榆林地区龙山晚期至夏代早期先民的作物选择初探

Crop Choice in the Yulin Area Between the Late Longshan and Early Xia Periods

已有的考古研究显示,榆林地区在龙山晚期至夏代早期遗址数量激增,聚落等级差异显著,社会复杂化程度加深。但其文明化过程中,不同等级聚落的先民对作物的选择情况如何,作物选择与社会发展程度之间的关系如何仍不明确。本文公布了榆林新机场火石梁遗址的植物浮选结果,搜集该地区已有的大植物遗存资料,根据古人农作物计量的习惯,优化分析植物遗存所代表的作物产量信息,揭示不同聚落规模下先民对作物的选择利用情况。研究结果揭示,榆林地区龙山晚期至夏代早期小型聚落居民延续以黍为主的旱作农业,但大型聚落—石峁遗址的先民则有了更多的选择,如强化对粟的开发,其作物选择的多样化可能与资源调动能力相关。

This article focuses on the identification and analysis of carbonized seeds unearthed from the Huoshiliang site in Yulin city on the northern Loess Plateau in 2006.The abundant presence of charred crop seeds including Setaria italica and Panicum miliaceum indicated that millets played an important role in the agricultural economy in this area during 2200~1800 BC.Based on the data published to date,we argue that broomcorn millet is more dominant in the assemblage compared to foxtail millet in Yulin during the late Holocene.However,charred crop seeds yielded from the Shimao site,which was an important political center in Northern China between 2300 and 1800 BC,showed distinctive patterns in the assemblage compared to the discoveries from low-level settlements in the Yulin area.The inter-site variation indicated that ancient residents in Yulin might have employed different strategies in crop production and consumption.