Bronze Age Subsistence Change at Regional and Microscopic Scales in Northeast China

Abstract

This article investigates Late Bronze Age mobile pastoralism in Northeast China. Analysis of the use-wear patterns provides direct evidence speaking to the subsistence economies during the Bronze Age. The patterns of use-wear are compared to the settlement patterning and environmental contexts to test proposed theories about whether and how subsistence change takes place. The results indicate continuity in mixed animal and plant based economies in both the Early and Late Bronze Age despite changes in climate and population. The relative intensity of economic practice is guided by the environmental context, but this is detected only at the sub-regional level.