Human paleodiet and animal utilization strategies during the Bronze Age in northwest Yunnan Province, southwest China

<div><p>Reconstructing ancient diets and the use of animals and plants augment our understanding of how humans adapted to different environments. Yunnan Province in southwest China is ecologically and environmentally diverse. During the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods, this region was occupied by a variety of local culture groups with diverse subsistence systems and material culture. In this paper, we obtained carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) isotopic ratios from human and faunal remains in order to reconstruct human paleodiets and strategies for animal exploitation at the Bronze Age site of Shilinggang (ca. 2500 Cal BP) in northwest Yunnan Province. The δ¹³C results for human samples from Shilinggang demonstrate that people’s diets were mainly dominated by C₃-based foodstuffs, probably due to both direct consumption of C₃ food and as a result of C₃ foddering of consumed animals. Auxiliary C₄ food signals can also be detected. High δ¹⁵N values indicate that meat was an important component of the diet. Analysis of faunal samples indicates that people primarily fed pigs and dogs with human food waste, while sheep/goats and cattle were foddered with other food sources. We compare stable isotope and archaeobotanical data from Shilinggang with data from other Bronze Age sites in Yunnan to explore potential regional variation in subsistence strategies. Our work suggests that people adopted different animal utilization and subsistence strategies in different parts of Yunnan during the Bronze Age period, probably as local adaptations to the highly diversified and isolated environments in the region.</p></div

Performance Modulation of Printed Two-Dimensional GaO_<i>x</i> Film Transistor Upon Annealing Treatment

Gallium oxide (Ga2O3), an emerging ultrabroadband semiconductor, is a crucial material for developing next-generation high-efficiency, high-power electronic devices. In this work, we prepared 2D GaOx films for lap thin-film transistors (TFTs) using tumbling to peel off the oxide layer on the surface of the liquid gallium metal. By treating the 2D GaOx films with different annealing temperatures and changing their internal defect concentrations, we realized the tuning of the films in terms of optical properties, electrical properties, and the performance of GaOx-based TFT devices with channel layer thicknesses of less than 10 nm. After annealing, the films were transformed from amorphous GaOx to β-Ga2O3, the visible transmittance was kept above 98%, the oxygen vacancy concentration decreased from 69 to 9.1%, the figure of merit increased monotonically from 3.9 to 4.2 eV, and the electrical characteristics gradually transitioned from a conductor to a semi-insulator. The Ioff of GaOx-based TFTs is below 1 nA, and the Ion/Ioff can reach 104, showing excellent potential in electrical devices

Isotopic composition and quality indicators of human samples from Shilinggang, Yunnan.

<p>The samples marked in bold italics were found to be contaminated, and were not included in further statistical analysis. Context locations are shown in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0177867#pone.0177867.g002" target="_blank">Fig 2a</a>. Among the sample context codes, TNnWn (where n is an Arabic numeral) refers to excavation unit; Mn (where n is an Arabic numeral) refers to the grave number. “Ind.” stands for indeterminate sex.</p

Isotopic composition and quality indicators of animal samples from Shilinggang, Yunnan.

<p>Samples marked in bold italics were found to be contaminated, and were not included in further statistical analysis. Context locations are shown in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0177867#pone.0177867.g002" target="_blank">Fig 2a</a>. Among the sample context codes, TNnWn (where n is an Arabic numeral) refers to excavation unit; circles with a number inside refer to the stratigraphic layer.</p

Isotopic value distributions for domesticated animals showing groups with different husbandry strategies.

<p>Isotopic value distributions for domesticated animals showing groups with different husbandry strategies.</p

Plan map of northern Shilinggang and stratigraphic column from unit TN6W3.

<p>a) Plan map of the northern part of Shilinggang. Rectangular excavation units are labeled starting with the letter T. Features include burials (labeled with the letter “M”), pits (labeled with the letter “H”), and building foundations (labeled with the letter “F”). The features shown in Fig 2a are modified from Li et al. [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0177867#pone.0177867.ref028" target="_blank">28</a>]. b) Photograph of stratigraphic profile in unit TN6W3 (center right of plan map in Fig 2a). Circles around numbers indicate stratigraphic levels.</p

Comparison of human isotopic signatures for adult vs. child samples.

<p>Comparison of human isotopic signatures for adult vs. child samples.</p

Scatter diagram of human and animal collagen carbon and nitrogen values from Shilinggang.

<p>Analytical error is so small that it is contained within the symbols.</p

The location of Shilinggang and other sites mentioned in the text.

<p>DEM (digital elevation model) data was downloaded from Geospatial Data Cloud (<a href="http://www.gscloud.cn/" target="_blank">http://www.gscloud.cn/</a>), and map features in the figure were modified from Li et al. [<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0177867#pone.0177867.ref028" target="_blank">28</a>].</p

sj-pdf-1-hol-10.1177_09596836221131698 – Supplemental material for Understanding the transport networks complex between South Asia, Southeast Asia and China during the late Neolithic and Bronze Age

Supplemental material, sj-pdf-1-hol-10.1177_09596836221131698 for Understanding the transport networks complex between South Asia, Southeast Asia and China during the late Neolithic and Bronze Age by Minmin Ma, Yongxiu Lu, Guanghui Dong, Lele Ren, Rui Min, Lihong Kang, Zhonghua Zhu, Xiaorui Li, Bo Li, Zhijian Yang, Nongbu Cili, Ruiliang Liu, Yu Gao and Fahu Chen in The Holocene</p