Cereal remains from Yanghai Tombs in Turpan, Xinjiang and their palaeoenvironmental significance
Jiang Hongen Li Xiao Li Chengsen
1 Academia Turfanica of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Turpan 838000，Xinjiang
2 State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093
3 Beijing National Museum, Beijing 100050
For the first time,systemtics studies are carried on the plant remains of the Yanghai in Turpan,Xinjiang, and 3 kinds of cereals are determined including Panicum miliaceum, Hordeum vulgare var. nudum, and Triticum aestivum. The Turpan area is arid due to the few precipitation thus the planty remains in the achaeologic sites are well preserved. These cereal crops were produced in the Turpan area. Among them, Panicum miliaceum may be the main cereal crops of ancient Yanghai people. By analysis on plant remains, the palaeoclimate 2800 years ago in Yanghai should be fit for agriculture production. Palaeoenvironmental analysis shows that the ancient Yanghai people tribes were located on an oasis with some grassland. Populus euphratica, Salix sp., and Picea sp. etc. were distributed along the river or on the highlands.
