Relationship between the human activity and environment changes during the Neolithic and Bronze Age in different precipitation areas of Northwestern China
Received date: 2022-03-24
Revised date: 2022-05-30
Online published: 2022-08-10
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.
Yongxiu LU , Guanghui DONG . Relationship between the human activity and environment changes during the Neolithic and Bronze Age in different precipitation areas of Northwestern China[J]. Acta Anthropologica Sinica, 2022 , 41(04) : 749 -763 . DOI: 10.16359/j.1000-3193/AAS.2022.0026
| [1] | Magill CR, Ashley GM, Freeman KH. Ecosystem variability and early human habitats in eastern Africa[J]. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2013, 110(4): 1167-1174 |
| [2] | Robinson JR, Rowan J, Campisano CJ, et al. Late Pliocene environmental change during the transition from Australopithecus to Homo[J]. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2017, 1(6): 1-7 |
| [3] | 王幼平. 华北旧石器晚期环境变化与人类迁徙扩散[J]. 人类学学报, 2018, 37(3): 341-351 |
| [4] | Dong GH, Li R, Lu MX, et al. Evolution of human-environmental interactions in China from the Late Paleolithic to the Bronze Age[J]. Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment, 2020, 44(2): 233-250 |
| [5] | Stiner MC, Munro ND, Surovell TA, et al. Paleolithic population growth pulses evidenced by small animal exploitation[J]. Science, 1999, 283(5399): 190-194 |
| [6] | 严文明. 农业发生与文明起源[M]. 北京: 科学出版社, 2000, 50-89 |
| [7] | Zeder MA. Domestication and early agriculture in the Mediterranean Basin: Origins, diffusion, and impact[J]. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2008, 105(33): 11597-11604 |
| [8] | Diamond J, Bellwood P. Farmers and their languages: the first expansions[J]. Science, 2003, 300(5619): 597-603 |
| [9] | Gignoux CR, Henn BM, Mountain JL. Rapid, global demographic expansions after the origins of agriculture[J]. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2011, 108(15): 6044-6049 |
| [10] | Zhou XY, Yu JJ, Spengler RN, et al. 5,200-year-old cereal grains from the eastern Altai Mountains redate the trans-Eurasian crop exchange[J]. Nature Plants, 2020, 6(2): 78-87 |
| [11] | Dong GH, Yang YS, Han JY, et al. Exploring the history of cultural exchange in prehistoric Eurasia from the perspectives of crop diffusion and consumption[J]. Science China Earth Sciences, 2017, 60(6): 1110-1123 |
| [12] | Manning K, Downey SS, Colledge S, et al. The origins and spread of stock-keeping: the role of cultural and environmental influences on early Neolithic animal exploitation in Europe[J]. Antiquity, 2013, 87(338): 1046-1059 |
| [13] | 董广辉, 仇梦晗, 李若, 等. 探讨过去人地关系演变机制的“支点”概念模型[J]. 地理学报, 2021, 76(1): 15-29 |
| [14] | Frankopan P. The Silk Roads: A New History of the World[M]. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. 2015, 12-161 |
| [15] | Liu XY, Jones PJ, Matuzeviciute GM, et al. From ecological opportunism to multi-cropping: Mapping food globalisation in prehistory[J]. Quaternary Science Reviews, 2019, 206: 21-28 |
| [16] | Zhu ZY, Dennell R, Huang WW, et al. Hominin occupation of the Chinese Loess Plateau since about 2.1 million years ago[J]. Nature, 2018, 559(7715): 608-612 |
