title: Red pigments and Boraginaceae leaves in mortuary ritual of late Neolithic China: A case study of Shengedaliang site.
abstract: Investigation of mortuary ritual is an important method to reconstruct many aspects of past societies. Due to the lack of relevant analytical work, little evidence related to organic materials in a burial can be found in China. Here we report materials collected from a burial during the excavation of the Shengedaliang site. The recovered materials were analyzed using Raman spectroscopy and plant analysis: flotation, pollen and phytolith analysis. The red pigments found scattered over the human remains were identified as cinnabar. Extracted phytoliths associated with the burial are mainly leaves from the Boraginaceae family. This is the first time that a covering of leaves have been identified with a burial in Neolithic China. The presence of "special" leaves fossil may indicate a type of "plant worship" and the identification of an important plant used in traditional Chinese medicine. The finding of the two materials allows us to better identify indicators of funerary ritual and its relationship to social inequality.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, Xi'an, 710054, China.
authors.forename: XiaoNing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, Xi'an, 710054, China.
authors.forename: WeiLin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, 100710, China.
authors.forename: XiangLong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, 100710, China.
authors.forename: Zhijun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, China.|Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
authors.forename: Xiumin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, China.|Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
authors.forename: YiMin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D028082:Boraginaceae / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000737:chemistry; D002048:Burial / Q000266:history*; D002562:Ceremonial Behavior; D002681:China; D005580:Fossils / Q000266:history; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D017669:Mercury Compounds / Q000737:chemistry / Q000266:history; D010860:Pigments, Biological / Q000266:history*; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry*; D055110:Radiometric Dating; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D017669:Mercury Compounds; D010860:Pigments, Biological; C034211:cinnabar
keywords: leaves; mortuary ritual; pigments