Search

In this paper, we summarize the Holocene environmental history of the lower Yangtze region, east China, based on the sedimentary records and microfossil diatom, pollen, fungal and charcoal data that were published in the past two decades. We then examine the linkage between changes in the coastal environment and the development of rice agriculture in the region, with reference to the available archaeological evidence and historical archives. Based on the sedimentary and archaeological evidence, we conclude that during the early Holocene sea-level movements and sedimentary processes significantly changed the region’s landscape from an open, brackish water environment to a largely enclosed, wetland system. This newly established freshwater marsh environment provided a habitat favourable to rice agriculture. The early Neolithic farmers took the opportunity presented to them and started rice cultivation in locations where freshwater wetland systems were established. During the middle Holocene, environmental conditions were largely stable, and the coastal wetlands evolved slowly. Environmental change was only a supportive player in the Neolithic cultural processes, because the Neolithic people were able to adapt to these changes and took advantages of the newly emerging marsh land for food collection and production. Around 4200 years ago, the prosperous Liangzhu society fell, but there is no evidence to suggest the fall was related to a significant environmental change. The coastal environment continued to evolve slowly during the late Holocene. But this period saw rapid technological development in irrigation and flood protection, and the environmental factor was reduced to background noise. Throughout the Holocene, the main strategy taken by the Neolithic people to cope with environmental change was migration to find better food sources. Along with this strategy was the development of technology in landscape management to ensure a more reliable food production in addition to food collection through hunting, gathering and fishing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lower Yangtze, eastern China, was colonized by several Neolithic and Bronze Age cultures giving rise to possibly the highest concentration of prehistoric sites in the world. Early Neolithic cultures in the delta region cultivated rice (Oryza sativa) and agricultural developments appear to have occurred throughout the Neolithic with abrupt socio-economic changes possibly associated with the terminal Neolithic. Given the extensive history of environmental exploitation and well-preserved archaeological sites, the Yangtze delta is an ideal setting to explore the complex interactions between humans and their environment. Multiproxies of environmental changes, namely pollen, charcoal and phytoliths, in a 14C AMS-dated sequence of sediments from an exposed profile at Qingpu, Yangtze delta, were investigated. 14C AMS dating indicates that the age range of the sedimentary sequence analysed is from c. 1800 to 6000 BP, and therefore encompasses the terminal Neolithic and subsequent Bronze Age in the region. This paper reviews this sediment-based evidence in the light of current understanding of human-environment interactions during a critical phase of the development of the Yangtze delta and associated human cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]