| [17] | 侯光良, 许长军, 樊启顺. 史前人类向青藏高原东北缘的三次扩张与环境演变[J]. 地理学报, 2010, 1: 65-72 |
| [18] | Zhang DJ, Dong GH, Wang H, et al. History and possible mechanisms of prehistoric human migration to the Tibetan Plateau[J]. Science China Earth Sciences, 2016, 59(9): 1765-1778 |
| [19] | Chen FH, Dong GH, Zhang DJ, et al. Agriculture facilitated permanent human occupation of the Tibetan Plateau after 3600BP[J]. Science, 2015, 347(6219): 248-250 |
| [20] | Dong GH, Yang YS, Liu XY, et al. Prehistoric trans-continental cultural exchange in the Hexi Corridor, northwest China[J]. The Holocene, 2018, 28(4): 621-628 |
| [21] | 董广辉, 芦永秀, 刘培伦, 等. 6000-2000 a B. P. 丝绸之路国内段人类活动的时空格局与影响因素研究[J]. 第四纪研究, 2022, 42(1): 1-16 |
| [22] | 张山佳, 董广辉. 青藏高原东北部青铜时代中晚期人类对不同海拔环境的适应策略探讨[J]. 第四纪研究, 2017, 37(4): 696-708 |
| [23] | Zhang SJ, Yang YS, Storozum MJ, et al. Copper smelting and sediment pollution in Bronze Age China: A case study in the Hexi corridor, Northwest China[J]. Catena, 2017, 156: 92-101 |
| [24] | Ma MM, Dong GH, Jia X, et al. Dietary shift after 3600 cal yr BP and its influencing factors in northwestern China: Evidence from stable isotopes[J]. Quaternary Science Reviews, 2016, 145: 57-70 |
| [25] | 张弛. 旧大陆西部作物及家畜传入初期中国北方生业经济结构的区域特征[J]. 华夏考古, 2017, 3: 89-97 |
| [26] | Wang W, Liu Y, Duan FT, et al. A comprehensive investigation of Bronze Age human dietary strategies from different altitudinal environments in the Inner Asian Mountain Corridor[J]. Journal of Archaeological Science, 2020, 121: 105201 |
| [27] | 王凤娇, 杨延征, 上官周平. 西北五省(区)耕地质量等别差异性比较[J]. 干旱地区农业研究, 2015, 33(2): 230-236 |
| [28] | 张华, 徐存刚, 王浩. 2001-2018年西北地区植被变化对气象干旱的响应[J]. 地理科学, 2020, 40(6): 1029-1038 |
| [29] | 王澄海, 张晟宁, 李课臣, 等. 1961-2018年西北地区降水的变化特征[J]. 大气科学, 2021, 45(4): 713-724 |
| [30] | 陈笑笑, 孙必云, 华维. 西北地区年平均地表温度时空特征分析[J]. 安徽农业科学, 2017, 45(23): 182-185 |
| [31] | Wang C, Lu HY, Zhang JP, et al. Prehistoric demographic fluctuations in China inferred from radiocarbon data and their linkage with climate change over the past 50,000 years[J]. Quaternary Science Reviews, 2014, 98: 45-59 |
| [32] | Yang L, Ma MM, Chen TT, et al. How did trans-Eurasian exchanges affect spatial-temporal variation in agricultural patterns during the late prehistoric period in the Yellow River valley (China)[J]. The Holocene, 2020, 31(2): 247-257 |
| [33] | Li R, Lv FY, Yang L, et al. Spatial-temporal variation of cropping patterns in relation to climate change in Neolithic China[J]. Atmosphere, 2020, 11(7): 677 |
| [34] | Du LY, Ma MM, Lu YW, et al. How did human activity and climate change influence animal exploitation during 7500-2000 BP in the Yellow River Valley, China[J]. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 2020, 8: 161 |
| [35] | Cao HH, Dong GH. Social development and living environment changes in the Northeast Tibetan Plateau and contiguous regions during the late prehistoric period[J]. Regional Sustainability, 2020, 1(1): 59-67 |
| [36] | 董广辉, 杜琳垚, 杨柳, 等. 欧亚大陆草原之路-绿洲之路史前农牧业扩散交流与生业模式时空变化[J]. 中国科学(地球科学), 2022, 52: 1-24 |
