Evolution of Influence Ranges of Neolithic-Bronze Age Cities in the Songshan Mountain Region of Central China Based on GIS Spatial Analysis

Exploring the influence range of early cities is significant for understanding the mechanisms behind ancient settlement systems and human-environment interactions. Due to a lack of effective research methods, the evolution processes and impact mechanisms of the influence ranges of prehistoric cities are still ambiguous. In this study, we chose the Songshan Mountain region for research, which witnessed the origin and development of Chinese civilization. Using GIS spatial analyses such as the ‘average nearest neighbor’ and ‘Thiessen polygon’, we explored the spatial-temporal distributions and influence ranges of Neolithic-Bronze Age cities in the region. The roles of human culture and the natural environment in the process were also investigated. The results indicated that the spatial distributions of early cities were random during the Yangshao (7000–5000 BP) and Longshan (5000–4000 BP) cultures. During the Erlitou culture (3800–3500 BP) and Shang Dynasty (3600–3046 BP), the spatial distributions changed into dispersed models. During the Zhou Dynasty (3046–2256 BP), the spatial distribution model was random again. Correspondingly, the influence range of early cities during the Erlitou culture is the largest, followed by those of the Longshan culture, Yangshao culture, Shang Dynasty, and Zhou Dynasty. This is different from the conventional view that the ancient city’s influence range continuously expands as time advances. Both the natural environment and human culture are believed to impact this evolutional process. Specifically, the Holocene climate variation and the consequent cyclic river downcutting and silting affect the city site selection and thus the spatial-temporal distribution and influence range of early cities. The enfeoffment system occurring during the Erlitou culture should also have played a vital role in this evolution. In general, the natural environment is more important for the spatial distribution and influence range of early cities during Yangshao, Longshan, and Erlitou cultures, while human culture represented by the enfeoffment system plays a dominant role during Shang and Zhou Dynasties when the natural environment is relatively stable.