Early Isotopic Insights Into Human Diet and Livestock Feeding Strategies During the Middle Neolithic in the Lower Yangtze River Region, China: A Case Study From the Kuahuqiao Site (8200–7000 BP)

ABSTRACT Rice agriculture profoundly shapes the dietary and subsistence patterns of Neolithic populations in the lower Yangtze River region. However, direct evidence regarding human diet and livestock management strategies during the middle Neolithic, the early rice agriculture period, is still lacking. The Kuahuqiao site (8200–7000 BP) provides critical material for addressing this issue. This case study presents stable isotope data derived from bone collagen of one human and 129 animal specimens recovered from the site, offering direct dietary evidence. The results show that wild animals (deer and water buffalo) exhibit a broad range of isotopic values, reflecting diverse dietary resources and implying the existence of complex foraging environments and ecological conditions. Domestic dogs show isotopic values close to those of the individual, with no clear diachronic trend, indicating that their diets were predominantly C 3 ‐based, most likely derived from human food refuse. Pigs display considerable isotopic variability, particularly in δ 15 N values. In conjunction with zooarchaeological evidence, this study attributes the wide range primarily to the coexistence of domestic and wild pigs, together with the consumption of human food refuse or faeces by domestic pigs. Moreover, diachronic isotopic and zooarchaeological data collectively point to a trend of intensified management of domestic pigs at the site. The single individual predominantly consumed substantial amounts of C 3 ‐based foods, including C 3 plants such as rice and wild animals such as deer, with a possible supplementary contribution from freshwater resources. These findings suggest that the Kuahuqiao inhabitants established an early agricultural system that integrated rice cultivation, livestock husbandry and hunting‐fishing‐gathering activities, resulting in a diversified subsistence strategy centred on rice farming. This study provides early direct isotopic evidence for human dietary patterns and livestock management strategies during the middle Neolithic in the lower Yangtze River region and represents a large‐scale isotopic study for this region to date.