西藏故如甲木墓地人群牙齿磨耗和食物结构的关系

西藏阿里故如甲木墓地位于阿里地区噶尔县,是迄今为止阿里地区发现的规模最大、埋葬最集中的古代墓葬群。2012-2014年由中国社会科学院考古研究所和西藏自治区文物保护研究所联合开展发掘工作,发现并清理了11座墓葬,其中8座墓葬的时代略早,约为公元3-4世纪。另外3座为公元7-9世纪的吐蕃时期墓葬。本文对时代略早的8座故如甲木墓地出土的人骨进行了牙齿磨耗的观察,计算了每颗牙齿的平均磨耗等级以及前后部牙齿的磨耗差别指数,并选择了7组不同时代、不同地点、不同生业类型的古代人群进行了比较分析。结果表明,故如甲木的古代人群牙齿磨耗与畜牧业人群的磨耗接近,这也符合故如甲木当时的生业类型,即以牧业为主,辅以青稞和谷物的种植栽培。从牙齿磨耗推测故如甲木的人群在食物结构中有足够的动物性食物,这与碳氮同位素的食物结构分析结果也是一致的。

The relationship between tooth wear and diet of the Gurugyam people in Tibet

The Gurugyam cemetery, located in Gar County of the Ali region in Tibet, is the largest and most concentrated of graves within the Ali region. The Archaeological Institute of CASS, along with the Tibetan Institute for Conservation and Research of Cultural Relics, conducted excavations from 2012 to 2014. Together they cleaned up 11 tombs, including eight from the 3rd to 4th centuries AD, and three from the 7th to 9th centuries. From the eight tombs of the 3rd to 4th centuries, human teeth samples found were examined for tooth wear. The average tooth wear for each tooth was calculated, and the index of front-post tooth wear difference was compared with ancient group’s models of different livelihoods. Analysis showed that the average tooth wear for the Gurugyam population, who possess a priority for animal husbandry over barley and grain planting, is close to the stock farmers. It is speculated from tooth wear analysis, that there were enough animal resources in their diet, which is consistent with the results from carbon and nitrogen isotopes analysis.