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The history of fruit-tree utilization by prehistoric people has become an important issue that has attracted increasing attention in recent years. However, the question of how people used fruit trees has not yet been answered; in particular, the impacts of different subsistence strategies on human behavior regarding fruit-tree utilization (wild gathering or conscious cultivation) have not yet been considered. Here, we present the results of charcoal identification of fruit trees from 16 dated archeological sites in the northeastern Tibetan Plateau (NETP) spanning the period c. 5,200–2,600 BP. We combine this with reported multidisciplinary evidence to explore the history of fruit-tree utilization as well as its relation to the subsistence strategy in the NETP during the late Neolithic and Bronze Age. Our results demonstrate that Rosaceae [Prunus L., Prunus Padus L., Maloideae L., and Malus baccata (L.) Borkh], Elaeagnaceae (Hippophae L. and Elaeagnus angustifolia L.), and Rhamnaceae (only Ziziphus Mill.) were used by people in the NETP, and there was a downward trend in the use of fruit trees during the late Neolithic and Bronze Age. This is in notable contrast to the situation in the Chinese Loess Plateau in the parallel period. The cold-dry climate during the Bronze Age seemed to be one of the reasons. The fruit trees used by people in the NETP were likely gathered from the wild rather than consciously cultivated, and the subsistence strategy of agropastoralism may have played a significant role during the processes.

Charcoal remains from archeological sites are used not only to reconstruct the historical composition of local woodlands but also to examine the history of the human use of wood. Nevertheless, key questions such as how and why people may have selected particular woody taxa from locations long distances from their habitat have rarely been addressed. In the present study, we analyze charcoal remains from the ancient Jingbaoer (JBR) jade mine in the Mazong Mountains (Mazong Shan) of Northwest China to explore patterns in the collection and use of wood by Iron Age people. Factors affecting the choice of wood collected at the JBR site are discussed by combining the results of pollen records and charcoal analysis. Our results suggest that tamarisk (Tamarix L.), a shrub dominant in the local area, was the main source of wood for JBR miners and was used as firewood depending upon its local availability. The miners may also have used wood from species sourced further away, such as Pinus L. and Picea L., because of the local scarcity of these trees in such a dry environment. The agropastoralist subsistence system practiced by the JBR miners supports the hypothesis of the collection of wood from distant locales. This study highlights diverse patterns of wood collection in an area scarce in woody plants and provides new evidence for understanding how Iron Age people adapted to extremely arid environments.