| Abstract: |
The results of recent archaeological research in the Ordos region provide new information on the timing and process of the development of agro-pastoralism in China. Integrating previously published archaeological materials with archaeological research conducted since 2000, this essay synthesizes our current understanding of archaeological data for the middle to late Neolithic period (ca. 35001800 BCE) of the Ordos Region. The region is generally defined as including northern Shaanxi, southwestern Inner Mongolia, northeastern Ningxia, and western Shanxi Provinces. Research on the transition to large-scale reliance upon domesticated herd animals is just beginning, but zooarchaeological data indicate that caprine and cattle husbandry were important from the Late Neolithic period onwards. During this time, low-scale exploitation of wild resources obtained through hunting and foraging appear to have been complementary to the diet. Zooarchaeological reports on sites in the Ordos region provide a foundation for understanding the origins and development of agropastoralism in this part of Northwest China.
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