Understanding Household Subsistence Activities in Neolithic Inner Mongolia, China
Functional Analyses of Stone Tools
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2224934 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Li Liu (0000-0002-5257-3391), Liu Li (0009-0000-7928-8614), Xingcan Chen (Institute of Archaeology, corresponding author), Ping Ji (0000-0002-5037-134X), Ji Ping (Institute of Archaeology, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2016 |
| Volume | 72 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 226-247 |
| Publication date | 2016-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Anthropological Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0091-7710 • E-ISSN: 2153-3806 |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1086/686298 |
| OpenAlex | W2334267963 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 13 |
| References cited | 15 |
This study attempts to reconstruct household subsistence activities in order to understand the socioeconomic strategies adapted by the earliest Neolithic populations in south-central Inner Mongolia during the fifth millennium bc. These people are likely to have originated in the Yangshao culture in the Central Plain, where millet-based agriculture was already established. We conducted residue and use-wear analyses on the most recurrent tool types found in residential areas, including grinding stones, spades, and knives. The results suggest that the Yangshao culture migrants adapted to a local foraging tradition, involving hunting large animals and collecting/cultivating diverse plant foods, mainly tubers and roots. They also maintained their Neolithic technology and probably social organization and household structure, as indicated by the presence of Neolithic toolkits, pottery, domesticates, and house structures. Contrary to previous assumptions, domesticated cereals, such as millets and Job’s tears, account for very small proportions of the plant foods used. The local hunting-gathering populations, likely represented by the microlithic tradition in the archaeological record, may have integrated with the Neolithic migrants and played an important role in the formation of the new subsistence strategies
Agriculture · Ancient history · Archaeology · China · Geography · Inner mongolia · Subsistence agriculture · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · History · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
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| Unique citing works | 13 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,3 |
| Citation span | 2016 - 2025 (10) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 13 |