Holocene fluctuations in vegetation and human population demonstrate social resilience in the prehistory of the Central Plains of China
Holocene fluctuations in vegetation and human population demonstrate social resilience in the prehistory of the Central Plains of China
复制标题
全新世植被和人口的波动显示了中国中原史前的社会复原力
DOI：
10.1088/1748-9326/abdf0a
复制
发表时间：
2021-05-01
影响因子：
6.7
通讯作者：
Kidder, Tristram R.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Ren, Xiaolin;Xu, Junjie;Kidder, Tristram R.
考古学家和古气候学家一直致力于研究气候对世界各地史前文明的影响；然而，面对气候变化的社会恢复力仍不清楚，特别是在中国中原地区新石器时代和青铜时代（CPC）。本文报道了河南大河村岩心孢粉学研究结果。我们的花粉数据表明，在9200 - 4000 cal BP期间，气候条件温暖潮湿，然后在新石器时代-青铜时代过渡期间（~ 4000 - 3600 cal BP），气候条件转向凉爽干燥。我们分析了考古遗址的14C数据，以证明新石器时代的四期人口增长和现有的植被动态，从现有的花粉数据中确定，为植被和人口的同步变化提供证据。我们的研究结果表明，青铜器时代早期的干旱并没有导致人口崩溃，这突出了社会适应气候变化的重要性。来自CPC的花粉、放射性碳测年和考古植物学记录提供了新的证据，支持这样的说法：在干旱气候的压力下，农业和复杂社会的发展为大约3800-3400年前人类人口的急剧增长奠定了基础。
Archaeologists and palaeoclimatologists have focused on the impact of climate on the prehistoric civilizations around the world; however, social resilience in the face of the climate change remains unclear, especially during the Neolithic and Bronze Age in the Central Plains of China (CPC). In this paper, we present palynological results from the Dahecun Core, Henan Province, China. Our pollen data indicate a warm and wet climate condition from 9200 to 4000 cal BP, which then switches to a cool and dry climatic condition during the Neolithic-Bronze Age transition (∼4000–3600 cal BP). We analyze 14C dates from archaeological sites to demonstrate four episodes of population increase and present vegetation dynamics, determined from available pollen data, to provide evidence for the synchronous shifts in vegetation and human population during the Neolithic. Our results indicate that the aridification in the early Bronze Age did not cause population collapse, highlighting the importance of social resilience to climate change. The pollen, radiocarbon dates and archaeobotanical records from the CPC provides new evidence that supports the claim that the development of agriculture and complex societies, under the stress of a dry climate, set the stage for the dramatic increase of human population around 3800–3400 cal BP.