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The analysis of organic residues in pottery can provide abundant information on the lives of ancient people, including the natural resources consumed, the techniques applied, the functions of pottery, and so on. In this paper, a variety of methods, including FT-IR (Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy), GC–MS (gas chromatography-mass spectrometry), SEM (scanning electron microscopy) and SR-μCT (synchrotron radiation micro-computed tomography), have been employed to characterize the carbonized residues from an amphora, unearthed from the Changning site, Qinghai Province, Northwest China. The pottery residues were identified as birch bark tar, so ancient people in China could have used the particular local plant resources, birch bark, to produce tar as early as the Qijia cultural period (c. 4,000–3,500 bp). The birch bark tar could have been used to make composite tools discovered at the Changning site, and the amphora has probably been used for tar production. This, to our knowledge so far, is the earliest evidence for the use of birch bark tar in China. Due to the special geographical location of the Gansu-Qinghai Region, and the transition of subsistence strategy during the Qijia cultural period, the production and utilization of birch bark tar could not rule out the possibility of western influence, which needs further evidence.

The archaeological culture found in Xiaohe Cemetery (1980–1450 BC) is one of the early Bronze Age cultures in Xinjiang, northwestern China. The material assemblages from Xiaohe culture display features with both eastern and western influences. These east-west cultural and dietary interactions may be observed via the diet of the Xiaohe population. This paper examined the stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes of human and animal bones and human hairs from the Xiaohe Cemetery and compared with those of human bones from the Gumugou Cemetery, another Xiaohe culture site. The results indicate that the diets of the peoples from the Xiaohe culture varied significantly over different periods. The unified diets of the earlier periods reflect that an admixed population first settled in the Lop Nur region and primarily engaged in animal husbandry. In the later periods, the transformations in the human diets in this region reflect that new immigrants constantly relocated here and promoted population complexity over time. Moreover, this population occasionally produced small quantities of domesticated wheat and millet. The complex population and diversified economy of the Xiaohe culture were due to the expansion of the coeval cultures in the Eurasian steppe and eastern immigrants. Additionally, the millet cereal was probably mainly used for ritual practices rather than for staple food in the later periods.

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS) were conducted to identify a birch bark quiver from Ergonghe Reservoir Cemetery (the Tang Dynasty, A.D. 618–907) in Xinjiang, Northwest China. White substance on the bark surface was identified as gypsum (CaSO4·2H2O) by FTIR and X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD). The gypsum was probably residual white pigment of colored painting on the birch bark quiver. This is the first time that birch bark has been scientifically identified in China and it also provides the earliest evidence of colored painting on a birch bark artifact in ancient China. The minimally destructive methods are informative and promising for the analysis of ancient samples. Birch species are widely distributed in North China and ancient nomadic people put the bark to use in many aspects of their lives, reflecting the considerable importance of birch exploitation in their local life.

Some bright black beads with dense surface and poor light transmittance are generally considered as jet artifacts in China. However, little scientific investigation has been applied to support this judgment. This study focuses on the nondestructive identification of a jet bead, unearthed from the Changle Cemetery, Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 220), Ningxia, China through multi nondestructive approach. The results of Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis indicate that the bead belongs to coal products, based on the typical coal biomarkers including n-alkanes, acyclic isoprenoids and terpenoids. FTIR analysis further confirms that the bead is made of jet in comparison with modern jet samples in China. The bead is also scanned with Synchrotron Radiation Micro-computed Tomography (SR-μCT) to obtain the structure and drilling technology information, which suggests that the bead is uniform and was drilled from both sides. The nondestructive identification of ancient jet artifacts is first reported in China up to date, which not only reveals the varied utilizations of coal products in ancient society but also suggests that the popularization of jet in the Han Dynasty might be related to the first large-scale exploitation of coal, and offers an effective method suitable for archaeological jet samples.

Phytoliths and biomolecular components extracted from ancient plant remains from Chang’an (Xi’an, the city where the Silk Road begins) and Ngari (Ali) in western Tibet, China, show that the tea was grown 2100 years ago to cater for the drinking habits of the Western Han Dynasty (207BCE-9CE) and then carried toward central Asia by ca.200CE, several hundred years earlier than previously recorded. The earliest physical evidence of tea from both the Chang’an and Ngari regions suggests that a branch of the Silk Road across the Tibetan Plateau, was established by the second to third century CE.