Red pigments and Boraginaceae leaves in mortuary ritual of late Neolithic China: A case study of Shengedaliang site
| Autor: | Zhijun Zhao, XiangLong Chen, XiaoNing Guo, WeiLin Wang, Yan Wu, Yimin Yang, Xiumin Xia |
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| Rok vydání: | 2016 |
| Předmět: |
010506 paleontology
China Histology Burial medicine.disease_cause Spectrum Analysis Raman 01 natural sciences Pollen Botany medicine Humans 0601 history and archaeology Instrumentation Ceremonial Behavior History Ancient 0105 earth and related environmental sciences 060101 anthropology biology Fossils Mercury Compounds Radiometric Dating 06 humanities and the arts Boraginaceae Pigments Biological biology.organism_classification Archaeology Plant Leaves Medical Laboratory Technology Geography Cinnabar Phytolith Anatomy |
| Zdroj: | Microscopy research and technique. 80(2) |
| ISSN: | 1097-0029 |
| Popis: | Investigation of mortuary ritual is an important method to reconstruct many aspects of past societies. Due to the lack of relevant analytical work, little evidence related to organic materials in a burial can be found in China. Here we report materials collected from a burial during the excavation of the Shengedaliang site. The recovered materials were analyzed using Raman spectroscopy and plant analysis: flotation, pollen and phytolith analysis. The red pigments found scattered over the human remains were identified as cinnabar. Extracted phytoliths associated with the burial are mainly leaves from the Boraginaceae family. This is the first time that a covering of leaves have been identified with a burial in Neolithic China. The presence of "special" leaves fossil may indicate a type of "plant worship" and the identification of an important plant used in traditional Chinese medicine. The finding of the two materials allows us to better identify indicators of funerary ritual and its relationship to social inequality. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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