Animal Use Strategies in the Longshan Mountain Region of Northern China during the First Millennium BC: A Zooarchaeological Analysis of Yucun

Abstract

The first millennium BC saw the expansion of the Western Zhou dynasty in its northwestern frontier, alongside the rise and development of the Qin State in the Longshan Mountain region of northern China. Exploring the subsistence practices of these communities is crucial to gaining a better understanding of the social, cultural, and political landscape in this region at the time. While much of the research to date has focused on the Qin people, the subsistence practices of the Zhou people remain poorly understood. In this study, we analyzed animal remains from Yucun, a large settlement site associated with the Zhou people, located to the east of the Longshan Mountain. These animal remains were recovered in the excavation seasons of 2018-2020. Our results show that pigs, dogs, cattle, caprines, and horses, which were the major domestic animals at Yucun, accounted for over 90.8% of the animal remains examined in terms of the number of identified specimens (NISP) and 72.8% in terms of the minimum number of individuals (MNI), with cattle and caprines playing dominant roles. In terms of the taxonomic composition and the mortality profiles of pigs, caprines, and cattle, Yucun shared similarities with Maojiaping and Xishan, two contemporaneous Qin cultural sites located to the west of the Longshan Mountain, and differ from other farming societies in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River valley. Considering the cultural attributes and topographic conditions of these various sites, these findings imply that environmental conditions may have played a more significant role than cultural factors in shaping the animal-related subsistence practices in northern China during the first millennium BC.

Keywords: Bronze Age; China; environmental conditions; subsistence economy; the Longshan Mountain region; zooarchaeology.

Figure 1

Location of archaeological sites mentioned in this study: (1) Maojiaping; (2) Xishan; (3) Yucun; (4) Xitou; (5) Sunjia; (6) Zaolinhetan; (7) Zaoshugounao; (8) Gongbeiya; (9) Tianma-Qucun; (10) Wangchenggang; (11) Nanfangshui; (12) Nanyang; (13) Zhuguogucheng; (14) Kanjiazhai.

Figure 2

Photos showing different excavation units at Yucun: (A) Excavation area in 2020. (B) Excavation area in 2019 and 2020. Photos taken by Yongan Wang.

Figure 3

Typical animal specimens from Yucun: (1) Geoemydidae, plastron; (2) Trionychidae, carapace; (3) Phasianus sp., tarsometatarsus; (4) Ovis aries, metatarsal; (5) Sus domesticus, humerus; (6) Ursus thibetanus, first phalanx; (7) Lepus sp., pelvis; (8) Canis familiaris, skull; (9) Capreolus capreolus, antler; (10) Equus caballus, second, third, and fourth phalanges; (11) Bos taurus, scapula.

Figure 4

The mortality profile and survivorship curve for the pigs from Yucun.

Figure 5

The mortality profile and survivorship curve for the caprines from Yucun.

Figure 6

An example of abnormal second phalange of cattle from Yucun.

Figure 7

The composition of domestic animals (by MNI) at Yucun (YC), MJP, and XS.

Figure 8

The proportions of domestic and wild animals at different sites mentioned in this study.

Figure 9

Scatterplot of elevation and the ratio of caprine to pig and cattle (by NISP) for each site.