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Plant microremains provide direct evidence for the functions of stone knives from the Lajia site, northwestern China

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  • Geology
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Chinese Science Bulletin

Abstract

A large number of stone knives have been recovered from Neolithic archaeological sites in East Asia. However, direct evidence regarding the functions of the stone knives has been scarce, and hence, their functions have remained controversial. In this study, we recovered and analysed ancient starch grains and phytoliths from residues adhering to stone knives excavated from the Lajia site, Qinghai Province, northwest China, thus providing direct evidence for the functions of the knives. Our analyses were based on the following: (1) an assemblage of 278 identifiable starch grains, representing grains from the stems of foxtail millet (Setaria italica) and broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) (65.1 % of the total) and the stems of Hordeum and Triticum species (3.6 % of the total), and (2) an assemblage of 361 identifiable phytoliths, the majority of which were from the stems and leaves of plants such as Panicoideae and related taxa (96 % of the total). Our study demonstrates that one of the functions of the stone knives was the harvesting crops. In addition, a few starch grains from food legumes and roots (3.4 % of the total) indicate that the stone knives were also likely used to process, peel and cut some foods.

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Acknowledgments

We thank anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41072140 and 41371217), the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA05130603 and XDA05130402), and the “135” Strategy of Science and Technology Plan Projects of the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2012QY003).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Zhikun Ma, Quan Li, Xiujia Huan, Xiaoyan Yang & Jingyun Zheng

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Zhikun Ma & Xiujia Huan

  3. School of Geography, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China

    Zhikun Ma

  4. Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, 100710, China

    Maolin Ye

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  1. Zhikun Ma
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  2. Quan Li
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  3. Xiujia Huan
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Correspondence to Xiaoyan Yang.

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Ma, Z., Li, Q., Huan, X. et al. Plant microremains provide direct evidence for the functions of stone knives from the Lajia site, northwestern China. Chin. Sci. Bull. 59, 1151–1158 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-014-0174-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-014-0174-0

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