Water management and agricultural intensification of rice farming at the late-Neolithic site of Maoshan, Lower Yangtze River, China

Abstract

Intensifying water management for rice farming and related land use involves with increasing labour investment in transforming local landscapes. By applying geoarchaeological investigation at the well preserved late Neolithic rice paddy site of Maoshan, Lower Yangtze River during the excavation, this study provides detailed information of the changing relationship between water management, agricultural intensification, environmental change and social evolution during the critical time period of the late Holocene. It illustrates that the intensification of rice farming was facilitated by successful water management and landscape management in most time, and it was the combined effect of gradually increasing aridity, fluctuating sea-level patterns, and increasing labour investment in water management that led to the eventual abandonment of the paddy field at the end of the Neolithic in this region. This study therefore draws attention from large-scale sites to small-scale, but economically important sites in enhancing our understanding of the dynamic relationship between human societies and environmental changes during the late Holocene in this region.

Ecology and hydrology of early rice farming: geoarchaeological and palaeo-ecological evidence from the Late Holocene paddy field site at Maoshan, the Lower Yangtze

“…A return to wetter conditions in the paddy fields at Maoshan was indicated by evidence for a 'highly irrigated paddy systems' (Weisskopf et al 2015(Weisskopf et al , p. 1060. This accords well with the research conducted by Zhuang et al (2014) of the geoarchaeological evidence regarding greater control of the in-field water situation and intensifying farming practices. This research provides a detailed information on the complicated patterns of early water management and the physiobiological changes of rice caused by in-field ecological intervention of the prehistoric Lower Yangtze River.…”

“…We would suggest that this high frequency of in-field vegetation changes is closely related to intensifying water management for rice farming in the transition from the early to late phase use of the paddy fields. The latter is also supported by the micromorphological study of the cultivated soils conducted by the aforementioned research by Zhuang et al (2014) at the site. This intensifying water management practice, however, became unsustainable as the water level rose to a high level, marking the abandonment of the paddy fields at Maoshan during the Guangfulin period.…”

“…BP), before the Liangzhu period paddy fields were constructed. The Majiabang period archaeological features include house foundations, burials, a large number of pits and wells, all concentrated on the hillslope of the Mountain Hill (Zhuang et al 2014;Ding et al 2011). By the Liangzhu period, houses and burials were continuously built on the hillslope.…”

Pollen and non-pollen palynomorph analyses of Upper Holocene sediments from Dianshan, Yangtze coastal lowlands, China: Hydrology, vegetation history and human activity

“…These higher areas would naturally have been occupied by woodland, and the wetland would have comprised a wide range of hydroseral habitats, from open water through reedswamp, marsh and fen to swamp and bog. These wetlands would have provided productive ecosystems for human exploitation (Zheng, 2013), and their fertile marsh soils supported wet rice cultivation (Cao et al, 2006: Atahan et al, 2008Zhuang et al, 2014) which became intensive in the later Holocene and supported high human populations and cultural development (Liu, 2004).…”

Early evidence of irrigation technology in the North China Plain: Geoarchaeological investigations at the Anshang Site, Neihuang County, Henan Province, China

“…Now that archaeological data in China have become much richer, renewed discussion is required. Examining these new data from Neolithic and Bronze Age archaeological sites in the North China Plain may reveal the complex social and environmental dimensions of early water management systems (Du, ; Du & Qian, ; Zhang, , ; Zhuang, Ding, & French, ).…”