Archaeobotanical study of ancient food and cereal remains at the Astana Cemeteries, Xinjiang, China

PLoS One. 2012;7(9):e45137. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0045137. Epub 2012 Sep 20.

Abstract

Starch grain, phytolith and cereal bran fragments were analyzed in order to identify the food remains including cakes, dumplings, as well as porridge unearthed at the Astana Cemeteries in Turpan of Xinjiang, China. The results suggest that the cakes were made from Triticum aestivum while the dumplings were made from Triticum aestivum, along with Setaria italica. The ingredients of the porridge remains emanated from Panicum miliaceum. Moreover, direct macrobotantical evidence of the utilization of six cereal crops, such as Triticum aestivum, Hordeum vulgare var. coeleste, Panicum miliaceum, Setaria italica, Cannabis sativa, and Oryza sativa in the Turpan region during the Jin and Tang dynasties (about 3(rd) to 9(th) centuries) is also presented. All of these cereal crops not only provided food for the survival of the indigenous people, but also spiced up their daily life.

Publication types

  • Historical Article
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Archaeology / history*
  • Botany / history*
  • Cemeteries / history*
  • China
  • Edible Grain / history*
  • Food / history*
  • Fossils
  • Geography
  • History, Ancient
  • Plant Epidermis / cytology
  • Reference Standards
  • Starch / analysis

Substances

  • Starch

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the “Strategic Priority Research Program - Climate Change: Carbon Budget and Relevant Issues” of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Grant No. XDA05130501, the NSFC (41102114), and the NSFC(41002057). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.