Examining prehistoric diet at Tung Wan Tsai, Ma Wan Island, Hong Kong through stable isotope analysis

Abstract

In this study we describe some of the earliest human bone collagen δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values from the Lingnan region in Southeast Asia. The samples (n = 10) derive from skeletal remains recovered from the Tung Wan Tsai site in Hong Kong and date to the Late Neolithic Period (ca. 2200–1500 BC). Our results show that the earliest inhabitants of Hong Kong relied heavily on marine resources, specializing particularly in high-trophic species. As organic preservation tends to generally be poor in the region, the successful extraction and analysis of collagen from these individuals has provided a rare glimpse into the everyday life of Neolithic Hong Kong and also provided an important foundation for future research.

Keywords:

• Hong Kong
• Late Neolithic
• Lingnan
• Southeast Asia
• archaeology

Acknowledgements

The Tung Wan Tsai samples were provided by Mr William Meacham, Mr Chau Hing Wah at the Antiquities and Monuments Office, Hong Kong; and Professor Wu Yaoli and Professor Han Kangxin of the Institute of Archaeology, The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing. Thanks go to Dr Li Long Lam for providing the map and other information of the site, Jada Ko for providing comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript, Joseph C. Hepburn for help with making the maps, and Ashely Thuthao Keng Dam and Duc Quang Dam for their help with site name translation. We thank the two anonymous reviewers and Scott M. Fitzpatrick for their careful reading and helpful comments, which have greatly improved the paper. Author contributions: BC acquired the samples, HS and BC conducted the extraction and elemental analysis, CC interpreted the data and wrote the paper with input from all authors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.