1444 / 2019-08-10 16:31:37

Spatiotemporal variation of cropping patterns in different geomorphologic environments in eastern Loess Plateau, central-north China during late Neolithic and Bronze Age

1、第四纪地质与全球变化 > 专题3：史前-历史时期人-环境相互作用

Human settlement and its agricultural development are closely related to the local and regional geomorphological environment. The development of prehistoric agriculture and the driving forces behind it have been extensively discussed in recent years, however, the spatial and temporal variability of agricultural development patterns in different geomorphological environments during prehistoric period still remain unclear. Here we report new archaeobotanical and radiocarbon dates from 34 Neolithic and Bronze sites in the Hutuo River valley in the central-north China, and compare them with updated archaeobotanical studies in the valleys of Sushui River and Yiluo river nearby, to explore the similarities and differences of agricultural patterns under different geomorphologic environments in the central-north China. Our results reveal that human consistently cultivated foxtail and broomcorn millet in late Neolithic period, these indigenous crops remained the dominant plant subsistence during Bronze Age in the Hutuo River valley, though wheat and barley were introduced into the area around 4000 BP. The variation of cropping patterns in Hutuo and Sushui River valley is basically consistent with those in river terraces landforms in Yiluo river, but different with that in plain landforms in the Yiluo river valley, which were closely related to spatial differentiation of geomorphic and hydrothermal conditions. Hilly lands bred by river terraces landforms in the Hutuo, Sushui and Yiluo River Valley are more suitable for rain-fed agriculture, while alluvial plains bred by plain landforms in the Yiluo River Valley are more suitable for irrigated agriculture, which was responsible for the diverse trajectories of agricultural development in different corners of the central-north China during Bronze Age, when trans-Eurasia exchange emerged and intensified in the area.