营盘出土籽棉的鉴定与古代西域的棉花利用

在新疆营盘遗址M29号墓的发掘中，发现有附有干裂分离的棉铃壳的籽棉。采用加速器质谱测定出土棉铃壳的14C年代为BP 845±40年。将出土棉铃与现代四个栽培种棉铃进行实物对比，由铃壳、种子、纤维特征确定出土籽棉为草棉种质。这是国内首次对籽棉进行年代与棉种的科学鉴定。从古文献记载来看，新疆（古代叫做西域）早在汉代就有草棉传入，草棉的传播自西向东，元代以前止于河西。新疆出土的棉织品自汉、魏晋南北朝到宋元，先后千年所织的都有。对营盘籽棉种质的鉴定，与历史记载相吻合，进一步证实了草棉在古代新疆的种植。

Identification of seed cotton unearthed from Yingpan and G.herbaceum in ancient West Region

Excavations at the tomb M29 of Yingpan in Xinjiang produced seed cotton with boll shell. The radiocarbon date gives the cotton a date of 845±40 BP. The cotton is identified as specie of Gossypium herbaceum by the analysis of the boll shell, seed, and fiber. This is the first scientific identification of the date and specie to seed cotton in China. From the historical literature, the introduction of G.herbaceum in Xinjiang, called the West Region in ancient times can be traced back to Han Dynasty,The planting of G.herbaceum spreaded from west to east, and just to Hexi Region before Yuan Dynasty. There are many archaeological discoveries of cotton fabrics in Xinjiang from Han, Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties, to Song and Yuan Dynasty. The identification of specie to seed cotton unearthed from Yingpan is consistent with historical records and confirmed that G.herbaceum was planted in the West Region in ancient times.