age subsistence of an oasis in an arid area of northwestern China

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Abstract

The dispersal and development of pastoralism during the Bronze Age profoundly influenced human livelihoods and adaptability to diverse environments in northwestern China. Although diachronic changes in the composition of animal resources have been discussed, the specific utilization form of these resources remains unclear due to the lack of age-class and sex ratio data for inferring population structure. Here, we report new zooarchaeological data from the Haizang site dated between 4000 and 3500 cal. yr BP in an oasis in northwestern China’s Hexi Corridor. The 7092 identified animal remains are dominated by sheep/goat (53.44%) and cattle (15.61%), supplemented by pig (11.96%) and wildlife (11.11%), representing the largest animal remains assemblage in this area thus far. The mortality age profiles of sheep/goat and cattle remains show that domesticated ruminants were utilized for multiple purposes, implying the introduction of livestock utilization knowledge alongside these species. During this stage, the reliance of local subsistence on ruminant pastoralism was geographically varied in and around the Hexi Corridor, although these areas shared similar Qijia cultural phenomena. We argue that ancient inhabitants of Haizang took a more ruminant-focused and multipurpose animal utilization strategy, which alleviated the survival pressure caused by colder and drier climate in the global context of ‘4.2 ka BP event’ and underpinned local social development. The acceleration of trans-regional exchange across Eurasia during the early Bronze Age provided the paramount material and knowledge for this transformation.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41825001), the National Social Science Fund of China (No. 21CKG011), and Gansu historical and cultural research and communication special project (No. 2023ZD007). The authors express their gratitude to the excavation team from Gansu Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, and to Dr. Zhipeng Li at Institute of Archaeology, CASS for his very kind guide at the initial stage of pig age-class analysis.

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  1. Gansu Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Lanzhou, 730000, People’s Republic of China

    Guoke Chen & Yishi Yang

  2. MOE Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems, College of Earth & Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, People’s Republic of China

    Linyao Du, Menghan Qiu, Yongxiu Lu & Guanghui Dong

  3. School of History and Culture, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, People’s Republic of China

    Guoke Chen & Lele Ren

  4. School of Geography and Tourism, Zhaotong University, Zhaotong, 657000, People’s Republic of China

    Guanghui Dong

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Contributions

G.C. and Y.Y. led the excavation of Haizang. G.C., L.D. and G.D. designed research. L.D., L.R. and Y.L. performed research. L.D. analyzed data and performed visualization. L.D and G.C. prepared original draft preparation. All authors participated in discussion and manuscript revision.

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Chen, G., Du, L., Yang, Y. et al. Multipurpose animal utilization underpinned early Bronze Age subsistence of an oasis in an arid area of northwestern China. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 16, 66 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-024-01968-9

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