Patterns in pottery use reveal different adaptive strategies between lower and higher altitude regions on the Tibetan Plateau: Chemical evidence from pottery residues

Abstract

It has long been recognised that the frigid and hypoxic environment on the high-altitude Tibetan Plateau influences the choices of cooking methods and food compositions. Although commonly used for cooking in the plain areas during the Neolithic Age, the functions of pottery in the high-altitude regions have rarely been examined from archaeological studies. In the present study, lipid residues of pottery fragments from Klu lding (ca. 2900 m a.s.l.) and Khog Gzung (ca. 3900 m a.s.l.) were analysed to present the insight of pottery use and subsistence strategies at different elevations around 3600-3000 BP in the southern Tibetan Plateau. The lipid molecular and isotopic data indicate that vessels were mainly used, though less intensively compared with the plain areas, for the processing of animal fats. At Klu lding, pig adipose fats contribute large proportions of the lipid residues, and leafy plants were used as regular complements to the diets. At Khog Gzung, the broad range of carbon isotopic values points to the wide vertical migrations of the ruminants, implying the hunting of wild ungulates or seasonal transhumance. The first lipid residue analysis performed on high-altitude pottery offers supplementary information about human subsistence strategies for altitudinal adaptations. In the low-altitude regions, the use of local food resources including leafy plants and porcine fats was consistent with the more sedentary lifestyle, providing complements to the early agricultural system. In the high-altitude regions, higher mobility was associated with long-distance hunting or early pastoralism.