China's major Late Neolithic centres and the rise of Erlitou

Zhang, Chi; Pollard, A. Mark; Rawson, Jessica; Huan, Limin; Liu, Ruiliang; Tang, Xiaojia

doi:10.15184/aqy.2019.63

Cited by 31 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…3850-3450 cal yr BP), flooding of the Yangtze and Yellow River Basins may have led to mass migration into the Central Plains. The coalition of divergent populations from several regions, bringing with them differing skills and cultures, may have contributed to the rise of Chinese Bronze Age (Zhang et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human Responses to Climate Change in the Late Prehistoric Western Loess Plateau, Northwest China

et al. 2020

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In order to assess late prehistoric human responses to climate change in the Western Loess Plateau (WLP), we investigated 13,567 charred plant seeds and 19 radiocarbon (14C) dates obtained from 41 late prehistoric sites in the upper Wei River valley. Based on these new dating results as well as their cultural attributes, these sites could be confidently divided into four chronological phases (Phase 1: Late Yangshao and Majiayao culture; Phase 2: Qijia culture; Phases 3 and 4: Siwa culture) but a significant gap was identified at ca. 3600–3000 cal yr BP in this region. Comparison of this interval to high-resolution paleoclimate records from Tianchi Lake suggests it could be attributed to the dramatic drop in temperature at this time. Accordingly, archaeobotanical evidence with a refined chronology shows the adoption of cold-tolerant subsistence cereal grains such as barley on the NETP (Northeast Tibetan Plateau). Drawing from various lines of knowledge (chronology, palaeoclimate, archaeobotany, and archaeology), it is reasonable to conclude that, even when confronting a similar magnitude of climate change, local human societies could vary tremendously. Different subsistence strategies were brought in by the trans-Eurasia culture exchange of prehistoric times.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human Responses to Climate Change in the Late Prehistoric Western Loess Plateau, Northwest China

et al. 2020

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“…The critical evaluation of research on the effects of the 4.2 ka BP event has important repercussions on one of the most crucial issues in Chinese ancient history, considering the common attempt to link this climatic phase to the collapse of all major Neolithic cultures, save one, the Henan Longshan culture, which led to the uncontested development of the first Chinese state (Li 2004; Wu and Liu, 2004; Liu and Chen, 2006; Gao et al, 2007; Liu and Feng, 2012; Li et al, 2017; C. Zhang et al, 2019). However, as we argue, the data used to prove such trajectories are often poorly dated and unsystematically collected, thus the underlying reconstructed social and demographic trends that many identified cannot be substantiated (and see Campbell, 2014; Shelach and Jaffe, 2014).…”

Section: Discussion: Moving Forwardmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…After H. Zhang et al (2018). MML, Mawmluh Cave speleothem KM-A (Berkelhammer et al, 2012), the red arrows indicate onset, maximum, and end of the 4.2 ka event; DG, Dongge Cave speleothem DA (Wang et al, 2005); LH, Lianhua Cave (Dong et al, 2015); XL, Xianglong speleothem XL26 (L. Tan et al, 2018); JX, Jiuxian (Cai et al, 2010); HS, Heshang (Hu et al, 2008); SB, Sanbao speleothem sb43 (Dong et al, 2010); SN, Shennong (H. Zhang et al, 2019). (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.…”

Section: The 42 Ka Bp Climatic Event In the Chinese Palaeoclimatologmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Especially problematic in Chinese archaeology, in this regard, is the growing use of archaeological data compiled in the Atlas of Chinese Cultural Relics (中国文物地图集). Many studies uncritically use sites that are recorded in this atlas and align them to climatic changes in order to generate causal models explaining extensive shifts in economic practices or sociopolitical collapse (e.g., An et al, 2004, 2005; Li et al, 2009a, 2009b; Liu et al, 2010; Huang et al, 2011; Dong et al, 2012; Liu and Feng, 2012; Dong et al, 2013a, 2013b; Jia et al, 2013; Li et al, 2013; Wagner et al, 2013; Xie et al, 2013; Guo et al, 2014; An et al, 2015; Chen et al, 2015; Hosner et al, 2016; Jia et al, 2016; Yu et al, 2016; Dong et al, 2017; H. Li et al, 2017; J. Li et al, 2017; Jia et al, 2018; Tan et al, 2018; J. Zhang et al, 2018; Leipe et al, 2019; Liu et al, 2019; Lü et al, 2019; Shi et al, 2019; Yang et al, 2019; Zhang et al, 2019; Lancuo et al, 2019; Pei, 2020). Misunderstanding the nature of the data represented in these atlases (and similar kinds of data presented elsewhere) is the cause of many unsubstantiated and even manifestly incorrect reconstructions of sociopolitical and economic trajectories, which are then uncritically correlated to paleoclimate events.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mismatches of scale in the application of paleoclimatic research to Chinese archaeology

et al. 2020

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Issues surrounding the difficult task of correlating archaeological and climatic trajectories are directly impacting the study of human-environmental interaction in Ancient China. We have chosen to focus on the 4.2 ka BP event due to the widespread belief in recent Chinese archaeological publications that it brought about the collapse of Neolithic cultures in multiple regions of China. Following a literature review concerning the many issues surrounding the reconstruction of the 4.2 ka BP event in East Asia, we present three short case studies from the Lower Yangzi, the Shaanxi loess plateau, and the Central Plains detailing a number of problems with Chinese archaeological attempts at using climate change as a causal mechanism for sociopolitical change. We then focus on a common but highly problematic methodology—the growing use of archaeological data compiled in the Atlas of Chinese Cultural Relics to correlate with climate proxies in order to generate linear, causal models explaining sociopolitical collapse. We follow with an example from Northeast China, where work from the past three decades has provided ample data with which to begin answering these questions in a more productive manner, and end with a set of suggestions for archaeologists and climate scientists going forward.

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“…In the article by Zhang et al (2019), Figure 2 was incorrect and did not match the caption. The correct Figure 2 with matching caption is given below.…”

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confidence: 99%