Xinyi Liu

​Associate Professor of Archaeology
PhD, University of Cambridge
research interests:
  • Plant domestication
  • Food Globalization in Prehistory
  • Millet
  • Prehistory of China
  • Archaeobotany
  • Stable Isotopes
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    Xinyi Liu utilizes a range of stable isotopes and archaeobotanical approaches to explore how past societies domesticated, produced and consumed plants and animals, and how they adopted to new environments in the context of spread of farming.

    Liu’s research is devoted to exploring reasons why some early foragers became farmers and the food globalization in prehistory. He addresses questions such as how plant and animal domestications developed in the context of human production and consumption, and how those early food ways spread to new environments in a global context. Field research in Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Xinjiang and Tibet in China, and regions in Kazakhstan, Russia and Romania and a suite of laboratory based projects have shaped his core theories concerning the distinct ecological and cultural features of plant and animal domestication in China and the subsequent movement of staple crops across the Old World. Understanding these processes provides perspectives could not only transform our knowledge of the past but also raise awareness of the present and future utility of those early food ways. His research also contributes to the understanding the prehistoric trajectories of ancient Chinese societies more generally, and their implications for our understanding of human past on a more global scale.

    Methodologically, his research utilizes a range of stable isotopes (C, N, O) and archaeobotanical approaches to address questions about paleodiets and paleoclimates. As the Principal Investigator of the Laboratory for the Analysis of Early Food-Webs (LAEF), he directs research rooted in isotopic and archaeobotanical methods to illustrate how past societies domesticated, produced and consumed plants and animals, how they adopted to new environments in the context of spread of farming. Members of the LAEF group are currently carrying out research in eastern Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, central and eastern Tibet, north China plain, southern Peru and Costa Rica.

    Liu is increasingly drawn to the problem of the “lost” food traditions. Liu’s research group has also been working to investigate previously undocumented plant domestications, and previously undocumented pathways to domestication including ecological relations between animal and plant and their adaptations in extreme environments such as high altitudinal and high latitudinal regions. He also pays close attention to the past and future of small grained minor cereals; particularly around 30 taxa originating from several continents and collectively known as millets. These include genus such as Panicum, Setaria, Eleusine, Pennisetum, Digitaria, Paspalum and Echinochloa, commonly known as Asian, Indian and African millets. They share common ecological features, such as short summer growing seasons, modest water requirements and C4 photosynthesis. Collectively, they constituted more than half of the Eurasian and African agricultures in prehistoric times. When a food tradition was lost, were memories associated with it lost too?

    Publications

    Peer-reviewed Journal Articles:

    Liu, X., P.J. Jones, G. Motuzaite Matuzeviviute, H.V. Hunt, D.L. Lister, T. An, N. Przelomska, C.J. Kneale, Z. Zhao & M.K. Jones, 2019. From ecological opportunism to multi-cropping: mapping food globalization in prehistory. Quaternary Science Reviews, 206(15), 21-8.

    Reid, R.E.B., L. Lalk, F. Marshall & X. Liu, 2018. Carbon and nitrogen isotope variability in the seeds of two African millet species: Pennisetum glaucum and Eleusine coracana. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, 32(19), 1693-702.

    Lister, D.L., H. Jones, H.R. Oliveira, C.A. Petrie, X. Liu, J. Cockram, C.J. Kneale, O. Kovaleva & M.K. Jones, 2018. Barley heads east: Genetic analyses reveal routes of spread through diverse Eurasian landscapes. PLOS ONE, 13(7), e0196652.

    Tian, D., J. Ma, J. Wang, T. Pilgram, Z. Zhao & X. Liu, 2017. Cultivation of naked barley by early Iron Age agro-pastoralists in Xinjiang, China. Environmental Archaeology, 23(4), 416-25.

