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The first archaeobotanical evidence of Medicago sativa L. in China: hay fodder for livestock

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Abstract

Three piles of shoots, leaves, and pods were discovered in the Zagunluk cemetery (about AD 100–400 based on 14C dating), Xinjiang, NW China. Morphological characteristics assigned the specimens to Medicago sativa L. (alfalfa). The preserved condition of alfalfa remains unambiguously indicate that the plant was of great economic importance and used as hay fodder at that time. This study provides the first systematic archeobotanical data about the forage utilization of alfalfa and the earliest relevant physical material so far known in China. Our results also help us to understand the dispersal of alfalfa across the Eurasia via the southern Xinjiang region and the cultural exchange information between China and the West.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the NSFC (41672171) for financial support, and to members of the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology in UCAS for useful discussions. We would also thank two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Archaeology, School of History and Culture, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, 030006, China

    Tao Chen

  2. Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum, Urumchi, 830091, China

    Bo Wang

  3. Institut für Vor- und Frühgeschichtliche Archäologie und Provinzialrömische Archäologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 80799, Munich, Germany

    Robert C. Power

  4. Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103, Leipzig, Germany

    Robert C. Power

  5. Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Hongen Jiang

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  1. Tao Chen
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  2. Bo Wang
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  4. Hongen Jiang
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Correspondence to Hongen Jiang.

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Chen, T., Wang, B., Power, R.C. et al. The first archaeobotanical evidence of Medicago sativa L. in China: hay fodder for livestock. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 12, 2 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-019-00957-7

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