Collapse of the Liangzhu and other Neolithic cultures in the lower Yangtze region in response to climate change

Zhang, Haiwei; Cheng, Hai; Sinha, Ashish; Spötl, Christoph; Cai, Yanjun; Liu, Bin; Kathayat, Gayatri; Li, Hanying; Tian, Ye; Li, Youwei; Zhao, Jingyao; Sha, Lijuan; Lu, Jiayu; Meng, Binglin; Niu, Xiaowen; Dong, Xiyu; Liang, Zeyuan; Zong, Baoyun; Ning, Youfeng; Lan, Jianghu; Edwards, R. Lawrence

doi:10.1126/sciadv.abi9275

Cited by 98 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 73 publications

(139 reference statements)

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“…6). This is also consistent with the speleothem-based studies in Jiulong (JL) (Zhang et al, 2021) and Xianglong (XL) Caves and may explain the faster growth rate of the stalagmite in the LH Cave during this period (H. , in contrast with the pronounced dry conditions that were widely reported in northern China during the time (Chen et al, 2015;Yang et al, 2015;Xiao et al, 2018). For example, the pollen-based precipitation records at Gonghai Lake (Chen et al, 2015) and speleothem δ 13 C from Liuli (LL) (Zhao et al, 2021) and Wuya (WY) Caves (Tan et al, 2020a) revealed drier conditions during 4.3-3.9 ka, continuing the decreasing rainfall trend from ∼5.5 ka (Fig.…”

Section: Hydroclimate In South-central China and Regional Comparison ...supporting

confidence: 91%

“…After that, their variation trends reversed at 4.3-4.2 ka, implying gradually wetter conditions during ∼4.3-3.9 ka, which corresponds to the 4.2 ka event (Railsback et al, 2018). The inferred wet conditions over south-central China are supported by the reconstructed regional precipitation between HS and DG Caves (Hu et al, 2008) and the climatic conditions revealed by the Shennong (SN) δ 13 C profile (Zhang et al, 2021;Fig. 6).…”

Section: Hydroclimate In South-central China and Regional Comparison ...mentioning

confidence: 73%

“…Moreover, some regional records even found no compelling evidence of the 4.2 ka event; for example, in the northern North Atlantic (Bradley and Bakke, 2019) and Rodrigues Island (Li et al, 2018). The relatively inconspicuous feature of the 4.2 ka event in RM8-2 proxies is also evident in the reconstructed regional precipitation between HS and DG Caves (Hu et al, 2008) and SN δ 13 C sequence (Zhang et al, 2021;Fig. 6), suggesting it may be a common climatic signal in south-central China.…”

Section: Hydroclimate In South-central China and Regional Comparison ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hydroclimatic changes in south-central China during the 4.2 ka event and their potential impacts on the development of Neolithic culture

et al. 2022

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The 4.2 ka event is widely presumed to be a globally widespread aridity event and has been linked to several episodes of societal changes across the globe. Whether this climate event impacted the cultural development in south-central China remains uncertain due to a lack of regional paleorainfall records. We present here stalagmite stable carbon isotope and trace element–based reconstruction of hydroclimatic conditions from south-central China. Our data reveal a sub–millennial scale (~5.6 to 4.3 ka) drying trend in the region followed by a gradual transition to wetter conditions during the 4.2 ka event (4.3–3.9 ka). Together with the existing archaeological evidence, our data suggest that the drier climate before 4.3 ka may have promoted the Shijiahe culture, while the pluvial conditions during the 4.2 ka event may have adversely affected its settlements in low-lying areas. While military conflicts with the Wangwan III culture may have accelerated the collapse of Shijiahe culture, we suggest that the joint effects of climate and the region's topography also played important causal roles in its demise.

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Section: Hydroclimate In South-central China and Regional Comparison ...supporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Hydroclimate In South-central China and Regional Comparison ...mentioning

confidence: 73%

Section: Hydroclimate In South-central China and Regional Comparison ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hydroclimatic changes in south-central China during the 4.2 ka event and their potential impacts on the development of Neolithic culture

et al. 2022

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“…y BP in the Yellow River Basin remains unclear, most studies thought it was associated with the abrupt climatic change event occurring at ~4000 cal. y BP [40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][65][66][67]. As stated earlier, the distances of most human settlements and river courses were less than 1000 m during both the Longshan and Erlitou periods (Table 5), suggesting that human settlements in the upper and middle Qin River reaches were extremely vulnerable to floods.…”

Section: Relationship Between Human Settlement Distribution and Extre...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…y BP was widely accepted as the trigger of cultural collapses on the monsoon fringe of northern China [36][37][38], while this drying and cooling change in climate might be insufficient to collapse the cultures in the presently humid and warm parts of China [34,39]. The dramatic environmental variations (i.e., abnormal or extreme floods) associated with this event have been widely found in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and Yellow River, and their relations with local cultural transformation have been intensively discussed [40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49]. It is noteworthy that when other contemporaneous Neolithic cultures declined across China at ~4000 cal.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Spatiotemporal Patterns of Human Settlement during the Longshan and Erlitou Periods in Relation to Extreme Floods and Subsistence Strategy in the Upper and Middle Qin River Reaches, Central China

