Acta Anthropologica Sinica ›› 2019, Vol. 38 ›› Issue (01): 107-118.doi: 10.16359/j.cnki.cn11-1963/q.2019.0008

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The relationship between tooth wear and diet of the Gurugyam people in Tibet

ZHANG Yajun1(), TONG Tao1, LI Linhui2, Trinle Tsering2   

  1. 1. Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing,100710
    2. Tibetan Institute for Conservation and Research of Cultural Relics, Lasa, 850000
  • Received:2018-03-27 Revised:2018-08-02 Online:2019-02-15 Published:2020-09-15

Abstract:

The Gurugyam cemetery, located in Gar County of the Ali region in Tibet, is the largest and most concentrated of graves within the Ali region. The Archaeological Institute of CASS, along with the Tibetan Institute for Conservation and Research of Cultural Relics, conducted excavations from 2012 to 2014. Together they cleaned up 11 tombs, including eight from the 3rd to 4th centuries AD, and three from the 7th to 9th centuries. From the eight tombs of the 3rd to 4th centuries, human teeth samples found were examined for tooth wear. The average tooth wear for each tooth was calculated, and the index of front-post tooth wear difference was compared with ancient group’s models of different livelihoods. Analysis showed that the average tooth wear for the Gurugyam population, who possess a priority for animal husbandry over barley and grain planting, is close to the stock farmers. It is speculated from tooth wear analysis, that there were enough animal resources in their diet, which is consistent with the results from carbon and nitrogen isotopes analysis.

Key words: Tibet, Gurugyam cemetery, Tooth wear, Diet

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