Photo: Screenshot from online
"Ancient rice crust" containing remains of broomcorn millet and a yellow croaker has been unearthed from a site in East China's Jiangsu Province, shedding light on the dietary habits of ancient Chinese who lived around the Taihu Lake region 5,000 years ago.
In 2018, charred residue on the inner walls of a pottery vessel were found during excavations at the Xiawan site on the western shore of Taihu Lake, China's third largest freshwater lake. This "ancient rice crust" adhered to the inner walls of the pottery vessel had a hue darker than the color of soil.
After years of research, the study titled "Characterization of pottery food crusts through lipid and proteomic analyses: A case study from the Xiawan site in Yixing city, East China" has been published in the Journal of Archaeological Science.
"The 'ancient rice crust' bears some resemblance to what modern people see when cooking rice today. During the Neolithic period, when ancient people steamed food, burnt residue would adhere to the inner walls of pottery vessels," said Lü Nanning, the first author of the paper, adding that "the soil in which the buried pottery was found contained relatively few microorganisms, which helped preserve this 'ancient rice crust" for thousands of years," Guangming Daily reported on Monday.
"The analysis of this crust can offer a glimpse into the true state of the final few meals of ancient people," noted Rao Huiyun, the corresponding author of the paper.
Archaeologists also found that ancient people used zeng (ancient steamer) vessels to cook rice and aquatic products. Based on previous research on the Erlitou culture period (1900-1500BC), zeng vessels were also used as steamers to reheat cooked grain products such as steamed buns and rice dumplings, meat and vegetables.
Notably, archaeologists also found the residue of a sea fish - a large yellow croaker - despite the fact that the Xiawan site is approximately 100 kilometers away from the ancient eastern coastline 6,000 years ago.
The methods by which the ancient people acquired these fish from coastal areas and preserved them remain unknown.
Lü speculated that the sea fish might have been obtained through established maritime trade networks with coastal fishermen. However, concrete answers to these questions are yet to be uncovered.
According to Lü, at least 5,800 years ago, rice, fish, and other aquatic products formed part of the ancient people's diet. The findings also align with the historical records from the Han Dynasty (206BC-AD220), which indicated a diet consisting of rice and fish in the region.
Moreover, researchers uncovered evidence of broomcorn millet cultivation alongside rice, which is the first time that residue of broomcorn millet has been found in the Taihu Lake region.
Archaeologists indicated that the region may have been situated along the southern transmission route of millet cultivation, and the planting dates back to around 5,800 years ago. This discovery provides new evidence for the southward spread of millet agriculture during the Neolithic period.
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