Stable Isotope Analysis Of Human And Animal Bones From The Houli Site,Linzi City,Shandong Province,China,at The Spring And Autumn Period

The Zhou dynasties is a period of dramatic change in China’s history of agricultural development.With the spread and use of iron tools and oxen ploughing,agricultural productivity improved considerably.Furthermore,the Eastern Zhou dynasty was a tumultuous period with broken rituals and frequent warfare.The development of agricultural production became a common goal of the ruling class in order to need for increased population and economic income.The vassal states continued to reform and implement new agricultural and taxation polic ies,resulting in the development of large areas of land and agriculture.Previously,there have fruitful research about the subsistence economy for the ancestors,but less research about Haidai region（Shandong）at the Spring and Autumn period.This paper analyzes the subsistence economic mode and the livestock raising mode of the ancestors from the Houli site,in Linzi City,Shandong Province,China,and then discusses the agricultural development degree at that time of the Spring and Autumn period.In this paper,1 human bone samples and 15 animal bone samples unearthed in Houli site of Linzi City,Shandong Province are selected for C and N stable isotope analysis.The C and N stable isotope data of deer（-18.9±1.9‰,5.0±1.5‰,n=4）shows that the food is mainly C₃ plants as same as that of the local wild vegetation.The data of cows（-10.4±1.6‰,7.2±1.8‰,n=3）shows that the food is mainly C₄ plants and the feeding model is feeding.The food of pigs（-10.2±2.5‰,7.3±1.6‰,n=4）and canidae animals（-11.1±2.2‰,6.9±0.3‰,n=2）are mainly C₄ plants and their diet is likely derived from byproducts of millet agriculture.Stable isotopes values（-7.5‰,9.1‰）of rib and femur of a female（M8）were same,indicating that she had almost completely made her living by millets and animals feeding by millets and/or millets by-products for a long time.Therefore,millet agriculture and feeding animals were the main subsistence economy for the ancestors of Houli site at this period.According to the research,millet agriculture in the Haydai region began as early as the Houli culture and continued to develop thereafter,gradually becoming a dominant part of the ancestor’s livelihood economy.During the Spring and Autumn period,the development of millet agriculture reached its peak.Despite the relative increase in the amount of wheat remains excavated at this time,wheat did not have a significant impact on the subsistence economy of the ancestor.