Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Reconstructing past subsistence patterns on Zhongba Site using stable carbon and oxygen isotopes of fossil tooth enamel

  • Published:
Chinese Science Bulletin

Abstract

The oxygen and carbon isotopic ratios in human and animal tooth enamel were measured to reconstruct the subsistence patterns on Zhongba Site between 2400 and 4200 aBP. The results indicate that human consumed chiefly C4 resources, such as millet, and the C3 plants, such as rice and wheat, constituted only a small fraction of the human diets, normally no more than 15%. There are significant differences in food sources between human and pig, and the percentages of C3 plants in pig diets were higher than those in human diets. But the δ 13C values of pig partially overlap those of human, demonstrating some similarities in their food sources. The differences in water sources between human and pig are significant. There are significant differences in food and water sources between cattle and deer. This indicates that the two kinds of mammals subsisted in different niches. But their δ 13C values also partially overlap each other, suggesting some similarities in their food sources. There are both significant differences in mean δ 13C and δ 18O values between the omnivores, human and pig and the herbivores, cattle and deer, implying significant differences in food and water sources between the two categories. During the period the dietary habits of human had not changed, but the pig breeding strategies had changed, from breeding in house to breeding in confinement, and the proportion of C3 plants in pig food increased with time. The scope of human migration had been considerably large by the Warring States because of the development of productive forces.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Bryant J D, Froelich P N. A model of oxygen isotope fractionation in body water of large mammals. Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 1995, 59: 4523–4537

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Schoeninger M J, Reeser H, Hallin K. Paleoenvironment of Australopithecus anamensis at Allia Bay, East Turkana, Kenya: evidence from mammalian herbivore enamel stable isotopes. J Anthropol Archaeol, 2003, 22: 200–207

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Schoeninger M J, Hallin K, Reeser H, et al. Isotopic alteration of mammalian tooth enamel.International. J Osteoarchaeol, 2003, 13: 11–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Newesely H. Fossil bone apatite. Appl Geochem, 1989, 4: 233–245

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Ayliffe L K, Chivas A R, Leakey M G. The retention of primary oxygen isotope composition of fossil elephant skeletal phosphate. Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 1994, 58: 5291–5298

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Antoine Z, Christophe L, Simon M F. Diagenesis and the reconstruction of paleoenvironments: A method to restore original δ 18O values of carbonate and phosphate from fossil tooth enamel. Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 2004, 68: 2245–2258

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Hoppe K A. Isotopic variability, herd structure, and migration patterns of Late Pleistocene mammoths from multiple death assemblages. Paleobiology, 2004, 30: 129–145

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Lee-Thorp J A, Merwe N J. Carbon isotope analysis of fossil bone apatite. South African J Sci, 1987, 83: 712–715

    Google Scholar 

  9. Merwe N J, Medina E. Photosynthesis and 13C/12C ratios in Amazon rain forests. Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 1989, 53: 1091–1094

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Wright L E, Schwarcz H P. Stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in human tooth enamel: identifying breastfeeding and weaning in prehistory. Am J Phys Anthropol, 1998, 106: 1–18

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Luz B, Kolodny Y. Oxygen isotope variations in phosphate of biogenic apatites: IV. Mammal teeth and bones. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 1985, 75: 29–36

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Zhu C, Zheng C G, Ma C M, et al. Identifying paleoflood deposits archived in Zhongba Site, the Three Gorges reservoir region of the Yangtze River, China. Chin Sci Bull, 2005, 50(21): 2493–2504

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Yi Sangheon, Yoshiki S, ZHAO Quanhong et al. Vegetation andclimate changes in the Changjiang (Yangzi River) Delta, China, during the past 13000 years inferred from pollen records. Quat Sci Rev, 2003, 22: 1501–1519

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Flad R K. Specialized Salt Production and Changing Social Structure at the Prehistoric Site of Zhongba in the Eastern Sichuan Basin, China. Dissertation for the Doctoral Degree. Los Angeles: University of California, 2004. 235–270

