HEXI CORRIDOR, CHINA—According to a statement released by Washington University in St. Louis, farmers and herders in Bronze Age China managed their cows differently from other early farming groups in Asia, often keeping them close to villages and feeding them stalks from domesticated plants such as millet. They seem to have allowed most sheep and goats to range farther afield and consume natural vegetation. Researchers including Washington University in St. Louis archaeologist Petra Viaglova analyzed the animals' diets by studying stable isotope data obtained from the bones of cattle, sheep, and goats from nine Bronze Age sites in the Hexi Corridor, a region connecting the Tibetan Plateau and the Gobi Desert. “The results showed that cattle and sheep or goats were managed distinctly in the different ecological niches across the study region,” said Viaglova. “We propose that this was a result of varying management choices made by the local farmers, who aimed to strike a balance between tradition and innovation." Read the original scholarly article about this research in Scientific Reports. To learn more about research into Bronze Age Chinese diets, go to “You Are How You Cook.”
