Stable Isotopic Analysis Of Animal And Human Bones From The Northern Wei Cemetery In Shuipo Temp,Datong,Shanxi Province

According to the existed research on the diet style of Xianbei and Northern Wei period Tuoba Xianbei’s diet from meat to millet or/and animals that be feeded on millet,as the Northern Wei dynasty moved to Ping city.At the same time,the status of women has changed in the Northern Wei dynasty.As the North Nomads group moved to south China,including culture and customs esapcially the culture of "female supremacy",which can break through the traditional Confucian concept of "male superiority".In the Northern Wei Cemetery in Shuipo Temple which is in Datong city of Shanxi Province,We had done the detection on 34 samples of bones of human,10 samples of bones animals(4 sheep,1 horse,1 dog and 4 unknown species),and get lots of data.Through the analysis of isotopes of δ13C and δ15N on these samples,on we hope to prove the hypothesis that whether the changes of female status in Northern Wei dynasty The human δ13C(-7.6±2‰,n=31)and δ15N(9.2±0.9‰,n=31)results show that the mainly diet is C4 food with the consumption of significant amounts of protein from animals.The animal δ13C(-13.7±1.4‰,n=9)and δ15N(5.9±1.6‰,n=9)show that the animals had both C3 and C4 plants,and others had more C4 plants.It indicates that the ancestors of Nomads group from the tomb of Shuipo Temp mainly engaged in agricultural activities of planting C4 crops,grazing and caged herbivores.The stable were compared with the male(δ13C-7.4±2.1‰)and female.Compared with isotope ratio of C and N between male and female,the data sources range below:the δ13C of male(-7.4±2.1Θ,n=9)and female(-8.3±2.0Θ,n=17),δ15N of male(9.3±0.9‰,n=9)and female(9.1±1.1‰,n=17).We found that there is no significant differences between them in terms of the number of 13C and 15N.In other words,the male and female have a same structure on diet.Furthermore,by analysison the burial situation,we found that the advancement of female status in Northern Wei dynasty was not confirmed by the isotopic view.Due to the simplification of food types and the different effects of eating customs and personal preferences,the status of women was not significantly correlated with their diet and amounts of protein from animals.