Balancing Two Worlds: Connecting Life and Death Through Integrated Isotopic and Mortuary Evidence at the Qilicun Cemetery, China

ABSTRACT This study investigates conceptions of life and death during the culturally integrative period at Northern Wei Pingcheng by combining stable isotope and mortuary analyses. For the broader population at Qilicun, the enduring importance of kinship is reflected in both shared diets in life and joint interment after death, demonstrating a tangible continuity between life and death. For Xianbei elites, as seen in tomb M29, the constructed mortuary narrative selectively integrates agrarian, nomadic, and external cultural elements, strategically reworking life history into a legitimized posthumous identity. This study reveals how life and death were materially expressed through mortuary practices across different social strata during a culturally transformative era.