Late Neolithic phytolith and charcoal records of human activities and vegetation change in Shijiahe culture, Tanjialing site, China

Abstract

There is significant archaeological evidence marking the collapse of the Shijiahe culture in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River in China during the late Neolithic Period. However, the causes for this cultural collapse remain unclear. Our sedimentary records from a 3.3 m long profile and 76 phytolith and charcoal samples from the Tanjialing archaeological sites provide records of interactions between an ancient culture and vegetation change. During the early Shijiahe culture (c, 4850–4400 cal BP), the climate was warm and humid. Fire was intensively used to clear the vegetation. In the mid-period of the Shijiahe culture (c, 4400–4200 cal BP), the climate became slightly dry-cold and this was accompanied by decreasing water, leading to settlements. From c, 4200 cal BP, severe drought eroded the economic foundation of rice-cultivation. These conditions forced people to abandon the Shijiahe ancient city to find water in other regions, leading to the collapse of the Shijiahe culture.

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

“…The climate broadly turned cold and dry (with fluctuations) in that period (Figures 4a, 4b), suggesting that the impact of climate change on cultural evolution had weakened in comparison to the Late Paleolithic period in China. However, climate and environmental change are still considered important influencing factors for cultural evolution in Neolithic China (Dong et al, 2017a; Tan et al, 2018; Wu et al, 2018; Zhu et al, 2017). A favorable climate facilitated Neolithic development.…”