The Study of Isotopic Baseline in the Gan-Qing Region, Northwestern China
Summary
We analyzed the baseline for dietary study through stable isotopes in the Gan-Qing (Gansu and Qinghai provinces) region in prehistory. Total 283 animal samples from 4 sites were collected and analyzed. We found that herbivorous δ15N values did not change much in the Hehuang region between 3200 BCE and 2000 BCE, indicating that the range of nitrogen isotopic baseline was relatively stable in different time. The range of herbivorous δ15N values from the Hehuang region around the 2000 BCE is from 1‰ to 6‰. The herbivorous δ15N values from the Hexi Corridor varied from 2‰ to 10‰. This result shows that the nitrogen baseline in the Hexi Corridor was higher than that in the Hehuang region. It is probably related with the drought climate in the Hexi Corridor. The results indicate that isotopic baseline is particularly important for dietary research using stable isotopic methods in northwestern China.
Cite this Record
The Study of Isotopic Baseline in the Gan-Qing Region, Northwestern China. Minmin Ma, Lele Ren, Xin Li. Presented at The 82nd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Washington, DC. 2018 ( tDAR id: 443123)
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Keywords
General
Archaeometry & Materials Analysis
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Neolithic
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stable isotopes, diets
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Subsistence and Foodways
Geographic Keywords
Asia: East Asia
Spatial Coverage
min long: 70.4; min lat: 17.141 ; max long: 146.514; max lat: 53.956 ;
Record Identifiers
Abstract Id(s): 21812