Xinjiang, located in northwest China, has always been a significant route for the migration and diffusion of Eurasian populations. Beginning in the Bronze Age, cultural exchanges between the East and the West in Eurasia became increasingly frequent. Among these was the spread of wheat and barley crops as well as domesticated herbivores such as sheep, goat, and horse from western and central Asia and foxtail millet and common millet from north China. These interactions make the Xinjiang region a vital region for studying prehistoric agricultural and social exchanges in Eurasia.
On this basis, we have attempted to carry out our study in the Xinjiang region and study the following issues:
- The spread and influence of prehistoric East and West agricultural cultures in the Xinjiang region;
- The process of adaptation undergone by the prehistoric populations of Xinjiang, dealing with complex ecological conditions under the background of agricultural culture exchange; and
- The development and influence of social complexity in Xinjiang from the Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age.
In order to investigate these issues, we selected the Tianshan Mountain region of Xinjiang–a key area to Eurasian cultural interaction. We selected three sites or cemeteries: the Goukou site from the Yili valley, the Shihuyao cemetery from the Manas river basin, and the Baiyang river cemetery from the Baiyang river basin. We have sampled human and faunal bones as well as charred plant remains to carry out stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic analysis.
Preliminary results have revealed two interesting patterns about subsistence in the Tianshan Mountain region of Xinjiang:
- Multiple crops including wheat (C3), barley (C3), and millet (C4), as well as domesticated sheep/goat, cattle, and horses spread widely into the Xinjiang Tianshan region by 4000 BP. These exotic domesticates transformed the diets of ancient populations from a C3 plant-based diet to a mixed C3 and C4 diet. This in turn, also facilitated the occurrence of a new subsistence pattern combining animal husbandry and agriculture in the Tianshan Mountain region of Xinjiang.
- Although diverse crops and domesticated herbivores were utilized in the Xinjiang Tianshan Mountain region, in order to adapt to the diverse ecological conditions, ancient populations from different areas within this region, likely had differentiated dietary strategies, especially in terms of the selection and utilization of crops.
This study may help us better understand prehistoric cultural exchanges between East and West in Xinjiang, the relationship between humans and the diverse and challenging environments they inhabit, and the influences these processes would have had on social complexity.