Abstract:

The relationship between humans and the environment during the prehistoric period has been receiving increased attention by multiple disciplinarians, including but not limited to anthropologists, archaeologists, and geographers. Northwestern China, the core location of the prehistoric trans-continental exchange, is characterized by complex and diverse topographical features, and rich archaeological remains from the Neolithic period to the Bronze age. However, the prehistoric relationship between humans and the environment in northwestern China with different precipitation remains unknown. Here we based on a review and comprehensive analysis of the multidisciplinary data, such as radiocarbon dates, archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological data, carbon isotopic data of human bone, the spatiotemporal changes of human activities and subsistence strategy during the Neolithic and Bronze periods in northwestern China were reported. And combined with high-resolution paleoclimate records, the trajectory of human-environment interaction, as well as the possible influencing factors were discussed. The final dataset used for analysis included 1440 (349 sites) published radiocarbon dates, 432542 (208 sites) identified crop remains data, 97256 (49 sites) identified animal remains data, and 862 (46 sites) measured carbon isotopic data from human bone were analyzed, respectively. Our results indicate that during the 10000-6000 BP humans in northwestern China mainly lived in the areas that had more than 400 mm of precipitation. As the millet agriculture was still in the early stage of development, the intensity of human activities was relatively low during this time, therefore, the relationship between climate and human activity is not decipherable. During the 6000-4000 BP, intensification of millet agriculture promoted westward dispersal of human activities, which were still mainly distributed in the area with precipitation more than 400 mm, but the human activities leading to migration into areas with precipitation less than 200 mm during the final phase of this period. The intensity of human settlement was declined with the influence of the cold-dry climate events, and the natural vegetation/land were degraded by human agricultural activities in this period. By 4000-2200 BP, the diversification of subsistence strategy was enhanced by the utilization of diverse crops and livestock, especially wheat, barley, and herbivorous livestock that were introduced into northwestern China through prehistoric trans-Eurasia exchange. Meanwhile, the ability of humans to adapt and impact the local environment in different precipitation areas was significantly increased in this period, especially the ability of human to adapt the dry climate in the area with precipitation less than 200 mm. This study will allow us to gain a comprehensive understanding of the processes and driving factors of human-environment interaction in northwestern China during the Neolithic and Bronze periods.

Key words: Northwestern China, subsistence strategy, human-environment interaction, precipitation, Neolithic and Bronze periods