Several members of the LAEF (Zhengwei Zhang, Ximena Lemoine, and Xinyi Liu) and our colleagues in China and US have recently published a research paper together in Quaternary International(https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1040618219307554): The importance of localized hunting of diverse animals to early inhabitants of the Eastern Tibetan Plateau at the Neolithic site of Xiaoenda.
Our paper presents the first detailed and systematic zooarchaeological analysis for the Xiaoenda site, as well as for the Tibetan Autonomous Region at large in English. This work contributes to larger regional debates and discussions on early occupation of this extreme region by providing an animal-focused perspective on subsistence, drawing attention to the importance of wild resources during the Neolithic in this part of the plateau.
Our findings demonstrate that wild animal resources, such as musk deer, roe deer, goral, and blue sheep, were a significant subsistence strategy utilized by inhabitants of Xiaoenda. These prehistorical hunters hunted wild animals within the vicinity of their settlement, practicing a localized hunting strategy. Hunting of a diversity of taxa was enabled by the site’s location in a transitional ecological zone.
(The site of Xiaoenda lies at an altitude of 3140 masl. The location of Xiaoenda is only 14 km to the northwest of the Karuo site, which is most well-known Neolithic site on the Tibetan Plateau. Both Xiaoenda and Karuo sites dated to ~ 5000~4000 BP)
(Landscape of west side of the Xiaoenda site. The site is located in Xiaoenda County, five kilometers north from the Qamdo City, Tibetan Autonomous Region, China. Photo by Zhengwei)
(Qamdo, in Tibetan language, means the confluence of two rivers. The river valleys associated topography are an important feature of regional geography providing water and vegetation.The Ang-Qu River and the Zha-Qu River, run out of the north Tibetan Plateau, converge in Qamdo and form the Lancang River, which flows southward and becomes the Mekong River — the longest river of Southeast Asia.)
(Zhengwei Zhang identified Xiaoenda faunal remains at Sichuan University in 2017. Photo by Tianyi Wang)
(What we found at Xiaoenda are mainly wild mammal remains. The most dominant species are deer. we found at least four different species of deer at Xiaoenda. They have different body sizes and living environments.We also found some Bovidae specimens. Currently, how to distinguish domesticated goat/sheep from other wild Bovidae animals by their bones is still a problem in Tibetan zooarchaeological study. Based on Zhengwei’s preliminary research on comparative osteological features of Tibetan plateau wild Bovidae animals. So far there is no Bovidae specimen from Xiaoenda can be identified to domesticated goat or sheep. Some of them probably from wild sheep, goral, and Himalayan tahr.Specimens from other animals are much less. There are some Xiaoenda specimens from monkey, fox, rodents, hare, and pika. We also found some pig/boar specimens at Xiaoenda. But the sample size is too small. So far there are only five specimens were identified to family Suidae. Based on this small sample size, it is difficult to identify them as domesticated pigs.)
(Landscape of east side of Xiaoenda site and likely areas to find different wild mammals there. Although Xiaoenda wild animals show relatively high diversity. Some of these wild animals mainly live in shrubs, while some of them live in forests. Vegetation surround Xiaoenda site present highly vertical diverse. We can find both shrubs and forests nearby the site. According to paleoenvironment data from east Tiber, during the period when Xiaoenda was occupied, paleoclimate data from this area suggest that the environment and surrounding vegetation was similar to that of the present, though conditions were probably slightly warmer and wetter. Thus, Xiaoenda people probably practiced local hunting, and can get access to all those wild animal resources when they lived there year-round, and don’t need to move to far-away places for hunting.)