Plant diet during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition in Northwest China: evidence from starch remains from Pigeon Mountain Site in Ningxia Province

Abstract The Paleolithic-Neolithic transition has been hotly debated for decades. In our study, plant starch residue analysis suggests that the occupants of Pigeon Mountain (Locality QG10) exploited several edible plant resources including cereals, legumes, nuts, and underground storage organs (USOs). A post-hunting-gathering living style could be observed, with advanced plant processing techniques, but without any cultivation. Here we propose an Organized Food Supply system, to interpret the development of cereal utilization in this part of North China in prehistory. In this system, the occupants gathered various edible plant materials, including a large proportion of cereals, returned to their base camp, processed and consumed them but left a surplus for the future consumption and logistic needs for each fieldwork team. On this model, they were reaping wild plants but were not sowing them as future crops. Among the food materials, cereals are easily prepared, stored, and transported, and were thus one of the first choices of high-mobility fieldwork teams. This strategy is more significant in arid or semi-arid environments because of the difficulty of instant food acquisition, and subsequently influenced the occupants’ exploitation of plant resources.