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Bronze Age agro-pastoralist populations with economies and materials that are generally consistent with the Andronovo Culture--but with localised variations--are known throughout the mountains bordering the Eastern Eurasian Steppe. Recently, evidence for this tradition has also been found in north-west Xinjiang, China, although many questions remain about the production, use and significance of ceramics here. The authors' analyses of a sample of pottery from sites across the Bortala Valley permit the reconstruction of the ceramic chaine operatoire and offer two distinct stories: one of cultural connectivity with regional networks of Eurasian pastoralists, and another about self-expression through small-scale local ceramic production. Keywords: China, Xinjiang, Bronze Age, Andronovo, ceramics, chaine operatoire, Introduction Situated between the vast Eurasian Steppe, the Inner Asian Mountain Corridor and central China, Xinjiang was a central node in ancient trans-Eurasian exchanges. While best known for the historic-period [...]

The Dzungar Basin of northern Xinjiang has previously been considered a marginal environment with little evidence for the development of prehistoric agriculture. Recent archaeobotanical studies have indicated the region as being a route for the transmission of domesticated plants, technologies and ideas between East and West Eurasia during prehistory, as early as 5000 BP. These interactions are still poorly understood and most evidence for early plant food production and consumption in the region comes from limited mortuary contexts. In this study we present plant macrofossil analysis from the settlement site of Luanzagangzi on the southern side of the Dzungar Basin. From ca. 3130 BP an agricultural package of east and west Asian cereals and chaff is present, comprising wheat, barley, foxtail millet, broomcorn millet, and significantly a single grain of japonica type rice. AMS dating indicates this is the oldest directly dated rice in Xinjiang and the broader region, ranging 3069–2881 cal. BP. Cereal morphometrics and material culture from the site further indicate a connection with the Gansu region to the east. The spread of agriculture into the site environment may be linked to the onset of wetter conditions relating to strengthened westerly systems across arid Central Asia in the Late-Holocene. A declining abundance of West Asian cultivars over the period of the site's occupation possibly reflect a shift away from intensive agriculture to low-level management of millets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due largely to demographic growth, agricultural populations during the Holocene became increasingly more impactful ecosystem engineers. Multidisciplinary research has revealed a deep history of human-environmental dynamics; however, these pre-modern anthropogenic ecosystem transformations and cultural adaptions are still poorly understood. Here, we synthesis anthracological data to explore the complex array of human-environmental interactions in the regions of the prehistoric Silk Road. Our results suggest that these ancient humans were not passively impacted by environmental change, but rather they culturally adapted to, and in turn altered, arid ecosystems. Underpinned by the establishment of complex agricultural systems on the western Loess Plateau, people may have started to manage chestnut trees, likely through conservation of economically significant species, as early as 4600 BP. Since ca. 3500 BP, with the appearance of high-yielding wheat/barley farming in Xinjiang and the Hexi Corridor, people appear to have been cultivating Prunus and Morus trees. We also argue that people were transporting the preferred coniferous woods over long distance to meet the need for fuel and timber. After 2500 BP, people in our study area were making conscious selections between wood types for craft production, and were also clearly cultivating a wide range of long-generation perennials, showing a remarkable traditional knowledge tied into the arid environment. At the same time, the data suggest that there was significant deforestation throughout the chronology of occupation, including a rapid decline of slow-growing spruce forests and riparian woodlands across the northwest China. The wood charcoal dataset is publicly available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8158277 (Shen et al., 2023). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bronze Age social and cultural interconnections across the Eurasian steppe are the subject of much current debate. A particularly significant place is occupied by the Andronovo Culture or family of cultures. Important new data document the most easterly extension of Eurasian Bronze Age sites of Andronovo affinity into western China. Findings from the site of Adunqiaolu in Xinjiang and a new series of radiocarbon dates challenge existing models of eastward cultural dispersion, and demonstrate the need to reconsider the older chronologies and migration theories. The site is well preserved and offers robust potential for deeper study of the Andronovo culture complex, particularly in the eastern mountain regions. Keywords: China, Eurasian steppe, Bronze Age, Andronovo, chronology, Introduction The Bronze Age of the Eurasian steppe, broadly associated with mobile or semi-mobile communities, can be seen as diverse in terms of material culture, architecture and burial practices. Following [...]