Hearth Residue Analysis Reveals Human Adaptation to the Younger Dryas on the Northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Abstract

ABSTRACT Human adaptation to the extreme environment of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) has drawn widespread attention as a case study on how to successfully deal with environmental changes. However, little is known about the human subsistence strategy on the QTP during the Younger Dryas (YD) cold event due to limited findings on bioarcheological remains. In this study, animal exploitation during the YD on the northeastern QTP (NEQTP) was explored through hearth sediment analysis at the Bronze Wire site. The results support the food preparation function of these hearths and indicate the preservation of fuel plant lipids as well as terrestrial non-ruminant animal fat. The absence of ruminant herbivorous fats and freshwater resources implies a hostile surrounding environment during the YD, where small-sized animals with higher tolerance may have dominated and could have thus been the main source of non-ruminant animal fat in the hearths. Although the shift to a broadspectrum pattern was not thought to be the direct result of environmental change, it could have greatly influenced such a process in certain areas. Lipid residue analysis has been applied for the first time for hearth study on the NEQTP, showing great potential in understanding human behaviour regarding subsistence strategies in the Paleolithic Age.