Hou

Zhang

et al. 2022

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Human settlement numbers have significantly changed before and after ~4000 cal. y BP in the upper and middle Qin River reaches, but the external and internal factors driving this change remain unclear. In this study, we examine changing spatial and temporal patterns of the Longshan and Erlitou settlements in relation to extreme flooding at ~4000 cal. y BP and a variety of subsistence strategies during the Longshan and Erlitou periods. The results indicate that settlement number, settlement distribution, and subsistence strategies exhibited obvious shifts between the Longshan and Erlitou periods, and the episode at ~4000 cal. y BP was an extreme-flood-rich interval within and around the Qin River Basin. During the Longshan and Erlitou periods, millet-based agriculture dominated local subsistence strategy, and ancient people would prefer to reside in the areas suitable for farming, causing the valley plains in the upper and middle Qin River reaches to contain most Longshan and Erlitou settlements. However, the frequent occurrence of extreme floods at ~4000 cal. y BP, in conjunction with intergroup conflicts due to a large amount of population immigration during the late Longshan period, is likely to have jointly decreased the settlement number and shrunk the spatial range of human settlement distribution. Subsequently, with the end of the extreme-flood-rich episode and the increasing proportion of higher-water-requirement foxtail millet in cropping structures of human subsistence strategy, more Erlitou settlements were distributed in the wetter valley plains of the middle Qin River reaches.

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Millennial‐ to centennial‐scale anti‐phase relationship between the Westerlies and the East Asian summer monsoon and its cultural response along the Silk Roads after a great earthquake in southern Altay ~ 3500 cal a BP

Fan

Jiang

et al. 2022

J Quaternary Science

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It is strongly debated whether the Westerlies and the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) are in‐phase, anti‐phase or out‐of‐phase, and how hydroclimatic changes in the above two climate systems affected trans‐Eurasian cultural exchanges during the late Holocene. In this study, we establish a 3500‐a‐long paleoclimatic sequence based on high‐resolution analyses of sedimentological and geochemical data of a well‐dated sediment core from Yileimu Lake in southern Altay. High percentages of the >63‐µm fraction and high values of Zr/Rb and Rb/Sr ratios indicate strong transport of weakly weathered, coarse sediments into the depocenter of the lake caused by enhanced surface runoff and catchment erosion associated with a wet climate, and vice versa. High values of Ca and total inorganic carbon (TIC) contents imply increased precipitation of endogenic carbonates in the lake water under intense evaporation associated with a dry climate, and vice versa. This new record indicates two wet intervals at 3500–2300 and 600–100 cal a bp, interrupted by a severe and prolonged dry interval from 2300 to 1000 cal a bp, and a mild dry interval with occasionally wet conditions from 1000 to 600 cal a bp. These results are broadly consistent with other paleoclimatic records in Westerlies‐dominated Asia and are generally anti‐phase with those in the EASM region. We suggest that a strengthening/weakening and southward/northward migration of the Westerlies during a negative/positive phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) transported more/less water vapor into arid Asia. Meanwhile, a decreasing/increasing El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) superimposed on a southward/northward shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) triggered a weakening/strengthening and southward/northward movement of the West‐Pacific subtropical high (WPSH), resulting in decreasing/increasing EASM intensity. In addition, the wet climate from 3500 to 2300 cal a bp may have contributed to the development of nomadic herding in the eastern Eurasian Steppe and Altay region, and to the opening of the proto‐Silk Roads. Potentially, intense seismic activities in the Altay Mountains ~3500 cal a bp may have also promoted the opening of the proto‐Silk Roads by forcing the herdsmen to move to the inter‐mountainous basins. The strong EASM intensity from 2300 to 1000 cal a bp in eastern China may have contributed to the creation of the ancient Silk Roads by the Han Dynasty.

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Collapse of the Liangzhu and other Neolithic cultures in the lower Yangtze region in response to climate change

Cited by 98 publications

References 73 publications

Hydroclimatic changes in south-central China during the 4.2 ka event and their potential impacts on the development of Neolithic culture

Hydroclimatic changes in south-central China during the 4.2 ka event and their potential impacts on the development of Neolithic culture

The Spatiotemporal Patterns of Human Settlement during the Longshan and Erlitou Periods in Relation to Extreme Floods and Subsistence Strategy in the Upper and Middle Qin River Reaches, Central China

Millennial‐ to centennial‐scale anti‐phase relationship between the Westerlies and the East Asian summer monsoon and its cultural response along the Silk Roads after a great earthquake in southern Altay ~ 3500 cal a BP

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