4500-2500年前是全新世中期至晚期的过渡阶段及欧亚大陆东西方交流出现和强化的时期，文化面貌和气候都发生了显著变化，该时期人地关系研究备受关注。已有的研究多集中在气候变化对文化演化的影响和史前人类对生存环境的行为适应方面，而该时期人群体质特征如何响应气候环境变化和文化演化尚不清楚。针对这些问题，本项目对位于青藏高原东缘河湟地区7个新石器晚期-青铜时代遗址出土的人骨标本展开研究。通过颅骨形态学、骨骼和牙齿疾病和创伤分析，以及骨骼材料的测年，研究不同时段人群的颅面部形态特征和健康状况；通过牙齿锶同位素测试，研究人群的迁徙状况；最后，结合已有研究资料，揭示河湟地区4500-2500年前人群体质特征的历时性变化，探讨其与气候变化、文化演化和人群迁徙之间的联系。该工作可为认识河湟地区气候与文化转型时期的人群结构和健康状况提供关键资料，并为理解该时期人地关系演变的过程和规律提供独特视角。

4500-2500BP（late Neolithic to Bronze age）was the transitional period from the middle to the late Holocene and the period when the cultural exchange between east and west in Eurasia emerged and intensified. During this period, culture and climate have changed significantly, and the study of human-environment relations has received much attention. Previous studies have focused on the impact of climate change on cultural systems and human behavioral adaption. However, it is unclear how the physical traits of human responded to climate change and cultural evolution during this period. This project will study human remains unearthed from 7 late Neolithic-Bronze age sites located in the Hehuang area on the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. Craniofacial morphology, disease, trauma analysis, and dating of bone materials will be used to study craniofacial morphological traits and the health status of different periods of population. The analyses of strontium isotope of teeth will be used to study population migration. Finally, combined with previous data, the diachronic changes of the physical traits of the population in the Hehuang area from 4500-2500BP will be revealed, and the relationship between it and climate change, cultural evolution and population migration will be discussed. This work can provide key information for understanding the population structure and health status during the climate and cultural transition period in Hehuang region, and also provide a unique perspective for understanding the process and law of the evolution of human-environment interaction during this period.