    Liu, X., D.L. Lister, Z. Zhao, C.A. Petrie, X. Zeng, P.J. Jones, R. Staff, A.K. Pokharia, J. Bates, R.N. Singh, S.A. Weber, G. Motuzaite Matuzeviviute, G. Dong, H. Li, H. Lü, H. Jiang, J. Wang, J. Ma, D. Tian, G. Jin, L. Zhou, X. Wu & M.K. Jones, 2017. Journey to the East: diverse routes and variable flowering times for wheat and barley en route to prehistoric China. PLOS ONE, 12(11), e0209518.

    Dong, G., Y. Yang, X. Liu, H. Li, Y. Cui, H. Wang, G. Chen, J. Dodson & F. Chen, 2017. Prehistoric trans-continental cultural exchange in the Hexi Corridor, northwest China. The Holocene, 28(4), 621-8.

    Liu, X., Z. Zhao & M.K. Jones, 2017. From people's commune to household responsibility: Ethnoarchaeological perspectives of millet production in prehistoric northeast China. Archaeological Research in Asia, 11, 51-7.

    Song, J., H. Lu, Z. Zheng & X. Liu, 2017. Archaeobotanical remains from the mid-first millennium AD site of Kaerdong in western Tibet. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 10(8), 2015-26.

    Ren, X., X. Lemoine, D. Mo, T.R. Kidder, Y. Guo, Z. Qin & X. Liu, 2016. Foothills and intermountain basins: Does China's Fertile Arc have a 'Hilly Flanks'? Quaternary International, 426(28), 86-96.

    Liu, X., D.L. Lister, Z.-Z. Zhao, R.A. Staff, P.J. Jones, L.-P. Zhou, A.K. Pokharia, C.A. Petrie, A. Pathak, H.-L. Lu, G. Motuzaite Matuzeviciute, J. Bates, T.K. Pilgram & M.J. Jones, 2016. The virtues of small grain size: Potential pathways to a distinguishing feature of Asian wheats. Quaternary International, 426(28), 107-9.

    Dong, G., L. Ren, X. Jia, X. Liu, S. Dong, H. Li, Z. Wang, Y. Xiao & F. Chen, 2016. Chronology and subsistence strategy of Nuomuhong culture in the Tibetan Plateau. Quaternary International, 426(28), 42-9.

    Liu, X., R.E.B. Reid, E. Lightfoot, G. Motuzaite Matuzeviciute & M.K. Jones, 2016. Radical change and dietary conservatism: Mixing model estimates of human diets along the Inner Asia and China's mountain corridors. The Holocene, 26(10), 1556-65.

    Liu, X., 2016. Stable isotope analysis of human and animal remains from Ganguya and Sanbadongzi, in Report on the Archaeological Excavation of Ganguya Cemetery, ed. S. Li. Beijing: Cultural Relics Publishing House, 406-14. (in Chinese)

    Jones, M.K., H. Harriet, C.J. Kneale, E. Lightfoot, D. Lister, X. Liu & G. Motuzaite Matuzeviciute, 2016. Food Globalisation in Prehistory: the agrarian foundation of an interconnected continent. Journal of the British Academy, 4, 73-87.

    Dong, G., D. Zhang, X. Liu*, F. Liu, F. Chen, and M. Jones. 2015. Response to comment on "Agriculture facilitated permanent human occupation of the Tibetan Plateau after 3600 B.P.". Science 348 (6237), 872.

    Cui, Y., G. Dong, H. Li, T. An, X. Liu, J. Wang, H. Wang, X. Ren, X. Li, and F. Chen. 2015. Early ceramic trade in Gansu and Qinghai regions, northwest China: A comparative elemental analysis on sherds of Majiayao culture, Yangshao culture and Qijia culture. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 3, 65-72.

    Motuzaite Matuzeviciute, G., E. Lightfoot, T. C. O'Connell, D. Voyakin, X. Liu, S. Svyatko, E. Usmanova, and M. K. Jones. 2015. The extent of cereal cultivation among the Bronze Age to Turkic period societies of Kazakhstan determined using stable isotope analysis of bone collagen. Journal of Archaeological Science 59, 23-34.

    Zhang, G., S. Wang, D. K. Ferguson, Y. Yang, X. Liu, and H. Jiang. 2015. Ancient plant use and palaeoenvironmental analysis at the Gumugou cemetery, Xinjiang, China: Implication from desiccated plant remains. Archaeological and Anthropological Science 9 (2), 145-152.