| [37] | Dong GH, Lu YX, Zhang SJ, et al. Spatiotemporal variation in human settlements and their interaction with living environments in Neolithic and Bronze Age China[J]. Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment, 2022, doi: 10.1177/03091333221087992 |
| [38] | 傅文彬, 邸楠, 邵晶, 等. 陕北靖边庙梁遗址浮选结果与分析[J]. 第四纪研究, 2022, 42(1): 119-128 |
| [39] | 胡松梅, 杨曈, 杨苗苗, 等. 陕北靖边庙梁遗址动物遗存研究兼论中国牧业的形成[J]. 第四纪研究, 2022, 42(1): 17-31 |
| [40] | 杨瑞琛, 邸楠, 贾鑫, 等. 从石峁遗址出土植物遗存看夏时代早期榆林地区先民的生存策略选择[J]. 第四纪研究, 2022, 42(1): 101-118 |
| [41] | 唐丽雅, 郑越, 朱津, 等. 郑州地区周代农作物资源利用研究:以荥阳官庄为例[J]. 第四纪研究, 2022, 42(1): 129-143 |
| [42] | 刘洁. 近60年来中国北方半干旱区界线与范围时空变化特征研究[D]. 西安: 西北大学, 2019, 9-12 |
| [43] | Marcott SA, Shakun JD, Clark PU, et al. A reconstruction of regional and global temperature for the past 11,300 years[J]. Science, 2013, 339(6124): 1198-1201 |
| [44] | Hong YT, Hong B, Lin QH, et al. Correlation between Indian Ocean summer monsoon and North Atlantic climate during the Holocene[J]. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2003, 211(3-4): 371-380 |
| [45] | Yang B, Qin C, Brauning A, et al. Long-term decrease in Asian monsoon rainfall and abrupt climate change events over the past 6,700 years[J]. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2021, 118(30): e2102007118 |
| [46] | Cai YJ, Tan LC, Cheng H, et al. The variation of summer monsoon precipitation in central China since the last deglaciation[J]. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2010, 291(1-4): 21-31 |
| [47] | Dong GH, Wang L, Cui YF, et al. The spatiotemporal pattern of the Majiayao cultural evolution and its relation to climate change and variety of subsistence strategy during late Neolithic period in Gansu and Qinghai Provinces, northwest China[J]. Quaternary International, 2013, 316: 155-161 |
| [48] | Hosner D, Wagner M, Tarasov PE, et al. Spatiotemporal distribution patterns of archaeological sites in China during the Neolithic and Bronze Age: An overview[J]. The Holocene, 2016, 26(10): 1576-1593 |
| [49] | Wang L, Cui YF. The spatiotemporal pattern of cultural evolution response to agricultural development and climate change from Yangshao culture to Bronze Age in the Yellow River basin and surrounding regions, north China[J]. Frontiers in Earth Science, 2021, 9: 657179 |
| [50] | Barton L, Brantingham PJ, Ji DX. Late Pleistocene climate change and Paleolithic cultural evolution in Northern China: Implications from the Last Glacial Maximum[J]. Developments in Quaternary Sciences, 2007, 9(7): 105-128 |
| [51] | Hou GL, Dong WM, Cai LH, et al. The history and driving force for prehistoric human expansion upward to the hinterland of the Tibetan Plateau Post-Last glacial maximum[J]. Sustainability, 2021, 13(13): 7065 |
| [52] | 李水城. 东风西渐-中国西北史前文化之进程[M]. 北京: 文物出版社, 2009, 34-246 |
| [53] | 谢端琚. 甘青地区史前考古[M]. 北京: 文物出版社, 2002, 137-239 |
| [54] | Brantingham PJ, Gao X. Peopling of the northern Tibetan Plateau[J]. World Archaeology, 2006, 38(3): 387-414 |
| [55] | 中国社会科学院考古研究所. 中国考古学中碳十四年代数据集(1965- 1991)[M]. 北京: 文物出版社, 1991, 294-304 |
| [56] | 张雪莲, 仇士华, 蔡莲珍, 等. 放射性碳素测定年代报告(三一)[J]. 考古, 2005, 7: 57-61 |