    Google Scholar 

  15. Wang Y, Cerling T E, MacFadden B J. Fossil horses and carbon isotopes: new evidence for Cenozoic dietary, habitat, and ecosystem changes in North America. Paleogeogr, Paleoclimatol, Paleoecol, 1994, 107: 269–279

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Paul L K, Kathryn A H, David W. The isotopic ecology of late Pleistocene mammals in North America. Part 1. Florida. Chem Geol, 1998, 152: 119–138

    Google Scholar 

  17. Cerling T E, Harris J M, Ambrose S H, et al. Dietary and environmental reconstruction with stable isotope analyses of herbivore tooth enamel from the Miocene locality of Fort Ternan, Kenya J Human Evol, 1997, 33: 635–650

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Merwe N J, Thackeray J F, Lee-Thorp J A, et al. The carbon isotope ecology and diet of Australopithecus africanus at Sterkfontein, South Africa. J Human Evol, 2003, 44: 581–597

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Bryant J D, Koch P L, Froelich P N, et al. Oxygen isotope partitioning between phosphate and carbonate in mammalian apatite. Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 1996, 60: 5145–5148

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Krigbaum J. Neolithic subsistence patterns in northern Borneo reconstructed with stable carbon isotopes of enamel, J Anthropol Archaeol, 2003, 22: 292–304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Sponheimer M, Lee-Thorp J A. Oxygen Isotopes in Enamel Carbonate and their Ecological Significance J Archaeol Sci, 1999, 26: 723–728

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Iacumin P, Nikolaev V, Genoni L, et al. Stable isotope analyses of mammal skeletal remains of Holocene age from European Russia: A way to trace dietary and environmental changes. Geobios, 2004, 37: 37–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. White C D, Pohl E D, Schwarcz H P, et al. Isotopic Evidence for Maya Patterns of Deer and Dog Use at Preclassic Colha. J Archaeol Sci, 2001, 28: 89–107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Pechenkina E A, Ambrose S H, Ma X L, et al. Reconstructing northern Chinese Neolithic subsistence practices by isotopic analysis. J Archaeol Sci, 2005, 32: 1176–1189

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Abdulla A. Stable carbon isotope analysis of human tooth enamel from the Bronze Age cemetery of Ya’amoun in Northern Jordan. J Archaeol Sci, 2004, 31: 1693–1698

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Hu Y, He D, Dong Y, et al. Stable carbon isotope analysis of human bones from the Xigongqiao Site, Tengzhou, Shangdong. Quat Sci, 2005, 25(5): 561–567

    Google Scholar 

  27. Masao M, Akira M, Naotaka I. Patterns of prehistoric boar Sus scrofa domestication,and inter-islands pig trading across the East China Sea,as determined by carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis. Chem Geol, 2005. 218: 91–102

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences of Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210093, China

    XiaoSi Tian, Cheng Zhu, ChunMei Ma, Qian Yin, Qing Zhu & Wei Shi

  2. Chizhou Normal University, Chizhou, 247100, China

    XiaoSi Tian & XinWang Xu

  3. Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Chengdu, 610041, China

    ZhiBin Sun

Authors
  1. XiaoSi Tian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Cheng Zhu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. XinWang Xu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. ChunMei Ma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. ZhiBin Sun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Qian Yin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Qing Zhu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Wei Shi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cheng Zhu.

Additional information

Supported by the Key Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 90411015), the University Doctoral Foundation (Grant No. 20050284011), the Foundation of Important Basic Research at Nanjing University (Grant No. 0209005206), the Open Foundation of the State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology from the Institute of Earth Environment, CAS (Grant No. SKLLQG0503), the Physical Geography of “985” Items and the Test Foundation of Modern Analyses Center of Nanjing University (Grant No. 0209001309)

About this article

Cite this article

Tian, X., Zhu, C., Xu, X. et al. Reconstructing past subsistence patterns on Zhongba Site using stable carbon and oxygen isotopes of fossil tooth enamel. Chin. Sci. Bull. 53 (Suppl 1), 87–94 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-008-5001-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-008-5001-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation