Diet communication on the early Silk Road in ancient China: multi-analytical analysis of food remains from the Changle Cemetery

Abstract

Abstract Characterization of ancient food remains could reflect how people exploited biological resources and interacted with different cultures in antiquity. In this study, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), starch grain, phytolith, stable isotope analysis and proteomics were adopted to characterize the composition of the food remains including three cereal foodstuffs, some meat strips and a kebab discovered at the Changle Cemetery (202 BCE–220 CE), Ningxia, northwest China, a key area on the Silk Road. The results show that the cereal foods were baked cakes, primarily made from foxtail millet ( Setaria italica ). One cake was simply made of millet grains, the others were more elaborately comprised of millet flour with the addition of barley flour and meat from cattle ( Bos t