Research Articles

Archaeological sites distribution and its physical environmental settings between ca 260-2.2 ka BP in Guizhou, Southwest China

Expand
  • 1. School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China;
    2. Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, CAS, Urumqi 830011, China;
    3. College of Hydrology and Water Resources, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China;
    4. Guizhou Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Guiyang 550004, China
Li Kaifeng (1986-), PhD Candidate, specialized in geomorphology and environmental archaeology. E-mail: henanlkf@163.com

Received date: 2013-09-14

  Revised date: 2013-11-20

  Online published: 2014-03-28

Supported by

National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.41171163, No.41371204; Scientific Research Foundation of Graduate School of Nanjing University, No.2012CL02; Major Program of National Social Science Foundation of China, No.11&ZD183; Open Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Lake Science and Environment, CAS, No.2012SKL003; Open Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, CAS, No.SKLLQ1206

Abstract

This study presents an analysis of the spatial-temporal distribution of 230 archaeological sites in Guizhou Province, Southwest China for three selected time periods from the Paleolithic Age to the Shang-Zhou Dynasties. The relationship between archaeological sites distribution and environmental changes is also discussed based on paleo-environmental proxies of δ18O and δ13C recorded in stalagmites from Southwest China. The results show that: in the Paleolithic Age (260-10 ka BP), archaeological sites were concentrated in the central, northwestern and southwestern parts of Guizhou, where the high-altitudinal karst landforms with many natural caves suitable for human habitation are developed. In the Neolithic Age (10-3.6 ka BP), most of human settlements were concentrated in the central, northwestern and southwestern parts, while, a fewer sites were found on river terraces in the southern and eastern parts, and the intermontane basins in the central and western Guizhou. During the Shang-Zhou Dynasties (3.6-2.2 ka BP), the sites were mainly distributed in the intermontane basins and on river terraces, which were suitable for primitive aerial farming. The analysis of paleo-environmental proxies of δ18O and δ13C since 260 ka BP suggested that climate fluctuations had little impact on human settlements in this study area. The distinct physical environment, especially the spatial patterns of karst landforms and arable land played an important role in the archaeological sites distribution of Guizhou.

Cite this article

LI Kaifeng, ZHU Cheng, JIANG Fengqing, LI Bing, WANG Xinhao, CAO Bo, ZHAO Xiaofan . Archaeological sites distribution and its physical environmental settings between ca 260-2.2 ka BP in Guizhou, Southwest China[J]. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2014 , 24(3) : 526 -538 . DOI: 10.1007/s11442-014-1104-4