| [57] | Dong GH, Wang ZL, Ren LL, et al. A comparative study of 14C dating on charcoal and charred seeds from late neolithic and bronze age sites in Gansu and Qinghai provinces, NW China[J]. Radiocarbon, 2014, 56(1): 157-163 |
| [58] | Kuper R, Kropelin S. Climate-controlled Holocene occupation in the Sahara: Motor of Africa’s evolution[J]. Science, 2006, 313(5788): 803-807 |
| [59] | Timmermann A, Friedrich T. Late Pleistocene climate drivers of early human migration[J]. Nature, 2016, 538(7623): 92-95 |
| [60] | 董广辉, 刘峰文, 陈发虎. 不同空间尺度影响古代社会演化的环境和技术因素探讨[J]. 中国科学(地球科学), 2017, 47(12): 1383-1394 |
| [61] | 张东菊, 董广辉, 王辉, 等. 史前人类向青藏高原扩散的历史过程和可能驱动机制[J]. 中国科学(地球科学), 2016, 46(8): 1007-1023 |
| [62] | Chen FH, Yu ZC, Yang ML, et al. Holocene moisture evolution in arid central Asia and its out-of-phase relationship with Asian monsoon history[J]. Quaternary Science Reviews, 2008, 27(3-4): 351-364 |
| [63] | Rhode D, Brantingham PJ, Perreault C, et al. Mind the gaps: testing for hiatuses in regional radiocarbon date sequences[J]. Journal of Archaeological Science, 2014, 52: 567-577 |
| [64] | Zhao Y, Yu ZC. Vegetation response to Holocene climate change in East Asian monsoon-margin region[J]. Earth Science Reviews, 2012, 113(1-2): 1-10 |
| [65] | 董广辉, 张山佳, 杨谊时, 等. 中国北方新石器时代农业强化及对环境的影响[J]. 科学通报, 2016, 61(26): 2913-2925 |
| [66] | Barton L, Newsome SD, Chen FH, et al. Agricultural origins and the isotopic identity of domestication in northern China[J]. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2009, 106(14): 5523-5528 |
| [67] | 吴文祥, 刘东生. 5500 aBP气候事件在三大文明古国古文明和古文化演化中的作用[J]. 地学前缘, 2002, 1: 155-162 |
| [68] | Jia X, Dong GH, Li H, et al. The development of Agriculture and its impact on cultural expansion during the late Neolithic in the Western Loess Plateau, China[J]. The Holocene, 2013, 23(1): 83-90 |
| [69] | Chen NB, Ren LL, Du LY, et al. Ancient genomes reveal tropical bovid species in the Tibetan Plateau contributed to the prevalence of hunting game until the late Neolithic[J]. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2020, 117(45): 28150-28159 |
| [70] | Huang XZ, Peng W, Rudaya N, et al. Holocene vegetation and climate dynamics in the Altai Mountains and surrounding Areas[J]. Geophysical Research Letters, 2018, 45(13): 6628-6636 |
| [71] | Huang XZ, Xiang LX, Lei GL, et al. Sedimentary Pediastrum record of middle-late Holocene temperature change and its impacts on early human culture in the desert-oasis area of northwestern China[J]. Quaternary Science Reviews, 2021, 265: 107054 |
| [72] | Fiorentino G, Caldara M, De Santis V, et al. Climate changes and human-environment interactions in the Apulia region of southeastern Italy during the Neolithic period[J]. Holocene, 2013, 23(9): 1297-1316 |
| [73] | 陈胜前. 中国狩猎采集者的模拟研究[J]. 人类学学报, 2006, 25(1): 42-55 |
| [74] | Wang L, Yang YS, Jia X. Hydrogeomorphic settings of late Paleolithic and early-mid Neolithic sites in relation to subsistence variation in Gansu and Qinghai Provinces, northwest China[J]. Quaternary International, 2016, 426: 18-25 |
| [75] | Liu XY, Hunt HV, Jones MK. River valleys and foothills: changing archaeological perceptions of North China’s earliest farms[J]. Antiquity, 2009, 83(319): 82-95 |
