Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences ( IF 2.1 ) Pub Date : 2021-07-07 , DOI: 10.1007/s12520-021-01381-6 Chong Yu 1 , Yong Cui 2
To date, fishing economies of prehistoric populations of coastal South China have been inadequately studied. This paper presents the results from the first systematic study that documents a subsistence economy from the Neolithic settlement site of Guye (5900–5400 cal BP) in the Pearl River Delta region of Southern China using an ichthyoarchaeological analysis. The analysis yielded a large number of fish remains, including at least 18 kinds of freshwater- and brackish water/inshore–associated fish taxa. They were likely caught by nets, traps, spears, and angling. The characteristics of this long-term fishing-reliant subsistence pattern help to elucidate the mechanisms of the sustainability and complexity of fishing-hunting-gathering communities.