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 3rd to 9th 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.
Highlights
Revealing what our ancestors ingested has been and is still such a fascinating quest for both archaeologists and the general public
Macrofossil analysis In the present study, seven cereal plant species were identified from the Astana Cemeteries, including Setaria italica, Panicum miliaceum, Cannabis sativa, Triticum aestivum, Hordeum vulgare, Hordeum vulgare var. coeleste, and Oryza sativa (Fig. 3)
In view of the fact that plants of Hordeum vulgare and H. vulgare var. coeleste share similar growth conditions, it is probable that a few plants of barley grew together with those of Triticum aestivum and/or Hordeum vulgare var. coeleste in the same field
Summary
Revealing what our ancestors ingested has been and is still such a fascinating quest for both archaeologists and the general public. Processed food like noodles and cakes have been occasionally discovered at archaeological sites, such as the Subeixi Site [11], and the Sampula and Yingpan Cemeteries [12,13]. This kind of physical evidence provides opportunities to trace the vegetation patterns, palaeodiet and plant utilization among the ancient indigenous people of Xinjiang. Aside from the ancient noodles and cakes unearthed at the Subeixi site [14], to date, the overwhelming majority of food remains have not been scientifically analyzed
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