IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natsus/v5y2022i9d10.1038_s41893-022-00905-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainable intensification of millet–pig agriculture in Neolithic North China

Author

Listed:
  • Jishuai Yang

    (Lanzhou University
    Group of Alpine Paleoecology and Human Adaptation (ALPHA), State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Dongju Zhang

    (Lanzhou University
    Group of Alpine Paleoecology and Human Adaptation (ALPHA), State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Xiaoyan Yang

    (Lanzhou University
    Group of Alpine Paleoecology and Human Adaptation (ALPHA), State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Weiwei Wang

    (Australian National University)

  • Linda Perry

    (The Foundation for Archaeobotanical Research in Microfossils
    George Washington University)

  • Dorian Q. Fuller

    (University College London
    Northwest University)

  • Haiming Li

    (Nanjing Agricultural University
    Nanjing Agricultural University)

  • Jian Wang

    (Lanzhou University
    Lanzhou University)

  • Lele Ren

    (Lanzhou University
    Lanzhou University)

  • Huan Xia

    (Lanzhou University)

  • Xuke Shen

    (Lanzhou University)

  • Hui Wang

    (Fudan University
    Gansu Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology)

  • Yishi Yang

    (Gansu Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology)

  • Juanting Yao

    (Lanzhou University)

  • Yu Gao

    (Group of Alpine Paleoecology and Human Adaptation (ALPHA), State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Fahu Chen

    (Lanzhou University
    Group of Alpine Paleoecology and Human Adaptation (ALPHA), State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Abstract

The emergence of complex societies represents one of the major developments of human prehistory. Diverse agricultural strategies were implemented to produce the increased grain surplus necessary to allow the development of complex societies across the world. Little is known, however, about the millet–pig system that developed in Neolithic North China and ultimately underpinned the more complex societies, such as cities and states, in this region. Our data from studies of phytoliths and starches from pig dental residues and stable isotopes of millet grains excavated from the Dadiwan site demonstrate that an intensive crop–livestock system was in practice by at least 5,500 years ago. This novel system, characterized by the feeding of millet crop residues to pigs and the fertilization of millet fields with pig and/or human dung, enabled sustainable intensification in agriculture and fed the early complex societies in North China.

Suggested Citation

  • Jishuai Yang & Dongju Zhang & Xiaoyan Yang & Weiwei Wang & Linda Perry & Dorian Q. Fuller & Haiming Li & Jian Wang & Lele Ren & Huan Xia & Xuke Shen & Hui Wang & Yishi Yang & Juanting Yao & Yu Gao & F, 2022. "Sustainable intensification of millet–pig agriculture in Neolithic North China," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 5(9), pages 780-786, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natsus:v:5:y:2022:i:9:d:10.1038_s41893-022-00905-9
    DOI: 10.1038/s41893-022-00905-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-022-00905-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41893-022-00905-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natsus:v:5:y:2022:i:9:d:10.1038_s41893-022-00905-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.