本文分析了河南淅川坑南遗址新石器早期2个层位出土的35件石制品的淀粉粒,在17件石制品表面发现150粒淀粉粒,它们可能分别来自黍族(包括黍属、糠稷或粟属)、薏苡属、小麦族秸秆和根茎类植物,一定程度反映了该地区先民植物资源的利用情况。第②与第③层淀粉粒数量和种类的对比表明,第②层淀粉粒数量和种类都有着大幅增加,一种可能是不同层位埋藏环境的差别导致淀粉粒保存情况的不同,另一种可能是与当时先民获取更多种类的植物资源有关。同一类型石制品表面淀粉粒数量与种类的差别,也暗示了不同石料本身硬度、孔隙对淀粉粒的吸附与捕获能力的影响。
The Kengnan site is located at Xichuan County, Henan Province. From this site, a series of layers from Paleolithic to early Neolithic ages with abundant artifacts are found including lithics, pottery, which show the importance of this site in the area of the Hanjiang river. In this paper, starch grains extracted from the surface of 35 stone artifacts from two early Neolithic layers of the Kengnan site are analyzed. Among them, 150 starch grains have been found on the surface of 17 artifacts. The starch grains are identified as seeds of Paniceae (including Panicum miliaceum and Panicum bisulcatum or Setaria italica) , Coix sp., stems from Triticeae dumor and root and tuber plants, all of which indicate the utilization of plant resources by the ancient inhabitants. A substantial increase of the quantity and typology of starch grains is found from the second to third layer. This observation may be related to three important factors. First, it may be related to the different buried ages between the two layers since artifacts can be influenced by climate and other forces of nature. Second, it may be related to increasing temperature in the early stages of the Holocene, as well as increasing the kinds of plants from which ancient people acquired. Third, such difference can also be influenced by the ability of absorption caused by different hardness, cavities and pores of stones, and the different functions of these stone artifacts. The abundant starch grains from Gramineae found on chopping tools provide us with a new vision on the functions of stone tools.