Early transhumance recorded by the microfossils of sheep coprolites in the Tongtian Cave, China

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2024.105973

IVPP-IR

	Early transhumance recorded by the microfossils of sheep coprolites in the Tongtian Cave, China
	Zhang, Yaping 1,2; Yu, Jianjun 3; Zhao, Keliang1,2 ; Liu, Junchi 1; Chen, Guanhan 1; Li, Xuan 4; Hu, Krishna 1,2; Zhou, Xinying1,2 ; Li, Xiaoqiang1,2
	2024-05-01
发表期刊	JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE
ISSN	0305-4403
卷号	165 页码:9
通讯作者	Zhao, Keliang(zhaokeliang@ivpp.ac.cn)
摘要	Being a crucial subsistence strategy for the steppe communities, transhumant pastoralism has played a pivotal role in facilitating early communication of East and West civilizations. However, despite its significance, there remains a paucity of research regarding how and when transhumant pastoralism emerged at the eastern end of the Eurasian Steppe. Situated at the crossroads of East-West exchanges, the Tongtian Cave site has yielded a diverse range of archaeological materials, including sheep bones, sheep coprolites, and the earliest remains of wheat and barley in China. In order to explore the herding strategies employed at the Tongtian Cave, the microfossil contents from site's stratigraphy and the sheep coprolites are investigated in this study. Analytic results reveal the presence of elm tree pollen and probably phytoliths within the coprolites, suggesting that the site once served as a spring pasture. Wheat remains recovered from the same stratum as the coprolites date the transhumant practice at the site as far back as ca. 4300 B.P., establishing the Tongtian Cave as not only the earliest pastoralist site in China but likely also in the eastern Eurasian Steppe. Overall, our studies of the Tongtian Cave materials provide crucial evidence that deepens our understandings of the timing and mechanism of the eastward expansion of transhumant pastoralism across prehistoric Eurasia. The methodological potential of pollen and fungal spore analyses in revealing the seasonality of ancient site use is also explored in this article.
关键词	Transhumance Tongtian Cave Sheep coprolites Sporormiella Microfossils
DOI	10.1016/j.jas.2024.105973
关键词[WOS]	BRONZE-AGE ; MOUNTAINS ; PASTORALISTS ; SETTLEMENT ; TRICHURIS ; WHIPWORM ; SITE
收录类别	SCI
语种	英语
资助项目	National Key Research and Development Program of China[2022YFF0801502] ; National Key Research and Development Program of China[2022YFF0801102] ; National Natural Science Foundation of China[42072212] ; National Natural Science Foundation of China[T2192952]
项目资助者	National Key Research and Development Program of China ; National Natural Science Foundation of China
WOS研究方向	Anthropology ; Archaeology ; Geology
WOS类目	Anthropology ; Archaeology ; Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
WOS记录号	WOS:001224306100001
出版者	ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
引用统计
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.205/handle/311034/23646
专题	中国科学院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所
通讯作者	Zhao, Keliang
作者单位	1.Chinese Acad Sci, Key Lab Vertebrate Evolut & Human Origins, Inst Vertebrate Paleontol & Paleoanthropol, Beijing 100044, Peoples R China 2.Univ Chinese Acad Sci, Dept Earth Sci, Beijing 100049, Peoples R China 3.Xinjiang Inst Cultural Rel & Archaeol, Urumqi 830011, Peoples R China 4.Univ Sydney, Dept Archaeol, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Zhang, Yaping,Yu, Jianjun,Zhao, Keliang,et al. Early transhumance recorded by the microfossils of sheep coprolites in the Tongtian Cave, China[J]. JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE,2024,165:9.
APA	Zhang, Yaping.,Yu, Jianjun.,Zhao, Keliang.,Liu, Junchi.,Chen, Guanhan.,...&Li, Xiaoqiang.(2024).Early transhumance recorded by the microfossils of sheep coprolites in the Tongtian Cave, China.JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE,165,9.
MLA	Zhang, Yaping,et al."Early transhumance recorded by the microfossils of sheep coprolites in the Tongtian Cave, China".JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SCIENCE 165(2024):9.