The Carbon,Nitrogen And Oxygen Stable Isotope Analysis Of Water Buffalo(Bubalus Sp.) From The Lower Reaches Of The Yangtze River During The Neolithic Age

Scholars from China and foreign contrary have conducted many discussions on the origin and domestication of prehistoric domestic water buffalo,using animal archaeology,genetics and other methods.However,there are still disputes and differences in the origin of time and place and the lower reaches of the Yangtze river in China is one of the areas most concerned.On the basis of previous studies,this paper through the carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in water buffaloes,deer,pigs,dogs,birds,turtle bones unearthed from the Kuahuqiao site in Xiaoshan City and the Tianluoshan site in Yuyao City Zhejiang Provinece,were used to explore the structure of the food and discuss the change from Kuahuqiao to Hemudu period.At the same time,the further carbon and oxygen isotope study in water buffalo,deer,and pig animal teeth enamel from the Tianluoshan site found the buffalos' food structure and change,which used for discuss the cultural characteristics of the domestication.The results showed that the buffaloes at the Kuahuqiao site had higher values of ?13C and ?15N(-17.8‰±12.5‰,6.3±1.7‰,n=44).It was speculated that the water buffalo mainly ingested various aquatic plants in the surrounding waters of the Kuahuqiao site;Compared with buffalo's ?13C and ?15N values in the Kuahuqiao and Tianluoshan site,it was found that buffaloes in the older Kuahuqiao site had a more exrensive food source,but the food structure in later Tianluoshan was more concentrated,suggested that the buffalo here may be concentrated some food and it is not ruled out that may influenced by human behavior(feeding).Comparing the contribution of the two sites buffalo to human food,it is found that the cultural and functional meaning of buffalo in Tianluoshan site was not seen in Kuahuqiao site.A further analysis of the changes in the continuous sampling composition of buffalo enamel in Tianluoshan found that the buffalo gradually shifted from the early C4 biased food structure to C3 trend,and found that in the individual analysis of late TLST5,the simultaneous changes of carbon and oxygen in early buffalo were different.The asynchronicity of carbon and oxygen changes has emerged.Combined with the seasonal predictions of buffalo tooth enamel and oxygen isotopes,it is found that this asynchrony may be caused by the fact that buffalo is affected by human feeding of C3 foods such as rice.In this study,C,N,O stable isotope dietary analysis was conducted to reveal the changes in the food structure of 8000-5500BP buffalo in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the signs of buffalo domestication during the Hemudu period.However,more work is needed to continue the discussion.