Strontium isotope analysis of the Xiongnu nobles and their followers in Central Mongolia

IF 1.1 2区历史学 0 ARCHAEOLOGY Archaeological Research in Asia Pub Date : 2023-06-01 DOI:10.1016/j.ara.2023.100446

Ligang Zhou , Diimaajav Erdenebaatar , Enkhbayar Mijiddorj , Baatar Galbadrakh , Wanli Lan , Bin Liu

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Abstract

As the first provenance study focusing on Xiongnu nobles and their followers, this study analyzed eleven human and four animal remains from the Gol Mod 2 cemetery in western Mongolia for strontium isotope ratios. The results suggest that two of the three nobles had lived in the Khanuy valley for an extended period of time, and one had lived elsewhere but was buried at the same cemetery as were the other nobles. These Xiongnu nobles might have migrated in the grassland, but the Khanuy valley and the Gol Mod 2 site surely played an irreplaceable role for them, providing valuable information for the investigation of the Xiongnu political center. A number of the followers did not grow up locally but were chosen to follow the nobles and lived in or close to the valley during their later lives. Furthermore, strontium isotope values and dietary features together confirmed that the human skeleton in G2T189 belonged to the tomb owner rather than a buried intruder. This study is a reminder that some traditional methods used to determine the local strontium isotopic range for a site are not suitable when the studied human individuals did not live a sedentary lifestyle or their social roles evidently varied.

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蒙古中部匈奴贵族及其追随者的锶同位素分析

作为首次针对匈奴贵族及其随从的物源研究，本研究分析了蒙古西部Gol Mod 2墓地的11具人类遗骸和4具动物遗骸的锶同位素比率。结果表明，三名贵族中有两名在哈努伊山谷生活了很长一段时间，另一名曾在其他地方生活，但与其他贵族葬在同一个墓地。这些匈奴贵族可能是在草原上迁徙的，但汗努伊河谷和戈尔莫德2号遗址无疑对他们起到了不可替代的作用，为考察匈奴政治中心提供了宝贵的信息。许多追随者并不是在当地长大的，而是被选中跟随贵族，在他们后来的生活中住在或靠近山谷。此外，锶同位素值和饮食特征共同证实，G2T189中的人类骨骼属于墓主人，而不是埋葬的入侵者。这项研究提醒我们，当被研究的人类个体没有久坐不动的生活方式或他们的社会角色有明显的变化时，一些用于确定一个地点当地锶同位素范围的传统方法并不适用。

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来源期刊

Archaeological Research in Asia ARCHAEOLOGY-

CiteScore

2.50

自引率

13.30%

发文量

期刊介绍： Archaeological Research in Asia presents high quality scholarly research conducted in between the Bosporus and the Pacific on a broad range of archaeological subjects of importance to audiences across Asia and around the world. The journal covers the traditional components of archaeology: placing events and patterns in time and space; analysis of past lifeways; and explanations for cultural processes and change. To this end, the publication will highlight theoretical and methodological advances in studying the past, present new data, and detail patterns that reshape our understanding of it. Archaeological Research in Asia publishes work on the full temporal range of archaeological inquiry from the earliest human presence in Asia with a special emphasis on time periods under-represented in other venues. Journal contributions are of three kinds: articles, case reports and short communications. Full length articles should present synthetic treatments, novel analyses, or theoretical approaches to unresolved issues. Case reports present basic data on subjects that are of broad interest because they represent key sites, sequences, and subjects that figure prominently, or should figure prominently, in how scholars both inside and outside Asia understand the archaeology of cultural and biological change through time. Short communications present new findings (e.g., radiocarbon dates) that are important to the extent that they reaffirm or change the way scholars in Asia and around the world think about Asian cultural or biological history.