Isotopic investigation of skeletal remains at the Imdang tombs reveals high consumption of game birds and social stratification in ancient Korea
- Title
- Isotopic investigation of skeletal remains at the Imdang tombs reveals high consumption of game birds and social stratification in ancient Korea
- Author
- 최경철
- Keywords
- GAME & game-birds; ANTHROPOMETRY; SOCIAL stratification; RADIOCARBON dating; SOCIAL adjustment; SOCIAL status; SEAFOOD
- Issue Date
- 2021-11
- Publisher
- NATURE RESEARCH
- Citation
- Scientific Reports. 11/19/2021, Vol. 11 Issue 1, p1-11. 11p.
- Abstract
- Understanding the development of early states on the Korean Peninsula is an important topic in
Korean archaeology. However, it is not clear how social structure was organized by these early states
and what natural resources were utilized from their surrounding environments. To investigate dietary
adaptation and social status in ancient Korea, stable isotope ratios and radiocarbon dates were
measured from humans and animals from the Imdang cemetery, Gyeongsan city, South Korea. The
results indicate that the Imdang diet was mainly based on C3
plants and terrestrial animals. Animal
remains in the graves were directly consumed as daily food items as well as for ritual offerings.
MixSIAR modeling results revealed that the dietary sources for the humans were: game birds ˃ C3
plants ˃ terrestrial herbivores ˃ marine fish ˃ C4
plants. The finding that the game birds represented the
highest contribution to the whole diet, indicates that game birds must have been intensively hunted.
Furthermore, elites consumed more game birds than their retainers and they also consumed seafood
as a privileged dietary item in the Imdang society. This study demonstrates that the Apdok was a
stratified society having high variations in the consumption of food items available to an individual
and provides new insights about the subsistence and social status of the early ancient Apdok state on
the Korean Peninsula.
- URI
- https://www.proquest.com/docview/2599273457?accountid=11283https://repository.hanyang.ac.kr/handle/20.500.11754/169729
- ISSN
- 2045-2322
- DOI
- 10.1038/s41598-021-01798-y
- Appears in Collections:
- COLLEGE OF LANGUAGES & CULTURES[E](국제문화대학) > CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY(문화인류학과) > Articles
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