Trauma and interpersonal violence of late prehistoric semi-nomadic pastoralists: a bioarchaeological study on skeletal trauma in 800-100 BCE Turpan, Northwestern China

Abstract

The current study investigates skeletal trauma in two late prehistoric populations in the Turpan Basin, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwestern China. Skeletons of 288 individuals, including 204 from the Jiayi cemetery (800-400 BCE) and 84 from the Shengjindian cemetery (250-100 BCE), were examined to create demographic profiles, and assess prevalence rates of violence-related and non-violent trauma, and physiological stress indicators. The aim of the study was to reconstruct the level of interpersonal violence present in this region and to preliminarily explore the potential influence of subsistence patterns on violent behaviours in first millennium BCE eastern Inner Eurasia.

The results showed that the residents of the Turpan Basin during the late prehistoric period led a semi-nomadic, semi-settled lifestyle, primarily based on transhumant pastoralism, supplemented by oasis agriculture and hunting-gathering. They had settlements within the basin but used the Tianshan Mountains to the north as their main grazing lands. The Shengjindian cemetery represents a more complete living population, while the Jiayi cemetery has fewer adult males, possibly due to the Jiayi people's greater reliance on transhumant pastoralism.

Although the study aimed to explore why the Turpan Basin in northwestern China saw significant violent trauma in the late prehistoric period, the research also revealed patterns in antemortem post-cranial fractures likely related to day-to-day risks. The Jiayi population engaged more in moderate-height work, while the Shengjindian population performed more repetitive heavy lifting. Sex division of labour also seems to have been more distinct in Shengjindian than in Jiayi.

In terms of violent injuries, the majority were concentrated on the crania. The Jiayi people experienced more lethal levels of interpersonal violence, primarily likely in the form of small-scale intergroup conflicts. Some injuries likely associated with pickaxes, a weapon type more commonly found in contemporary eastern Eurasian Steppe, suggest that their enemies were likely nomadic groups from their north. The Shengjindian people experienced lower, non-lethal levels of interpersonal violence, clearly unlikely large-scale warfare, reflecting a societal balance of tolerance for violent behaviour alongside of control. The two sharp-force marks in the postcranial skeleton of a Shengjindian individual differ markedly from other non-lethal injuries, and thus their definitive aetiology remains to be determined in further studies. The subsistence pattern of nomadic pastoralism appears to be positively associated with interpersonal violence. Factors that may have contributed to the reduced level of interpersonal violence in the basin include improved climate leading to less resource competition and the moderating effect of social stratification and state formation in nomadic societies on intergroup conflicts. In contrast, the pressure from historical political and military events seemed negligible.