植物考古學與古代人類食物研究－以賈湖與王城崗遺址為例

Archaeobotany and the Study of Ancient Foods the Jiahu Site and Wangchenggang Site as Case Studies

趙志軍(Zhi-Jun Zhao)

《中國飲食文化》 4卷2期 (2008/07) Pp. 19-44

https://doi.org/10.30152/JCDC.200807.0002

摘要

人類的食物可略分爲動物類和植物類兩大項。古代人類食物的研究需要依靠考古出土的動物和植物遺存作爲實物證據。浮選法(floatation)是通過考古發掘獲取古代植物遺存的有效方法。目前在中國開展過浮選工作的考古遺址已經多達百餘處，獲得了數量驚人的炭化植物遺存。根據對這些古代植物資料的整理和分析，可以對古人類食物研究相關的諸多問題展開探討。例如，賈湖遺址的浮選結果揭示，距今八千年前的賈湖先民雖然已經開始種植稻穀，但其經濟生產活動的主體卻仍然是採集漁獵，其日常食物包括有魚、蚌、螺等肉類，蓮藕、菱角、野大豆等採集的植物類，以及用野葡萄等鮮果釀造的飲料類。王城崗遺址的浮選結果說明，距今4500-3500年間華夏文明形成時期，中原地區的農業經濟開始由單一種植制度逐步地轉變爲多品種糧食作物種植制度，這些糧食作物包括粟、黍、稻穀、小麥和大豆，恰好與古文獻對所謂「五穀」的解釋相吻合。這種改變提高了農業的總體產量，減少糧食種植的危險係數，爲華夏文明的起源和發展提供了物質基礎。

關鍵字

植物遺存 ； 浮選法 ； 農業起源 ； 文明起源

並列摘要

Research on the ancient human diet, which consisted of both meat and plant material, relies upon archaeological data such as animal bones and plant remains. Flotatation is an effective method to recover plant remains from excavations. At present, flotatation work has been carried out in over 100 archaeological sites in China, and through this means an amazing amount of carbonised plant remains have been found. Through collation and analysis of the data recovered by flotatation, discussion of important issues related to the study of ancient diet can be opened up. For example, the flotatation results from the Jiahu site indicate that while Jiahu people began to cultivate rice about 8000 years ago, they still relied on hunting, gathering, and fishing as the main mode of economic and productive activity, and their ordinary diet included fish, shellfish and snails as meat, and lotus root, water caltrops, and wild soybeans as plant foods, with wild grapes and other fruits used for preparing fermented beverages. The flotatation results from the Wangchenggang site suggest that, just at the time when Chinese civilization was taking shape around 4500-3500 BP, the farming system in the Central Plain of China gradually changed from monoculture to the cultivation of a variety of grain cultivars. These grain crops included foxtail millet, broomcorn millet, rice, wheat and soybean, a circumstance which happens to correspond with references to the ”five grains” in ancient documents. This change was significant not only because of the increase in yields produced, but also because it decreased the threat of disasters. It provided an material basis for the origination and development of Chinese civilization.

並列關鍵字

plant remains ； flotatation ； origins of agriculture ； origins of civilization

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