| [76] | Ren LL, Dong GH, Liu FW, et al. Foraging and farming: archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological evidence for Neolithic exchange on the Tibetan Plateau[J]. Antiquity, 2020, 94 (375): 637-652 |
| [77] | Zhou XY, Li XQ, Dodson J, et al. Rapid agricultural transformation in the prehistoric Hexi corridor, China[J]. Quaternary International, 2016, 426: 33-41 |
| [78] | 甘肃省文物考古研究所. 秦安大地湾:新石器时代遗址发掘报告[M]. 北京: 文物出版社, 2006, 861-916 |
| [79] | 邵会秋. 新疆史前时期文化格局的演进及其与周邻文化的关系[M]. 北京: 科学出版社, 2018, 24-429 |
| [80] | 安成邦, 张曼, 王伟, 等. 新疆地理环境特征以及农牧格局的形成[J]. 中国科学(地球科学), 2020, 50(2): 295-304 |
| [81] | Chen H, Wang XY, Lu HY, et al. Anthropogenic impacts on Holocene fluvial dynamics in the Chinese Loess Plateau, an evaluation based on landscape evolution modeling[J]. Geomorphology, 2021, 392(2): 107935 |
| [82] | Li FR, Gaillard MJ, Cao XY, et al. Towards quantification of Holocene anthropogenic land-cover change in temperate China: A review in the light of pollen-based REVEALS reconstructions of regional plant cover[J]. Earth-Science Reviews, 2020, 203(8): 103119 |
| [83] | Wang X, Fuller BT, Zhang PC, et al. Millet manuring as a driving force for the Late Neolithic agricultural expansion of north China[J]. Scientific Reports, 2018, 8(1): 5552 |
| [84] | Huang XZ, Liu SS, Dong GH, et al. Early human impacts on vegetation on the northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau during the middle to late Holocene[J]. Progress in Physical Geography, 2017, 41(3): 286-301 |
| [85] | Huang XZ, Zhang J, Storozum M, et al. Long-term herbivore population dynamics in the northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and its implications for early human impacts[J]. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 2020, 275(3): 104171 |
| [86] | Wei HC, Hou GL, Fan QS, et al. Using coprophilous fungi to reconstruct the history of pastoralism in the Qinghai Lake Basin, Northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau[J]. Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment, 2019, 44(1): 70-93 |
| [87] | Zhou XY, Li XQ, Dodson J, et al. Land degradation during the Bronze Age in Hexi Corridor (Gansu, China)[J]. Quaternary International, 2012, 254: 42-48 |
| [88] | Yang YS, Dong GH, Zhang SJ, et al. Copper content in anthropogenic sediments as a tracer for detecting smelting activities and its impact on environment during prehistoric period in Hexi Corridor, Northwest China[J]. The Holocene, 2017, 27(2): 282-291 |
| [89] | Miao YF, Zhang DJ, Cai XM, et al. Holocene fire on the northeast Tibetan Plateau in relation to climate change and human activity[J]. Quaternary International, 2017, 443: 124-131 |
| [90] | Zhang H, Zhang Y, Kong ZC, et al. Late Holocene climate change and anthropogenic activities in north Xinjiang: Evidence from a peatland archive, the Caotanhu wetland[J]. The Holocene, 2014, 25(2): 323-332 |
| [91] | Shen H, Li XQ, Spengler R, et al. Forest cover and composition on the Loess Plateau during the Middle to Late-Holocene: Integrating wood charcoal analyses[J]. The Holocene, 2020, 31(1): 38-49 |
/
| 〈 |
|
〉 |