A Study On The Human Skeletal Remains Of Eastern Zhou Dynasty From Dunping Cemetery In Zhang County,Gansu Province

The physical characteristics of the ancient population in the Bronze culture of the Northern Steppe during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty are essential scientific arguments for archaeological cultural studies and ethnic research.At present,systematic physical anthropological studies in eastern Gansu province are still lacking,while rich findings in the Great Belt in Inner Mongolia and southern Ningxia have been published.The Dunping site in Zhang County,Gansu Province,is one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the Bronze culture of Northern Steppe in eastern Gansu province in recent years,which has unearthed numerous chariots and harnesses,weapons,iron implements,and gold wares,as well as a large number of well-preserved human skeletal remains.According to the researcher,the features of funerary objects,tomb forms,and burial customs,which are closely related to the northern bronze culture in the Gan-Ning region,reflect not only the typical characteristics of the Bronze culture of the Northern Steppe,but also the stages,regional,and population differences in this region.In this study,from the perspective of physical anthropology,116 individuals of human skeletal materials excavated from the Dunping Cemetery of Eastern Zhou Dynasty are used as the research object,and systematic analysis studied of sex and age-at-death,paleopathology,body size and behavior patterns,dental wear,and paleethnology of this population is discussed using methods of osteoarchaeology.This study concludes by revealing the behavioral patterns and dietary characteristics of the livestock population in the Gan-Qing region during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty,as well as the differences in the composition of the physical characteristics of ancient populations in the belt of Bronze culture of Northern Steppe.In Chapter 1,the physical-geographical overview,archaeological background of the Dunping cemetery,and research on West Rong culture are briefly introduced.Then,the name of the ancient population is discussed,therefore,the term “ Eastern Zhou Dynasty Dunping population” is used to refer to the ancient inhabitants represented by the human skeletal materials excavated from the Eastern Zhou Dynasty cemetery in the Dunping.Finally,the main research content and significance of this paper are presented.In Chapter 2,the sex and age-at-death of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty Dunping inhabitants are identified,and the sex ratio and age-at-death distribution characteristics of this population are analyzed using statistical methods,followed by a summary of the demographic characteristics of this population using the method of comparison between groups.The findings show that this population has an unbalanced sex ratio,a young age-at-death,and a high level of fertility,suggesting that they face high survival pressures and that female may be exposed to risk for puerperal health due to medical limitations.In Chapter 3,the paleopathology of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty Dunping population is identified and counted using observation,description,and class statistics methods,and the diseases and health level of the inhabitants are discussed.The results showed that the fracture trauma sample was small,which assumed that they were exposed to lower violent factors.Then,they have less incidence of congenital diseases,infectious diseases,and metabolic diseases,but low oral health levels,which means a weak awareness of oral health care.The vertebrae and limb joints of this population commonly suffer from osteoarthritis,especially the highest grade of arthritis in the shoulder and ankle joints.And the osteoarthritis in the male group was significantly higher than in the female group,implying that males undertook more strenuous physical work.In Chapter 4,a combination of dental wear class,dental 3D wear,and dental microwear analysis is used to quantify the dental wear characteristics of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty Dunping population in terms of three dimensions: dental planar morphology,three-dimensional morphology,and micro-morphology.A cross-disciplinary approach was then used to cross-check the recipe characteristics of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty Dunping population using dental wear studies,carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis,and archaeological context studies.The results of this study showed a low level and a slow rate of tooth wear in this population,and their microwear features on the buccal side of the molars indicate a relatively low intake of plant-based foods.Finally,combined with the rare agricultural economic features of the burials of Dunping Cemetery and the prevalent use of a large number of animal skeletons such as cattle,horses,and sheep as animal sacrifices,it is assumed that the livelihood pattern of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty Dunping population should mainly rely on the livestock economy,with agriculture accounting for a smaller percentage.In Chapter 5,the limb bones of this population were used as research materials.Anthropometric and biomechanical research methods were employed,and various tools such as skeletal measurements,morphological observations,CT scans,and 3D reconstructions were used to collect limb bone database from multiple perspectives,based on which the stature,body mass,body shape and behavior patterns of this population were studied.As a results,the average stature level of this population is high,with significant differences between males and females;their body shape is mainly intermediate long and lean,showing proportional and healthy.This population has a low level of upper limb robustness,a more slender and flat shape of the tibia,a moderately high level of biomechanical femur robustness,a flattened central cross-sectional morphology,and a high proportion of Poirier’s facet.Thus,their limb bone characteristics and behavioral patterns reflect those of the livestock population,with marked differences in the agricultural population.The non-measurement and measurement characteristics of the cranial features of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty Dunping population were summarized,and then comparative analysis of these data between groups was conducted using multivariate statistical analysis.The results show that the cranial features of the males of the Dunping population are closer to the “East Asian type” of modern Asian Mongolian ethnic group,and belong to the “Ancient Northwest type” of the indigenous population in the Gan-Qing region.At the same time,the larger bizygomatic breath and facial flatness of the male group,as well as the round and broad cranial features of the female group show the “Ancient Mongolian Plateau type” factors,indicating that this population is mainly a local indigenous group who deeply fused with northern population with different physical characteristics in the historical context of the southward movement of the Bronze culture of Northern Steppe.Overall,in this study,human skeletal measurements,paleodemography,biostatistics,isotope chemistry,CT scanning,and 3D modeling analysis were used to discuss five aspects of the physical anthropological characteristics of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty Dunping population.The results reveal the key cranial characteristics,disease,and health of this population,providing an important reference for the study of their living environment,economic patterns,behavior patterns,and social background,and providing a key basis for the research of the ancient population integration in the Gan-Qing region of northwest China during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.