Unlike the Central Plains, southwestern Shandong developed an unusual settlement morphology centered on artificially elevated mound habitats, adapting to cope with floods since the Neolithic. Studying how late Neolithic, Bronze Age, and early Iron Age people in southwestern Shandong utilized and managed fauna resources can not only shed light on the subsistence patterns of the region, but also provide crucial insight into how they interacted with the natural and cultural landscape. Here we carried out stable isotope analyses on 131 animal bones (including pig, dog, cattle, sheep/goat, horse, deer, hare, and pheasant) to examine their diets and how they were managed. The results suggest high consistency in their diets from the late Neolithic to the early Iron Age. The pigs, dogs, and cattle were fed with lots of C4 foods, whereas sheep/goats had mixed C3 and C4 diets. The gradual adoption of wheat as feed during the late Bronze Age and the early Iron Age was only reflected in pigs' carbon isotope values, but not obviously seen in other domestic species. Previous studies on the Central Plains suggest a slightly different pattern, where pigs, dogs, and cattle all shifted to a diet of more C3 food (e.g., wheat), and the possible reasons are discussed. The current study situated livestock management strategies of southwestern Shandong within its historical and geographical context, and furthered our understanding of the ecosystem and subsistence scheme of mound settlements.
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