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Agropastoralism has prevailed in Inner Asia since the Bronze Age. It is an optimal subsistence strategy of inhabitants for adaptation to arid marginal environment. However, previous studies paid little attention to different development trajectories of this mixed economy within similar habitat. The Turpan and Hami Basins, located in eastern Tianshan Mountains of Xinjiang, are two typical desert oases with extremely dry climate, providing us with an appropriate region to investigate the issue. In present study, radiocarbon dates (n = 154) of eight typical sites in these two basins were reviewed and used to reconstruct the prehistoric chronology sequence prior to Han Dynasty (2200 cal BP). Then the data of botanical and faunal remains and stable isotope analyses (n = 159) of human diets from these sites were also reviewed for reliably revealing the subsistence economy pattern. Combining the time scale with multiple biological proxies, results show that, from the Bronze Age to early Iron Age, inhabitant subsistence in the Turpan Basin was dominated by livestock herding and supplemented by low-investment cereal crop cultivation, while the agriculture in Turpan Basin has developed significantly by the later period of Subeixi Culture. In contrast, agriculture-based economy was continuously developed in the Hami oases. Although the climate is very dry in both basins, temperature in warm seasons is much higher in the Turpan Basin. Besides thermal condition, size, range and convenient availability of highland pasture located at the southern flank of the Tianshan Mountains, are main driving factors leading to differentiated development trajectories of agropastoralism. Apart from that, cultural factors like economy, culture and technology communication along with population migration also impact local subsistence economy pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, we analyzed seven wooden bows and 13 arrows excavated from the cemeteries of Subeixi Culture (13th century BCE–AD second century) in the Turpan Basin, northwest China. A total of six taxa, viz. Morus sp., Salix sp., Picea sp., Lonicera sp., Betula sp., and Tamarix sp. were identified. Some of these taxa have been generally accepted to be suitable for bow‐and‐arrow production. All these taxa were local in origin but distributed in different ecotonal zones, including oases, saline‐alkali lands, and mountain areas. Previous archaeological studies have confirmed that the Subeixi populations lived an agro‐pastoral life. By analyzing the possible provenance of these wood samples, it can be hypothesized that these ancient agro‐pastoralists moved between the Turpan Basin and the Tianshan Mountains on a seasonal basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring ancient socio-economic adaptation is a basic issue of human-environment interaction. Xinjiang in northwest China is a region of high geographic diversity. Past human adaptations to this arid marginal area is a current focus of research interest but still lacks in-depth study. This article presents data from the Wupu Cemetery, located in the extremely arid Hami Basin in the eastern Tianshan Mountains. Archaeobotanical analysis is used to reconstruct the local environment niche and the subsistence economy of inhabitants. Radiocarbon dating results indicate the cemetery was occupied between 3000 and 2400 cal BP, during the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age. In total 16 species of the plant remains are identified, including four cereal crops, foxtail millet (Setaria italica), broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum), naked barley (Hordeum vulgare var. coeleste), wheat (Triticum aestivum) and 12 wild types. The riparian plant Populus euphratica and aquatic plant Typha sp. indicate inhabitants lived in an oasis near the cemetery. Environmental interpretation of this data compares well with other seven sites in arid southern Xinjiang. In addition to faunal remains from the site, it is assumed that a flexible system of multi-crop farming and herding was the subsistence pattern around Wupu. This system was widespread across Inner Asia and appears to have played a central role in adapting to different marginal environments during the Bronze Age and Iron Age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]