The intersection of diet, class, and sex during the Eastern Zhou (770–221 BCE): Bioarchaeological evidence from the Dahan cemetery, China

The Eastern Zhou (770–221 BCE) was an important period of social transformation in ancient China. The development of class- and gender-based stratification of this period had profound effects on human diet. We aim to examine the relationships among diet, class, and sex (as a proxy for gender) during this period through comparative investigations of noble individuals and sacrificial human companions. We analyzed the stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values of bone collagen of 61 human (26 nobles and 35 sacrificial companions) and 32 faunal samples from the Dahan (大韩) cemetery (an Eastern Zhou archaeological site). There are statistically significant class-based dietary differences, with the nobles consuming more socially valued foods (high protein food and millets) compared with sacrificial companions, which is also supported by paleopathological evidence. Sex-based differences were specific to class, with no significant dietary differences found in the nobles, whereas males may have had better diets than females in the lower classes. Our dietary analysis suggests that some sacrificial companions may have benefited from the resources of their noble masters, however, most sacrificial companions had a poorer diet. In addition, one noble individual possibly experienced social mobility in his lifetime, as shown by the discrepancy in his burial treatment and his long-term diet. This cemetery-wide study of dietary differences between nobles and sacrificial companions allows for novel insight into the intersection of class, gender, and diet during the Eastern Zhou period.