Table_1_The Millet of the Matter: Archeobotanical Evidence for Farming Strategies of Western Han Dynasty Core Area Inhabitants.xlsx

Despite decades of investigation, consensus has yet to be reached on when and where wheat replaced millet as the primary crop in the core regions of early Imperial China. Previous studies have suggested that wheat cultivation likely became widespread prior to or during the Han Dynasty (202 BC–AD 220). Here, we tested this hypothesis by applying archeobotanical tools to plant remains found in five pottery model granaries (cang) entombed in a newly excavated late Western Han burial at the Longzaocun cemetery in the Guanzhong Basin. This analysis allowed us to explore the extent of wheat expansion and agricultural strategies in the heartland of early dynastic China. Macro- and micro-botanical evidence shows that the Longzaocun residents consumed two kinds of crops: foxtail and common millet. Combining these findings with previous studies, we argue that millet-based multi-crop farming dominated the regional agricultural system during the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 8) and analyze the political and cultural motivations for the Han people’s usage on millet crops from the burial concepts and fiscal systems. Echoing previous studies, we argue that millets remained the most valuable subsistence food for inhabitants of the Loess Basins in the Han core, and that wheat was not cultivated on a large scale in this area during the Western Han Dynasty.

尽管历经数十年的研究，学界尚未就中国早期帝国核心区域内小麦何时、何地取代粟类作为首要作物达成共识。此前有研究指出，小麦种植很可能在汉代（公元前202年—公元220年）之前或汉代境内已广为普及。本研究通过对关中盆地龙枣村墓地新发掘的一座西汉晚期墓葬中出土的5件陶制谷仓模型（cang）内的植物遗存，运用考古植物学工具（archeobotanical tools）开展分析，对该假说进行了验证。本次分析使我们得以探究中国早期王朝核心腹地内小麦的传播范围与农业策略。大植物遗存（macro-botanical）与微植物遗存（micro-botanical）证据显示，龙枣村的先民以两类作物为食：粟（foxtail millet）与黍（common millet）。结合本次研究结果与既往研究成果，我们提出：西汉时期（公元前202年—公元8年），以粟类作物为核心的多熟种植体系主导了该区域的农业系统；并从丧葬观念与财政制度层面，分析了汉代民众种植粟类作物的政治与文化动因。与既往研究结论一致，我们提出：作为汉代核心区域的黄土盆地（Loess Basins）先民，粟类仍是其最重要的口粮作物；且西汉时期该区域并未大规模种植小麦。