Fishing or farming? Isotopic evidence of human subsistence strategies at the Dashuitian site during the middle Neolithic in the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, China

Abstract

The Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, with its deep canyons, abundant freshwater resources, and unique geographic location at the crossroads in the spread of rice-millet agriculture in the Middle Neolithic, is of great significance for understanding the interaction between fishing-hunting-gathering and farming in inland freshwater environments. However, few direct evidence for human subsistence strategies had been published in this region. This study presents results of carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses on human bones, animal and millet remains from the Dashuitian site (c. 6000–5500 BP) in the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, China, to investigate the diet and subsistence and intrapopulation dietary variations in this region. The results indicate that the humans at the site consumed mostly freshwater fish foods and supplemented by terrestrial animals, with no discernable input from millets. They had consistently relied on a fishing, hunting, and gathering economy during the occupation of the site in the Middle Neolithic (c. 6000–5500 BP), differing from humans in other areas especially along the rivers and coasts of the lower Yangtze River valley for the roughly same period, further showing the extensive utilization of and adaptation to the available environmental resources. In addition, intrapopulation dietary variations based on burial style and sex provide evidence that differentiation and inequality, at least regarding to food consumption, existed at the Three Gorges region during the Middle Neolithic. Here, our findings provide isotopic evidence about the Middle Neolithic human subsistence strategies in the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, providing a glimpse into the complexity related to inequality in food access among fisher-hunter-gatherers in inland areas, and new insights into understanding past human-environment interactions.