Early human occupation of the Tibetan Plateau

Zhang, Dongju; Xia, Huan; Chen, Fahu

doi:10.1016/j.scib.2018.12.004

Cited by 11 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Tibetans have been recognized as Mongolians from East Asia, so there should be a view that people in northern China are expanded from east to west across the plateau 58 . However, the possibility of people originating from other directions and entering the plateau cannot be excluded, owing to the limitation of scale and differences in what time they may have entered the plateau 59 . Given this, these complexities have been omitted from the current discussion.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Winter-to-summer seasonal migration of microlithic human activities on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Hou¹,

Gao

Chen

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) has become a valuable site for investigation of adaptive regimes of prehistoric humans to extreme environments. At present most studies have focused solely on a single site. Using a more integrated approach that covers the complete scope of the plateau is needed to better understand the expansion logic of prehistoric humans moving towards the plateau. Here, we conducted accelerator mass spectrometry 14C dating of two microlithic sites. Canxiongashuo (CXGS) and Shalongka (SLK), which are located at the inner and marginal areas of the QTP, respectively. By using geographic information system, literature, and natural environmental factors, we constructed a model for the relationship between traveling distance and time, and we also used these factors to construct a plateau environmental index. The results indicated that the ages of the CXGS and SLK sites are 8.4–7.5 cal. ka BP and 8.4–6.2 cal. ka BP, respectively. Combining the archaeological evidence and literature, hunter-gatherers may have seasonal migration activities at low altitude in winter and high altitude in summer in order to make full use of natural resources. Our model of relationship between traveling distance and time shows that hunter-gatherers in CXGS site was active on the plateau all year-round at approximately 8.3 cal. ka BP. According to EI and archaeological remains, we propose that SLK site was a winter camp of prehistoric hunter-gatherers. Taken together, we determined 8.4–6.0 cal. ka BP as a transitional period from the Paleolithic to Neolithic Ages, and winter camps of hunter-gatherers evolved into settlements in the Neolithic Age.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Winter-to-summer seasonal migration of microlithic human activities on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Hou¹,

Gao

Chen

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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“…A recent study of a human mandible fossil found in Xiahe County, in the northeastern TP, indicates that Denisovans occupied the TP before 160 ka (during the penultimate glacial period), much earlier than contemporary Tibetans who arrived in the region much later (Chen et al, 2019;. Both genetic research (Lu et al, 2016) and archaeological investigations (Zhang et al, 2018a;Zhang et al, 2018b) suggest that anatomically modern human foragers conquered high elevations and at least seasonally colonized the Tibetan Plateau (TP) between 60 and 30 ka. Genetic research indicates there was some genetic continuity between initial Paleolithic people on the TP and modern Tibetans, with the former contributing ∼6% of the present Tibetan gene pool (Zhao et al, 2009;Lu et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate Conditions on the Tibetan Plateau During the Last Glacial Maximum and Implications for the Survival of Paleolithic Foragers

Liu

et al. 2020

Front. Earth Sci.

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Environmental conditions on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) during the last glacial maximum (LGM) are poorly known. Existing studies of environmental proxies and climate model simulations are contradictory, with interpretations varying between cold-dry and cold-wet environmental conditions which differentially influenced lake volumes, loess deposition and vegetation communities across the TP. Genetic and archaeological studies suggest anatomically modern paleolithic foragers initially occupied the TP between 60 and 30 ka, and may have seasonally occupied the TP during the LGM. Hence, a better understanding for LGM environmental conditions is needed in order to estimate whether paleolithic foragers could have survived on the TP during the extreme LGM cold stage. Here we report the investigation of lacustrine sediments and beach deposits within two paleoshorelines around Dagze Co on the southern TP, ∼22 and ∼42 m higher than the present lake level. Optical age estimates suggest the sediments were deposited during the LGM and mid-Holocene, respectively. TraCE-21 climate model simulation results suggest that net annual LGM precipitation in the Dagze Co basin was lower than the mid-Holocene, but about the same as that of the past 1,000 years. Combining the optical age estimates with TraCE-21 and CAM4 climate model simulation results, we deduce that increased summer precipitation and glacier meltwater supply, combined with decreased lake surface evaporation, produced LGM lake levels ∼22 m higher than present. We also synthesized paleoenvironmental records reported across the TP spanning the LGM. This synthesis suggests that the LGM climate in the northern TP was cold and dry, but that some of the southern TP was cold and wet. These relatively wetter LGM conditions in the southern TP may have favored the growth of cold-resistant plants which, in turn, may have supported larger herbivore populations, and provided food for paleolithic foragers. We conclude that seasonal or short-term human occupation of the TP during the LGM was thus more likely in the southern TP than in the north.

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“…最早人类活动时间由距今1.5万年推早至距今4万年 [2,3] , 随后再次推早至距今16万年 [4] , 为研究人类对高海拔环境的适应过程和机制提供了关键材料和重要信息; 其次, 史前人类大规模常年定居青藏高原和现代藏族人群的来源问题得到进一步厘清, 此前依据考古证据提出的青藏高原东北部全新世中晚期人群或考古学文化由黄河中游地区的粟作农业人群扩散而来的观点 [5] , 得到现代汉藏语系的语言学 [6] 和现代藏族人群的线粒体 DNA(mtDNA)研究结果 [7] 的印证. 此外, 这两项新研究有专文进行过梳理和述评 [8] , 本文不再赘述.…”

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