Khan Muslim, Yao Ling, Yang Yuzhang, Tao Yang, Li Weiya, Zhang Dewei, Luo Yunbing, Zhang Juzhong
Department for the History of Science and Scientific Archaeology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
Hubei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Wuhan, China.
Front Plant Sci. 2022 Oct 18;13:1009452. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.1009452. eCollection 2022.
The site of Qujialing experienced a long, sustained process of the development of Neolithic culture in the Jianghan Plain, with a period of some1600 years. Our previous studies based on macrofossil remains and phytoliths revealed that rice () from Qujialing was already domesticated, and millet ( and ) had also been spread into the site since the Youziling Culture period (5800-5100 BP). Nevertheless, no direct evidence has been provided regarding the daily consumed plant foods, especially plant foods obtained by gathering, throughout the site occupation. This paper thus examines pottery sherds (n=41) associated with culinary practices from Qujialing with starch grain analysis. Apart from starch grains from rice and millet, the results indicate that job's tears (), lotus roots (), tubers possibly from Chinese yam (), acorns ( sp.), and beans ( sp. or/and sp.) were consumed by the ancient Qujialing people, within job's tears and lotus roots were not discovered before in the macrofossil remains and phytoliths. Combining the starch data and multiple lines of evidence from macrofossil remains and phytoliths, it is suggested that rice was among the most frequently consumed plant foods since the first occupation phase at Qujialing, while acorns could have been gradually replaced by other agricultural products (i.e., rice) and became less important food ingredients, especially when agriculture was more developed in the last occupation phase at Qujialing. These novel findings not only complement our previous research by providing the first line of evidence of paleodiet in the Jianghan Plain from the perspective of starch grain analysis but also delivers a better understanding of the characterized dietary trends and agricultural development in the research region.
屈家岭遗址经历了江汉平原新石器文化漫长而持续的发展过程，历时约1600年。我们之前基于大化石遗迹和植硅体的研究表明，屈家岭的水稻（）已被驯化，并且自油子岭文化时期（公元前5800 - 5100年）以来，粟（和）也已传入该遗址。然而，对于整个遗址存续期间日常食用的植物性食物，尤其是通过采集获得的植物性食物，尚未提供直接证据。因此，本文通过淀粉粒分析研究了屈家岭与烹饪活动相关的陶片（n = 41）。除了水稻和粟的淀粉粒外，结果表明，古代屈家岭人食用了薏仁（）、莲藕（）、可能来自山药的块茎（）、橡子（栎属种）和豆类（豆科种或/和豆科种），其中薏仁与莲藕在大化石遗迹和植硅体中此前未被发现。结合淀粉数据以及大化石遗迹和植硅体的多方面证据表明，自屈家岭首次有人居住阶段以来，水稻就是最常食用的植物性食物之一，而橡子可能已逐渐被其他农产品（即水稻）取代，成为不太重要的食物成分，尤其是在屈家岭最后居住阶段农业更为发达的时候。这些新发现不仅从淀粉粒分析的角度为江汉平原古饮食提供了首个证据，补充了我们之前的研究，还让我们对研究区域独特的饮食趋势和农业发展有了更好的理解。
