Millet-based agricultural intensification in Guanzhong Basin China during late Yangshao Culture period by isotopic analysis

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To reveal the motivation for social complexity during the late Yangshao Culture period, this case study conducts isotopic analysis on human bones from the Jiangliu site, Guanzhong Basin, China. Results show that the Neolithic inhabitants (−8.1 ± 0.5‰, 9.7 ± 0.5‰, n = 34) with direct AMS-14C dating (5264–4865 cal BP) lived mainly on millet-based food. Moreover, the human diet did not vary by sex or age. In conjunction with palaeoethnobotanical and palaeoenvironmental data, it can be inferred that the Neolithic inhabitants primarily made their living by millet-based agriculture. A comprehensive analysis of long-term isotopic data from the Guanzhong Basin indicates that millet-based agriculture continuously intensified from approximately 8000–5000 BP. Intensive millet-based agriculture served as a crucial material foundation for the development of social complexity in the Guanzhong Basin during the late Yangshao Culture period.