Table1_Animal resource exploitation in the northern Guanzhong region during the mid-to-late Holocene: A zooarchaeological case study of the Xitou site.docx

Zooarchaeological approach has been effective in providing insights into human subsistence practices, which laid essential economic foundation for social, cultural, and political developments in the past. The Guanzhong region in northern China played a crucial role in the origins and evolution of ancient Chinese civilization. Previous research on subsistence economies of ancient societies in the Guanzhong region, human exploitation of animal resources in particular, has largely focused on the late Neolithic period or the Bronze Age. Insufficient work has been done for historical periods post-dating the end of the first millennium BCE. There is also a dearth of research on the long-term chronological changes. Here, we present a preliminary analysis of animal remains from the Nantou Locale of the Xitou site, a large settlement located in the northern Guanzhong region. Results show that pigs played a dominant role in the site’s animal economy during the Neolithic Yangshao and Longshan periods (ca. 5000–2000 BCE). The growing importance of cattle and caprines was documented for the Bronze Age Western Zhou period (ca. 11th-8th centuries BCE). In the Han-Tang periods (ca. second century BCE-tenth century CE), pigs regained their significance in local subsistence practices. Differences in the strategies for animal resource exploitation were possibly associated with changing social and environmental factors. Alongside other relevant archaeological evidence, our zooarchaeological data demonstrate the contribution of diversified animal use strategies to sustained development of subsistence economy in the northern Guanzhong region across millennia. The examination of long-term human-animal interactions in the Guanzhong region allows for a better understanding of changing economic, social, and political landscapes in ancient China.

动物考古学（zooarchaeology）方法在解析人类生业实践层面成效斐然，而为过往人类社会的社会、文化与政治演进奠定了不可或缺的经济根基。中国北方的关中地区在中国古代文明的起源与演化历程中扮演了至关重要的角色。既往针对关中地区古代社会生业经济，尤其是人类对动物资源开发利用的相关研究，大多聚焦于新石器时代晚期或青铜时代。公元前第一个千年终结之后的历史时期相关研究仍较为薄弱，而针对生业经济长期时序变化的研究同样存在缺口。在此，我们对地处关中北部的大型聚落遗址西头遗址南头地点出土的动物遗存开展初步分析。分析结果表明，在新石器时代仰韶与龙山时期（约公元前5000年—公元前2000年），猪在该遗址的家畜经济体系中占据绝对主导地位。青铜时代西周时期（约公元前11世纪—公元前8世纪），牛与羊类家畜的重要性逐步凸显。汉唐时期（约公元前2世纪—公元10世纪），猪重新在当地生业实践中恢复了其重要地位。人类开发利用动物资源的策略差异，可能与当时社会与环境因素的变迁存在关联。结合其他相关考古证据，本研究的动物考古学数据表明，多样化的动物利用策略为数千年来关中北部地区生业经济的持续发展作出了重要贡献。对关中地区长期人兽互动关系的系统考察，有助于我们更深入地认识中国古代社会经济、社会与政治格局的演变历程。