Figure 1.
The Xincun Site on the southern coast of China.
Location of the study region (A), the site is indicated by the red triangle (B), and geomorphological features of the Xincun site (C). Red grids mark excavation area (AI-III), stippling shows coastal sand dunes.
Table 1.
AMS radiocarbon dates from occupation layers, Xincun site.
Figure 2.
Stone tools examined for starch residues (1#–8#) and phytoliths (9#–12#).
White dots and arrows indicate sampling locations. Scale bar: 5 cm. 1-n indicate sample numbers used in Table 1.
Table 2.
Types and amounts of starches and phytolith on milling stones from the Xincun Site.
Figure 3.
Ancient starches recovered from residues on the stone tools.
a, Caryota sp., range, 12.1–25.8 µm; b, Corypha sp., range, 10.6–15.5 µm; c, possibly Arenga sp., 11.0 µm; d–j, starches from Musa; d, e and g, similar to hybrid type, range, 25.1–55.6 µm; f and h, under polarized light. i, cf. M. acuminata, range, 11.7–18.0 µm; j, under polarized light; k, cf. Nelumbo nucifera, range, 28.2–31.8 µm; l, Sagittarria sp., range, 14.2–21.8 µm; m, cf. Eleocharis dulcis, 8.8–12.7 µm; n and o, compound starch grains from Angiopteris spp. under brightfield and polarized light, respectively, range, 12.1–32.4 µm; p, Coix spp., range, 9.4–22.5 µm. Scale bar, 20 µm.
Figure 4.
Characteristic starch granules from modern plants.
a, Caryota mitis, range, 3.3–10.7 µm; b, Caryota urens, range, 6.6–45.7 µm; c, Corypha umbraculifera, range, 11.4–48.7 µm; d, Arenga undulatifolia, range, 3.0–17.8 µm; e–f, Musa acuminata, under brightfield and polarized light, range, 6.2–41.3 µm; g, Nelumbo nucifera (root), range, 8.0–72.4 µm; h, Sagittaria trifolia, range, 9.7–27.6 µm; i, Eleocharis dulcis, range, 4.7–18.7 µm; j–k, compound starch grains from Angiopteris yunnanensis under brightfield and polarized light, respectively, range, 9.3–149.4 µm; l, Coix lacryma-jobi, range, 5.4–20.4 µm. Scale bar, 20 µm except a and c, 10 µm.
Figure 5.
Modern and archaeological starch granules from acorns.
The Upper image of each pair shows the starch under brightfield light, and the Lower image shows it under cross-polarized light. The first pair is modern acorn starches (Quercus acutissima), range, 5.1–23.7 µm; the remaining four pairs are ancient starches identified as Quercus sp., range, 11.8–16.4 µm.
Figure 6.
Some phytolith types extracted from tools 9#–12#.
a and b, globular echinate (or ‘spherical crenate’) from Aracaceae; e, scale decorated bulliform from Oryza; f, glume with two peaks from Oryza. Scale bar, 20 µm.
Figure 7.
Percentage diagram for selected phytolith types from surface residues of stone tools 9#–12#: A and B indicate the used facet and non-used facet, respectively.