C,N Stable Isotope Analysis Of Animal Bones From The Fuluta Cemetery,Inner Mongolia

During the Qin and Han dynasties,in order to prevent the invasion of Xiongnu,the ruler kept a large number of soldiers in the central and southern regions of Inner Mongolia in the Qin and Han dynasties.Moreover,they made sure that there was no shortage of food for soldiers by migrating on a large scale to the frontier areas for cultivation.The Han nationality brought the advanced agricultural planting and farming technology from the central plains into Inner Mongolia to open up land for agricultural production,and the agricultural culture and the original nomadic culture of the region exchanged,collided and integrated,which resulted in a compatible economic pattern of agriculture and husbandry.The mixed economic model of agriculture and animal husbandry in the central and southern regions of Inner Mongolia is also clear.However,the proportion of agricultural economy and nomadic economy in this region is still unclear.In this experiment,we selected the Furuta cemetery in the south-central region of Inner Mongolia,rich research results have been made on the productive economy of Qin and Han dynasties.This paper analyzes the livestock raising mode and the economic mode of the ancestors in Fuluta cemetery,and then discusses the agricultural development degree at that time to understand the development of the Qin and Han dynasties on the northern border.In this paper,26 animal bone samples?including 3 pigs,3 dogs,8 cows,10 sheep,1 chicken and 1 deer?unearthed in Fuluta cemetery of Jungar Banner in Inner Mongolia autonomous region were selected for C and N stable isotope analysis.The C and N stable isotope data of animal bones shows that the food of pigs,dogs and chickens is mainly C₄ plants,and the feeding model is feeding;The food of sheep is mainly C₃ plants,and the feeding model is mainly wild feeding;The food of cows includes both C₄ and C₃,which depends on agricultural production;The food o deer is mainly C₃ plants,as the wild animals,which may be obtained by the hunting ofancestors.The stable isotope data of C and N in Fuluta cemetery??13C mean value=-8.5±0.4‰,?15N mean value = 9.2±0.5‰,n =29?indicates that the food of Fuluta cemetery ancestors is mainly C₄,and it contains more animal protein.Based on the species and quantity of animals unearthed in the cemetery and the ways of raising livestock,it is speculated that the living economy of the ancestors in Fuluta cemetery is mainly farming,supplemented by animal husbandry and hunting economy.According to the research,a mature agricultural economy has been formed in the central and southern part of Inner Mongolia since the Han dynasty,which may be related to the migration of a large number of central plains agricultural population to Inner Mongolia during the Qin and Han dynasties.