Copper smelting and sediment pollution in Bronze Age China: A case study in the Hexi corridor, Northwest China

Zhang, Shanjia; Yang, Yishi; Storozum, Michael; Li, Haiming; Cui, Yifu; Dong, Guanghui

doi:10.1016/j.catena.2017.04.001

Cited by 44 publications

(28 citation statements)

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“…Human farming activities led to the destruction of forest, as well as increasing fire frequency and soil erosion, and changed landscapes at local and regional scales during the mid-Holocene in Europe and South America (Heitkamp et al, 2014; Revelles, 2017; Vanniere et al, 2016; Yasuda et al, 2000). After the advent of smelting during the Bronze Age, human copper-working activities resulted in the pollution of lake sediments (Breitenlechner et al, 2013; Thevenon et al, 2011; Zhang et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of human–environmental interactions in China from the Late Paleolithic to the Bronze Age

Guo

et al. 2019

Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment

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Exploring prehistoric variation in human–environmental interaction is critical for understanding the historical patterns and mechanisms of long-term human–land evolution. In this paper we review the published radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) data from Late Paleolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age sites in China, analyze the spatial–temporal distribution of these sites, and compare it with the results of recent paleoclimatic and archaeological studies. We seek to study the trajectory and influencing factors of human–environmental interactions in late prehistoric China. We detect changing patterns in the relationship between humans and the environment during different phases of the prehistoric era in China. Climate change clearly affected the environment of hunter-gatherer groups between 50,000–10,000 BP (before present, defined as 1950AD), and variation in human population in Neolithic China (∼10,000–4000 BP) was likely influenced primarily by the development of agriculture, in addition to substantial climate events. The spatial scale of human settlements expanded in the Bronze Age (∼4000–2200 BP) in a period of cooling climate. During this time the impact of human activities on the environment increased significantly, primarily caused by technological innovations related to the onset of prehistoric transcontinental cultural exchange in Eurasia.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of human–environmental interactions in China from the Late Paleolithic to the Bronze Age

Guo

et al. 2019

Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment

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“…Bedrock mining for copper and other commodities was underway by 7000 years ago and probably much earlier in the Near East and elsewhere [199][200][201], requiring local water supplies for ore separation and settlements. In China, lake records indicate increased copper concentrations approximately 4000 years ago, with widespread sediment pollution related to the intensity of smelting activities [202]. Placer mining for alluvial gold was active by 4100 years ago (Table 4), and improved methods of dredging and hydraulic extraction were developed in the first millennium BCE [170].…”

Section: Resources Of Channels and Floodplainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More direct proxy records typically focus on rates of erosion and sediment transport. They include measurements of sediment flux to the world oceans [49,243], local erosion rates under natural and modified vegetation [18,244], soil-erosion models [242], basinwide denudation rates derived from cosmogenic isotopes [33,245], and human impacts in lake records [202,238]. However, the timing and rates of events derived from different proxies commonly vary because they measure different effects, and proxy records are rarely truly independent variables and are subject to complex feedbacks [18,130].…”

Section: Comparison Of Stages With Models For Population Growth and Lmentioning

confidence: 99%

River Systems and the Anthropocene: A Late Pleistocene and Holocene Timeline for Human Influence

Gibling

2018

Quaternary

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Rivers are central to debate about the Anthropocene because many human activities from antiquity focused on channels and floodplains. A literature compilation for the onset of human modification of rivers identifies six stages that represent key innovations focused in the Near East and adjoining areas: (1) minimal effects before about 15,000 cal yr BP, with the use of fire and gathering of plants and aquatic resources; (2) minor effects from increased cultivation after about 15,000 cal yr BP, with plant and animal domestication after about 10,700 cal yr BP; (3) agricultural era after about 9800 cal yr BP, with legacy sediments, widespread fire use, the first dams and irrigation, and mud-brick manufacture; (4) irrigation era from about 6500 cal yr BP, with large-scale irrigation, major cities, the first large dam, urban water supplies, expanded groundwater use, river fleets, and alluvial mining; (5) engineering era with embankments, dams, and watermills after about 3000 cal yr BP, especially in the Chinese and Roman empires; and (6) technological era after about 1800 CE. Anthropogenic river effects were more varied and intense than commonly has been recognised, and they should be considered routinely in interpreting Late Pleistocene and Holocene fluvial archives.

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“…; Zhang et al . ). Archaeological research focusing on human palaeodiet and plant resource exploitation demonstrates a significant change in subsistence strategies in the Bronze Age (4000–2200 bp ) (e.g., GPICRA and SAMPU ; Liu et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…; Zhang et al . ). However, the full range of economic change in the prehistoric Hexi Corridor has not been clearly defined due to the absence of comprehensive analyses of multiple lines of evidence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Economic Change in the Prehistoric Hexi Corridor (4800–2200 bp), North‐West China

et al. 2019

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It is widely known that the Hexi Corridor in North‐West China lies at a hub of trans‐Eurasian cultural exchange. Its role became increasingly important during the late prehistoric period, particularly as the ancient Silk Road began to be used. While the profound transformation of local cultural characteristics in the late Neolithic and the Bronze Age is well documented, the detailed economic dynamics of cultural evolution have not yet been clearly illustrated. In this paper, we report on significant new zooarchaeological and faunal isotopic data from the Neolithic and Bronze Age sites in the Hexi Corridor. The primary objective is to systematically reconstruct the prehistoric economic context of this area by combining these new data with previous archaeological studies and radiocarbon dates. We argue that the primary economic activities of local inhabitants changed dramatically in the prehistoric Hexi Corridor. This was marked by agricultural production at c.4800–4000 bp, agro‐pastoral production at c.4000–3000 bp and animal husbandry at c.3000–2200 bp, respectively. The major subsistence strategies of these three periods show considerable variation. It is very likely that these transformations of economic patterns in the prehistoric Hexi Corridor were primarily triggered by transcontinental cultural exchange and, to a lesser extent, by climate change.

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Copper smelting and sediment pollution in Bronze Age China: A case study in the Hexi corridor, Northwest China

Cited by 44 publications

References 50 publications

Evolution of human–environmental interactions in China from the Late Paleolithic to the Bronze Age

Evolution of human–environmental interactions in China from the Late Paleolithic to the Bronze Age

River Systems and the Anthropocene: A Late Pleistocene and Holocene Timeline for Human Influence

Economic Change in the Prehistoric Hexi Corridor (4800–2200 bp), North‐West China

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