Isotopic evidence reveals ethnic integration in the Guanzhong region during the sixteen kingdoms period in the perspective of dietary cultural identity

The Sixteen Kingdoms period (SKP) was a critical phase in the formation of the Chinese national community. The Guanzhong region, where agricultural and pastoral populations coexisted and interacted, served as a significant arena for the convergence and exchange of agricultural and nomadic dietary cultures, during this period. Therefore, revealing the integration between these two groups from the perspective of dietary cultural identity holds great importance for exploring the formation and development of the Chinese national community. Stable carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) isotope analysis of human bones provides the most direct evidence for revealing human diet and subsistence strategies, and has become one of the primary methods in archaeology for studying the integration of agricultural and pastoral populations. However, to date, there still has been a lack of stable isotopic evidence of human bones from the Sixteen Kingdoms period to investigate dietary cultural identity and the integration between agricultural and pastoral populations.

This study is undertaken by the research teams led by Prof. Hu Yaowu from the Department of Cultural Heritage and Museology and Institute of Archaeological Science at the Fudan University, and led by Prof. Liu Daiyun in Shanxi Academy of Archaeology. They conducted stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of 36 human bone samples from 25 individuals of the Sixteen Kingdoms period (including long bones and ribs from the same individual) from tombs of Phases II and III of the Xi’an Xianyang Airport site (XXA (SKP)).

This study represents China’s first isobioarchaeological research focusing on the Sixteen Kingdoms period, and provides an excellent case study for exploring dietary cultural identity and agro-pastoral integration in the Central Plains during this period. The paper, titled " Dietary cultural identity and ethnic integration: stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of human bones in the Guanzhong region during the Sixteen Kingdoms period (304–439 AD)", were published in Science China Earth Sciences .

The isotopic data indicate that ancestors mainly consumed C₄-based (millets) foods or animals fed on their byproducts, supplemented by C₃-based (wheat, rice, etc.) foods, which reflects a subsistence strategy mixed with millet, wheat or rice agriculture and livestock husbandry (Figure 1). The isotopic results of individuals from middle and high rank burials, represented by the female individual from tomb M298, indicate the approval and strong reliance on the agricultural economy by the notables. Additionally, significant isotopic differences between long bones and ribs were observed in five individuals (Figure 2), suggesting significant dietary shifts before their death, which might be caused by the migration during their last lifetime.

When comparing the isotopic data of humans from the Han (202 BC–220 AD) to the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534 AD) in the Guanzhong region as well as Xiongnu and Tuoba Xianbei in the steppe, we find that the nomads had already adopted and developed millet agriculture before migrating into Guanzhong region and that they further adopted the agricultural economy during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. This indicates the more positive attitudes of the nomads to the agricultural system when they moved into Guangzhou region, which promotes the integration of different populations and dietary cultures ultimately.

During the Sixteen Kingdoms period, large numbers of nomadic pastoralists from the northern steppe migrated into the Guanzhong region. The δ¹⁵N value of XXA(SKP) are significantly lower than those of the Han Dynasty while the δ¹³C values are slightly lower than those of the Han Dynasty (Figure 3), indicating a reduced consumption of animal proteins and millets and increased consumption of wheat or rice. This clearly demonstrates that the nomadic groups migrated southwards not only maintained the millet-based agricultural economy inherited from the Han Dynasty but also proactively developed wheat or rice agriculture.

It should be noted that the acceptance and adoption of agricultural economy by nomadic groups in the Guanzhong region can be traced back to their ancestors in the northern steppe. As shown in Figure 3, Xiongnu (The Egiin Gol (EG) and Baga Gazaryn Chuluu (BGC) in Mongolia) and Tuoba Xianbei groups (Zhalainuoer (ZN), East Wuzhuer (EW), Tuanjie (TJ), Sandaowan (SDW) and Bagou cemeteries (BG)) had partially adopted millet agriculture as one of necessary subsistence strategies. More reliance on millets is observed during the Qin (221–207 BC) and Han dynasty (Fig.3) in the Guangzhou region. During the Sixteen Kingdoms period, nomads migrated southwards into the Guanzhong region and adopted agricultural economy as well when they had prolonged interaction with agricultural populations.

This study provides the first direct evidence of nomads’ strong approval on the agricultural system originated in the Central Plains. The acceptance of agricultural economy by the nomadic regimes during the Sixteen Kingdoms period in Guanzhong, was not an abrupt transformation but a gradual social evolutionary process. The continuity and development of agricultural economy during this period facilitate ethnic and cultural integration and lay the economic foundation for the formation and development of the Chinese national community.

Chen Feng (PhD) and Sun Chenshuang (PhD) serves as the first and second author of this paper, while Professor Hu Yaowu serves as the corresponding author, who are all from the Department of Cultural Heritage and Museology and Institute of Archaeological Science at the Fudan University. Liu Daiyun and Tian Youqian from the Shanxi Academy of Archaeology are co-authors. This work was supported by the National Social Science Fund of China (Grant No. 21&ZD237) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 42172007)

 

See the article:

Chen F, Sun C, Liu D, Tian Y, Hu Y. 2025. Dietary cultural identity and ethnic integration: Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of human bones in the Guanzhong region during the Sixteen Kingdoms period (304–439 AD). Science China Earth Sciences, 68(10): 3343–3355, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-025-1676-y

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