Phytolith from the Wanggou site in Zhengzhou, Henan

doi:10.16359/j.1000-3193/AAS.2021.0065

Abstract

Abstract:

The Wanggou site is a high-level central settlement site in the late Yangshao culture in the middle of Henan Province. Between 2014 and 2016, we systematically collected phytolith soil samples, and found that foxtail millet, broomcorn millet, rice, and soybean make up the crop group of the settlement. The proportion of the millet is high, rice is low, and rice farming is smaller than that of dry farming. Rice and millet both are daily crops of Wanggou ancestors. Combining the analysis of phytoliths and carbonized plant remains, we speculate that the millet and rice of the Wanggou site are harvested in the different seasons by means of connecting rods with spikes, and then the grains are threshed in the southern part of the trench by collective activities. After threshing, millet and rice are stored together around the house and then distributed to individual families, which are shelled in or around the house when they need to eat. Large-scale grain harvesting and concentrated threshing processing activities in specific places show that the Wanggou settlement has strong labor organization ability, reflecting the existence of larger social production organizations, and large families or family communes become the basic unit of production and life.

Key words: The late Yangshao culture, phytolith, agriculture, social organization

CLC Number:

K871.13/Q948.5

YANG Fan, GU Wanfa, DUAN Qimeng, ZHENG Xiaoqu, JIA Yin, JIN Guiyun. Phytolith from the Wanggou site in Zhengzhou, Henan[J]. Acta Anthropologica Sinica, 2022, 41(03): 429-438.

Figures/Tables 6

Fig.1 Location of the Wanggou site

Tab.1 Phytolith samples selected from the Wanggou site

采样单位 Feature type	灰坑Pits	壕沟Ditchs	房址House	柱洞 Pillar holes	合计Total (n)
植硅体土样（份）phytolith samples(n)	30	43	1	1	75

Fig.2 Typical phytoliths and diatom fossils from the Wanggou site

Fig.3 Relative percentages and ubiquity crops at the Wanggou site

Fig.4 Scatter plot of crop processing at the Wanggou site

Fig.5 Schematic diagram of phytolith concentration in the southern trench samples

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