The ties that bind : population dynamics, mobility, and kinship during the mid-holocene in Northern Vietnam

Abstract

During the mid-Holocene in Northern Vietnam, domestic rice, dogs, and pigs were introduced into Southeast Asia by populations genetically derived from Central China who interbred and traded with indigenous populations. Mortuary practices also changed substantially, indirectly suggesting a change in social structure and migration between communities, as well as possible changes to activity and mobility patterns. To investigate how the adoption of agriculture and increased long distance exchange affected daily life at individual and community levels, this thesis utilizes the skeletal assemblages from Man Bac (c. 3,800BP) and Con Co Ngua (c. 5,600BP). They represent the largest and best preserved mid-Holocene samples from Northern Vietnam, and have been analysed elsewhere to investigate broader topics such as the population history of Southeast Asia, palaeohealth and dietary change during the purported Neolithic Demographic Transition. To comprehend how daily life changed during this poorly understood time period, three aims, with associated hypotheses, were proposed: 1) To assess overall population mobility during the northern Vietnamese Neolithic transition over individual lifetime and diachronically by comparing strontium isotopic, musculo-skeletal stress marker (enthesis) and cross-sectional geometric data between individuals, sexes and samples; 2) To assess what relationship, if any, existed between social identity as reflected in burial treatment by kin at death, genetic kinship itself, and activity patterns; and 3) To answer questions of community-level social organization, the special treatment in death of first-generation migrants, and sex-based differences in activity/mobility patterns within one community; Man Bac. Social structure was approached through genetic kinship analysis assessed using cranial and dental nonmetric traits. Individual migration histories were approached through strontium isotopic analysis, as well as preliminary assessment of isotopic variation across the landscape. Mobility and activity patterns were assessed via standardized musculo{u00AD}skeletal stress marker analysis, as well as external and medullary long bone cross-sectional geometry. The cross-sectional geometry research also involved creation of a new method to more accurately assess medullary contours without using CT Scanning. Results suggest that the introduction of agriculture, as well as genetic heterogeneity in the case of Man Bac, did not result in a markedly different kinship structure, with both cemeteries containing small, unsegregated kin groups. Preliminary isotopic data indicates that first-generation migrants were present in both communities, but only males migrated into Man Bac, most of whom received high-status burials with exotic grave goods, and some of whom are suggested to have fathered locally born descendants. Diachronic comparison of the biomechanical data suggests minimal changes to type or intensity of activity or terrestrial mobility, suggesting that continued broad spectrum hunting and gathering (and hypothesized water-craft usage) outweighed the contribution of agricultural activities. Intra-community biomechanical analysis suggested different activity patterns for males and females in both populations. Although all results presented are preliminary, this research adds much to our current understanding of daily life during the agricultural transition in Southeast Asia. Beyond that, it demonstrates that significant insights into ancient social identity and community life can be gained by combining and comparing different strands of bioarchaeological data. Show more