    Chen, F., F. Dong, D. Zhang, X. Liu, X. Jia, C. An, M. Ma, Y. Xie, L. Barton, X. Ren, Z. Zhao, X. Wu, and M. K. Jones. 2015. Agriculture facilitated permanent human occupation of the Tibetan Plateau after 3600 B.P. Science 347 (6219), 248-250.

    Liu, X., E. Lightfoot, T. C. O'Connell, H. Wang, S. Li, L. Zhou, Y. Hu, G. Motuzaite Matuzeviciute, and M. K. Jones. 2014. From necessity to choice: dietary revolutions in west China in the second millennium BC. World Archaeology 46 (5), 661-680.

    Liu, X., and M. K. Jones. 2014. Food globalisation in prehistory: top down or bottom up? Antiquity 88 (341), 956-963.

    Lightfoot, E., G. Motuzaite Matuzeviciute, T. C. O'Connell, I. A. Kukushkin, V. Loman, V. Varfolomeev, X. Liu, and M. J. Jones. 2014. How 'pastroal' is pastoralism? Dietary diversity in Bronze Age communities in the central Kazakhstan steppes. Archaeometry 57 (S1), 232-249.

    Ma, M., G. Dong, X. Liu, E. Lightfoot, F. Chen, H. Wang, H. Li, and M. K. Jones. 2015. Stable isotope analysis of human and animal remains at the Qijiaping site in middle Gansu, China. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology 25 (6), 923-934.

    Lightfoot, E., X. Liu, and M. K. Jones. 2013. Why move starchy cereals? a review of the isotopic evidence for prehistoric millet consumption across Eurasia. World Archaeology 45 (4), 574-623.

    Ma, M., G. Dong, E. Lightfoot, H. Wang, X. Liu, X. Jia, K. Zhang, and F. Chen. 2014. Stable isotope analysis of human and faunal remains in the western loess plateau, approximately 2000 cal. BC. Archaeometry 56 (S1), 237-255.

    Motuzaite Matuzeviciute, G., R. A. Staff, H. V. Hunt, X. Liu, and M. K. Jones. 2013. The early chronology of broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) in Europe. Antiquity 87 (338), 1073–1085.

    Liu, X., M. K. Jones, Z. Zhao, G. Liu, and T. C. O'Connell. 2012. The earliest evidence of millet as a staple crop: New light on Neolithic foodways in North China. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 149 (2), 238-290.

    Jones, M. K., H. V. Hunt, E. Lightfoot, D. Lister, X. Liu, and G. Motuzaite Matuziviciute. 2011. Food globalization in prehistory. World Archaeology 43 (4), 665-75.

    Jones, M. K., and X. Liu. 2009. Origins of agriculture in East Asia. Science 324 (5928), 730-731.

    Liu, X., H. V. Hunt, and M. K. Jones. 2009. River valleys and foothills: changing archaeological perceptions of north China's earliest farms. Antiquity 83 (319), 82-95.

    Hunt, H. V., M. V. Linden, X. Liu, G. Motuzaite Matuzeviciute, S. Colledge, and M. K. Jones. 2008. Millets across Eurasia: chronology and context of early records of the genera Panicum and Setaria from archaeological sites in the Old World. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 17, 5-18.

    Liu, X., and M. K. Jones. 2008. When archaeology begins: the cultural and political context of Chinese archaeological thought. Bulletin of History of Archaeology 18(1), 25-27.

    Liu, X., J. Zhu, and Y. Yan. 2007. The application of statistical analyses in study of pottery typologies in the Shang period. Southern Cultural Relics 63, 66-71. (in Chinese)

    Liu, Y., J. Song, and X. Liu. 2007. Analyses of bronze casting materials from Zhouyuan. Journal of Archaeology and Cultural Relics 4, 94-100. (in Chinese)

    Hu, Y., D. He, X. Liu, Y. Dong, C. Wang, M. Gao, and Y. Lan. 2006. Elemental analysis of human bones from Xigongqiao, Tengzhou, Shandong. Chemical Journal of Chinese Universities 27, 1075-1079. (in Chinese)

    Wen, R., F. Hu, X. Zhao, X. Liu, Z. Mao, Z. Chen, and C. Wang. 2004. Preliminary analysis of thermal performance of pottery sherds excavated from Xishan. Journal of University of Science and Technology of China 34 (5), 643-646.

