Neolithic avifaunal resource utilisation in the lower Yangtze River: A case study of the Tianluoshan site

Abstract

The lower Yangtze River region in China was a centre of early Neolithic rice cultivation and animal domestication. It is also an important habitat for wintering birds; however, our current understanding of prehistoric avifaunal resource utilisation by human populations in this region is limited. To clarify the use of birds by early Neolithic rice-cultivating societies further, we analysed bird remains from one excavation grid at the Tianluoshan site, which dates to between 7000 and 6100 cal BP. Ducks (Anatinae), rails (Rallidae), and geese (Anserinae) were dominant in every layer, suggesting that birds wintering in inland waters were the primary avifaunal taxa exploited at the Tianluoshan site. The taxonomic composition, bone modification rate, and skeletal part representation of these dominant taxa differed between layers. Overall, there was an abundance of duck and goose wing elements and both the wing and leg elements of rails, suggesting that exploitation patterns differed among these primary taxa. There is no evidence of domestic exploitation of ducks and/or chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus), but the appearance of immature goose bones may suggest the existence of domestic geese.