New insights into the use of Neolithic pottery in Guangxi of South China: organic residue analysis of experimental and archaeological pottery

• Published in: Heritage science 2023-09, Vol.11 (1), p.201-15, Article 201
• Main Authors: Liu, Xiaodi, Ren, Meng, Fu, Yongxu, Hu, Yaowu, Wang, Shuzhi, Yang, Yimin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Archaeology; Biomarkers; Ceramics; Chemistry and Materials Science; Ecological and Social contexts; Lipids; Materials Science; Neolithic; Pottery; Pottery residue analysis; South China; Stone Age; Terrestrial resource; Tropical environments; Utilization
• ISSN: 2050-7445; 2050-7445
• DOI: 10.1186/s40494-023-01045-9

As one of the world’s earliest pottery origins in Eurasia, the role of pottery during Neolithic period in South China remains unclear. Here, we present a new understanding on the utilization pattern of early pottery from the Neolithic sites of Dayan, Dingsishan and Zengpiyan in Guangxi province, China. Compound-specific stable isotope analysis of pottery and bone lipids show that a persistent use of terrestrial C 3 and C 4 resources throughout the pottery utilization history highlight the culinary practice and terrestrial exploitation during Neolithic period. Contrary to the traditional view that the primary use of these pottery was closely linked with aquatic resource processing, no aquatic biomarkers were found in the potsherds, yet these compounds were detected in the cooking experiments in this study, indicating that aquatic resources in these sites were probably processed or consumed in other ways. Moreover, a remarkable diachronic change from extensive use of C 3 and C 4 resources to the intensive use of certain kinds of C 3 resources in different Neolithic stages, further indicating that an ecological tradition rooted in the subtropical and tropical environments as well as the Neolithic social evolution exerted great influence upon the initial production and the subsequent utilization of early pottery in prehistoric South China.