    Zhang, Z., Z. Chen, F. Marshall, H. Lü, X. Lemoine, T. Wangyal, T. Dorje, and X. Liu. Accepted. The importance of hunting of diverse animals at Xiaoenda (5000 - 4000 BP), East Tibet. Quaternary International.

    Motuzaite Matuzeviciute, G., E. Lightfoot, X. Liu, J. Jacob, A. K. Outram, V. F. Zaibert, S. Zakharov, and M. K. Jones. In revision (minor). Archaeobotanical investigations at the earliest horse herder site of Botai in Kazakhstan. Journal of Archaeological and Anthropological Science.

    Peer-reviewed Book Chapters:

    Liu, X., E. Lightfoot & D. Fuller, 2018. Introduction: Far from the hearth, in Far from the Hearth: Essays in Honour of Martin K. Jones, eds. E. Lightfoot, X. Liu & D. Fuller. Cambridge: McDonald Institute Conversations, 1-3.

    Liu, X., G. Motuzaite Matuzeviciute & H.V. Hunt, 2018. From a fertile idea to a fertile arc: The origins of broomcorn millet 15 years on, in Far from the Hearth: Essays in Honour of Martin K. Jones, eds. E. Lightfoot, X. Liu & D.Q. Fuller. Cambridge: McDonald Institute Conversations, 155-64.

    Lightfoot, E., X. Liu & P.J. Jones, 2018. A world of C4 pathways: On the use of δ13C values to identify the consumption of C4 plants in archaeological record, in Far from the Hearth: Essays in Honour of Martin K. Jones, eds. E. Lightfoot, X. Liu & D.Q. Fuller. Cambridge: McDonald Institute Conversations, 165-76.

    Liu, X., E. Margaritis & M.K. Jones, 2018. From the harvest to the meal in prehistoric China and Greece: A comparative approach to the social context of food, in Ancient Greece and China Compared, eds. G. Lloyd, G. Dong & J.J. Zhao. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 355-72.

    Liu, X., D. Fuller, and M. K. Jones. 2015. Early agriculture in China. In The Cambridge World History - Volume II:  A World with Agriculture, 12,000 BCE-500CE, edited by G. Barker and C. Goucher. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 310-334.

    Liu, X., Z. Zhao, and G. Liu. 2015. Xinglonggou. In The Cambridge World History, Volume II - A World with Agriculture, 12,000 BCE-500 CE edited by G. Barker and C. Goucher. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 335-352.

    Liu, X., and M. K. Jones. 2014. Under one roof: people, crops and animals in Neolithic north China. In Living in the Landscape: Essays in Honour of Graeme Barker, edited by K. Boyle, R. J. Rabett and C. Hunt. Cambridge: McDonald Institute Monographs, 227-234.

    Edited Book:

    Lightfoot, E., X. Liu, and D. Q. Fuller, eds. 2018. Far from the Hearth: Essays in Honour of Martin K. Jones. Cambridge: McDonald Institute Conversations.

    Courses

    Archaeology of China – Food and People

    Environmental Archaeology

    Pathways to Domestication

    Bio-molecular Archaeology – Are you what you eat?

    in the news:

    Prehistoric food globalization spanned three millennia

    Prehistoric food globalization spanned three millennia

    Liu and colleagues receive NSF funding for millet research

    Liu and colleagues receive NSF funding for millet research

    Strengthening the department's research and teaching through collaboration

    Strengthening the department's research and teaching through collaboration

    Ancient barley took high road to China, changed to summer crop in Tibet

    Ancient barley took high road to China, changed to summer crop in Tibet

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