Agricultural origins and the isotopic identity of domestication in northern China

TLDR

Earlier low‑intensity domestication emerged with hunter–gatherers in the arid north, while a later intensive phase arrived with the Yangshao Neolithic. The study aims to use stable‑isotope analysis to trace early human–plant–animal linkages that underpin the origins of agriculture in East Asia. The authors applied δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N stable‑isotope measurements and radiocarbon dating on ancient human and animal bones to reconstruct domestication phases. They identified two domestication phases at Dadiwan: a brief 7900–7200 calBP period of broomcorn millet harvesting and storage, followed by a 5900 calBP intensive cultivation of broomcorn and foxtail millets that significantly fed people, dogs, and pigs.

Abstract

Stable isotope biochemistry (δ 13 C and δ 15 N) and radiocarbon dating of ancient human and animal bone document 2 distinct phases of plant and animal domestication at the Dadiwan site in northwest China. The first was brief and nonintensive: at various times between 7900 and 7200 calendar years before present (calBP) people harvested and stored enough broomcorn millet ( Panicum miliaceum ) to provision themselves and their hunting dogs ( Canis sp.) throughout the year. The second, much more intensive phase was in place by 5900 calBP: during this time both broomcorn and foxtail ( Setaria viridis spp . italica ) millets were cultivated and made significant contributions to the diets of people, dogs, and pigs ( Sus sp.). The systems represented in both phases developed elsewhere: the earlier, low-intensity domestic relationship emerged with hunter–gatherers in the arid north, while the more intensive, later one evolved further east and arrived at Dadiwan with the Yangshao Neolithic. The stable isotope methodology used here is probably the best means of detecting the symbiotic human–plant–animal linkages that develop during the very earliest phases of domestication and is thus applicable to the areas where these connections first emerged and are critical to explaining how and why agriculture began in East Asia.