Paleodiet reconstruction of human and animal bones at the Dalujiao cemetery in Early Iron Age Xinjiang, China.

Long before the East–West "Silk Road" appeared, cultural communication as well as exchanges of materials and technologies had existed between different populations across the Eurasian Steppe. Xinjiang, located at a crossroads of the East and the West, is particularly important for exploring human interactions. The present paper contributes to this end from a stable isotopic perspective. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis were applied to 51 human and four animal bone remains collected from three types of tombs—namely, the earthen vertical tomb‐pit, earthen vertical tomb‐pit with second‐tier ledge, and earthen vertical tomb‐pit with side chamber—excavated from the Dalujiao cemetery, dated to the Early Iron Age (542 BCE–59 CE), in Xinjiang of northwest China. The δ13C (mean: −18.6 ‰) and δ15N (mean: 7.5‰) results of the faunal remains suggest that the two herbivore species (horse and sheep) were fed mainly by C3 terrestrial plants. By contrast, the human bone specimens differ in δ13C values (from −16.0‰ to −11.6‰, with a mean of −14.1‰ ± 1.1‰, n = 51). People buried in vertical tomb‐pits show a narrow range of δ13C values, an indication that they consumed quite stable sources of food. In contrast, those buried in vertical tomb‐pits with a second‐tier ledge or with a side chamber consumed more diverse foods and probably adopted different subsistence strategies. Taking into consideration both isotopic results and types of tombs, we propose that at least three groups of populations with diverse dietary and subsistence strategies are identifiable at the Dalujiao cemetery. Our study reveals not only human diets and subsistence patterns in the study area but also interactions among different populations prior to the rise of "Silk Road." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]