Some like it hot: Sichuan pepper (Zanthoxylum bungeanum) and other spices from a late Bronze Age kingdom (Chu State) in Hubei, China

Abstract

Located in the Jianghan plain in Hubei Province, China, the Wangshanqiao Tomb No. 1 is a large-sized burial belonging to a high-status male from the Chu State during Warring States period (475–221 bc). Here, archaeobotanical studies were applied to the waterlogged plant remains discovered from that tomb dated to around 300 bc. The recovery of a considerable number of well-preserved plant macrofossils suggests that the Chu kingdom noble classes used many plant species including spices such as Sichuan pepper (Zanthoxylum bungeanum), ginger (Zingiber officinale), and Chinese Angelica (Angelica sinensis), as well as fruits and nuts. We discuss the differences in spice usage between noble classes and genders in this southern central part of China from late Bronze to early Iron Ages by examining these data along with other extant archaeobotanical evidence recovered from 33 tombs during around 1100 bc to ad 30. It indicates that the seeds of Sichuan pepper were more widely used in the noble burials of male and female from upper to lower classes than other spices in the southern central part of China from Warring States period (475–221 bc) to Western Han dynasty (202 bc–ad 8).