Flax use in ancient China: Archaeobotany evidence from the Northwest China

doi:10.1177/09596836251340834

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	Flax use in ancient China: Archaeobotany evidence from the Northwest China
	Kuang, Ruijie 1,2; Ren, Guan 3; Ke, Junsheng 4,5; Wei, Jian 6; Liu, Bingbing 7; Jiang, Hongen 2
	2025-06-19
发表期刊	HOLOCENE
ISSN	0959-6836
页码	10
通讯作者	Jiang, Hongen(jianghongen@ucas.ac.cn)
摘要	Flax (Linum usitatissimum), a versatile annual herbaceous plant, can be categorized into three types based on phenotypic traits: oil, fiber, and oil-fiber varieties. With a domestication history spanning nearly 9000 years, flax remains one of the most significant fiber and oil crops in human history. Given the limited archaeological discoveries of flax remains in China, recent findings at two sites provide valuable insights into its historical utilization. At the Tangchaodun Ancient City site (seventh-14th centuries AD) in the northeast Qitai County, Xinjiang, 69 carbonized flax seeds were discovered. AMS14C dating places these seeds in the late 10th century AD. This is the largest number of flax seeds unearthed from China to date. Additionally, 13 desiccated flax seeds from nine silk "grain bags" were excavated in the tomb of King Murong Zhi of the Tuyuhun Kingdom (AD 691) from the Chashancun cemetery in Wuwei, Gansu Province, marking it the earliest credible flax remains discovered in China. Principal component analysis (PCA) of 18 modern flax varieties (oil, fiber, and oil-fiber types) indicates that these ancient seeds share morphological similarities with fiber and oil-fiber varieties. While the precise function of flax at Tangchaodun remains uncertain, it may have been used for fiber production or religious purposes. In contrast, flax seeds in the tomb of King Murong Zhi, co-discovered alongside other crops such as hemp, millet, broomcorn millet, muskmelon, buckwheat, hulled barley, and barley, were likely used primarily for fiber and/or oil-fiber flax, consistent with records from the records documented in Wooden Slips of the Han Dynasty. This study provides a new understanding of the role of flax in the economic and social life in ancient China.
关键词	archaeobotany Chashancun cemetery flax Linum usitatissimum L. silk road Tangchaodun Ancient city
DOI	10.1177/09596836251340834
关键词[WOS]	ASTANA CEMETERIES ; OIL ; CULTIVATION ; XINJIANG ; FIBER ; FOOD
收录类别	SCI
语种	英语
资助项目	National Social Science Foundation for Young Scholars of China[21CKG016] ; National Science Foundation of China[42377443] ; China Institute for History of Chinese Medicine and Medical Literature[CI2023E002T-04]
项目资助者	National Social Science Foundation for Young Scholars of China ; National Science Foundation of China ; China Institute for History of Chinese Medicine and Medical Literature
WOS研究方向	Physical Geography ; Geology
WOS类目	Geography, Physical ; Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
WOS记录号	WOS:001511420200001
出版者	SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD
引用统计
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.205/handle/311034/24610
专题	中国科学院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所
通讯作者	Jiang, Hongen
作者单位	1.Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Vertebrate Paleontol & Paleoanthropol, Key Lab Vertebrate Evolut & Human Origins, Beijing, Peoples R China 2.Univ Chinese Acad Sci, Dept Archaeol & Anthropol, 19(A) Yuquan Rd, Beijing 100049, Peoples R China 3.Renmin Univ China, Dept Archaeol & Museum Studies, Beijing, Peoples R China 4.Lanzhou Univ, State Key Lab Herbage Improvement & Grassland Agro, Lanzhou, Peoples R China 5.Lanzhou Univ, Coll Ecol, Lanzhou, Peoples R China 6.Minzu Univ China, Inst Frontier Archaeol, Sch Ethnol & Sociol, Beijing, Peoples R China 7.Gansu Prov Inst Cultural Rel & Archaeol, Lanzhou, Peoples R China
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Kuang, Ruijie,Ren, Guan,Ke, Junsheng,et al. Flax use in ancient China: Archaeobotany evidence from the Northwest China[J]. HOLOCENE,2025:10.
APA	Kuang, Ruijie,Ren, Guan,Ke, Junsheng,Wei, Jian,Liu, Bingbing,&Jiang, Hongen.(2025).Flax use in ancient China: Archaeobotany evidence from the Northwest China.HOLOCENE,10.
MLA	Kuang, Ruijie,et al."Flax use in ancient China: Archaeobotany evidence from the Northwest China".HOLOCENE (2025):10.