References

Chen Peiying, 1987. Palynological assemblages and palaeoenvironment of CK17 drilling hole in Caohai (Grassy Sea), Weining County, Guizhou Province. Geology of Guizhou, 12: 381-388. (in Chinese)
Chen Peiying, Zhou Qiyong, Lin Shuji, 1991. Palaeoenvironment from 15 000 a BP to the present in Weining County, Guizhou: A study of Nantun peat-bed section. Geology of Guizhou, 8(2): 141-152. (in Chinese)
Chen Peiying, Zhou Qiyong, Lin Shuji et al., 1992. The changes of vegetation and climate of Jiulongchi section of Fanjingshan Mountain in Guizhou since 10 000 years ago. Geology of Guizhou, 9(2): 167-175. (in Chinese)
Chen Peiying, Zhou Qiyong, Lin Shuji et al., 1994. The Pleistocene palaeovegetation and palaeoclimate of Xiaoheitu, Anshun, Guizhou. Guizhou Science, 12(2): 24-31. (in Chinese)
Department of Geography in Guizhou Normal University (DGGNU), 1990. Geography of Guizhou Province. Guiyang: Guizhou People's Publishing House. (in Chinese)
Fletcher R, 2008. Some spatial analyses of Chalcolithic settlement in Southern Israel. Journal of Archaeological Science, 35: 2048-2058.
Gao Huazhong, Zhu Cheng, Xu Weifeng et al., 2007. Environmental change and cultural response around 4200 cal. yr BP in the Yisu River Basin, Shandong. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 17(3): 285-292.
González-Sampériz P, Utrilla P, Mazo C et al., 2009. Patterns of human occupation during the early Holocene in the Central Ebro Basin (NE Spain) in response to the 8.2 ka climatic event. Quaternary Research, 71: 121-132.
Guizhou Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology (GPICRA), 1999. Fifty years of archaeological work in Guizhou Province. In: Cultural Relics Press. Fifty Years of Archaeological Work in China. Beijing: Cultural Relics Press, 390-400. (in Chinese)
Haug G H, Güther D, Peterson L C et al., 2003. Climate and the collapse of Maya civilization. Science, 299: 1731-1735.
Hoelzmann P, Keding B, Berke H et al., 2001. Environmental change and archaeology: Lake evolution and human occupation in the Eastern Sahara during the Holocene. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 169: 193-217.
Ji Ruan, 1992. Evolution of Quaternary natural environment in Guizhou. Geology of Guizhou, 9(1): 59-62. (in Chinese)
Johnson K R, Ingram B L, 2004. Spatial and temporal variability in the stable isotope systematics of modern precipitation in China: Implications for paleoclimate reconstructions. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 220: 365-377.
Kong Fancui, Yang Ruidong, Lin Shuji, 2010. Analysis of the evolution of karst environment of Weining Region, Guizhou Province, West China: A proof from the sediment evolution of Lake Caihai since about 0.73 million years. Earth and Environment, 38(2): 138-145. (in Chinese)
Li F, Wu L, Zhu C et al., 2013. Spatial-temporal distribution and geographic context of Neolithic cultural sites in the Hanjiang River Basin, Southern Shaanxi, China. Journal of Archaeological Science, 40: 3141-3152.
Li Lan, Wu Li, Zhu Cheng et al., 2011. Relationship between archaeological sites distribution and environment from 1.15 Ma BP to 278 BC in Hubei Province. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 21(5): 909-925.
Li Yanyuan, 1979. Thirty years of archaeological work in Guizhou Province. Guizhou Ethnic Studies, (1): 15-25. (in Chinese)
Li Yingfu, Chen Fang, 2010. Archaeological cultures during Shang and Zhou dynasties in Wujiang River valley surveyed from Qingyuan Site. Archaeology, (5): 79-91. (in Chinese)
Liu Enyuan, 2005. Discussion on the origin and development of primitive agriculture in Guizhou Province. Sichuan Cultural Relics, (1): 34-39. (in Chinese)
Liu Qiming, 2003. The paleoclimatic records and paleoecological-paleoenvironmental meanings of stalagmite from Liangfeng Cave in Guizhou, China
[D]. Beijing: Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. (in Chinese)
Peng Zicheng, Zhang Zhaofeng, Cai Yanjun et al., 2002. The paleoclimatic records from the late Pleistocene stalagmite in Guizhou Qixing Cave. Quaternary Sciences, 22(3): 273-282. (in Chinese)
Polyak V J, Asmerom Y, 2001. Late Holocene climate and cultural changes in the southwestern United States. Science, 294: 148-151.
Qiao Yulou, Chen Peiying, Shen Caiming et al., 1996. Quantitative reconstruction of vegetation and climate of Fanjingshan section in Guizhou during last 10 000 years. Geochimica, 25(5): 445-447. (in Chinese)
Qin Jiaming, Yuan Daoxian, Cheng Hai et al., 2004. A millennial scale climatic changes of Eastern Asian monsoon in the past 250 000 years in Guizhou and Guangxi, China. Carsologica Sinica, 23(4): 261-266. (in Chinese)
Redman C L, James S R, Fish P R et al., 2004. The Archaeology of Global Change: The Impact of Humans on Their Environment. Washington: Smithsonian Books.
Rua H, 2009. Geographical information systems in archaeological analysis: A predictive model in the detection of rural Roman villae. Journal of Archaeological Science, 36: 224-235.
Song Xianshi, 1992. The neolith and the Neolithic Period in Guizhou Province. Journal of Guizhou Literature and History, (1): 27-31, 69. (in Chinese)
Sun Hua, 2007. A discussion on the Bronze culture in eastern Yunnan and western Guizhou: Take Zhaotong of Yunnan and Bijie of Guizhou as the center. Sichuan Cultural Relics, (5): 12-25. (in Chinese)
Wang Hongguang, 2006. The new discovery and new perception in archaeology of Guizhou. Archaeology, (8): 3-10. (in Chinese)
Wang Y J, Cheng H, Edwards R L et al., 2008. Millennial- and orbital-scale changes in the East Asian monsoon over the past 224 000 years. Nature, 2008, 451: 1090-1093.
Wang Y J, Cheng H, Edwards R L et al., 2001. A high-resolution absolute-dated Late Pleistocene monsoon record from Hulu Cave, China. Science, 294: 2345-2348.
Wu Li, Wang Xinyuan, Zhou Kunshu et al., 2010. Transmutation of ancient settlements and environmental changes between 6000-2000 aBP in the Chaohu Lake Basin, East China. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 20(5): 687-700.
Wu Xiaohua, 2011. The discovery and compartment of archaeological sites of Guizhou Province from the Neolithic Period to the Shang and Zhou Dynasties in recent years. Sichuan Cultural Relics, (1): 43-67. (in Chinese)
Xi Keding, 1994. Guizhou in the Stone Age. Archaeology, (8): 701-709. (in Chinese)
Xu Xin, 1988. A discussion on the palaeoclimate in the Late Pleistocene in Shuicheng area of Guizhou. Geology of Guizhou, 5(1): 72-77. (in Chinese)
Yuan D X, Cheng H, Edwards R L et al., 2004. Timing, duration, and transitions of the last interglacial Asian monsoon. Science, 304: 575-578.
Yuan Sixun, Chen Tiemei, Gao Shijun, 1986. Uranium series chronological sequence of some Palaeolithic sites in South China. Acta Anthropologica Sinica, 5(2): 179-190. (in Chinese)
Zhang Chi, Hong Xiaochun, 2009. The emerged time of agriculture in South China and Southwest China and related problems. Cultural Relics in Southern China, (3): 64-71. (in Chinese)
Zhang Herong, 1996. Economy of Guizhou from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age. Journal of Guizhou Literature and History, (2): 25-30. (in Chinese)
Zhang Herong, Luo Erhu, 2006. On the Jigongshan Culture. Archaeology, (8): 57-66. (in Chinese)
Zhang M L, Cheng H, Yuan D X et al., 2006. Carbon and oxygen isotope records and paleoclimate reconstruction (140-250 ka B.P.) from a stalagmite of Shuinan Cave, Guilin, China. Environmental Geology, 49: 752-764.
Zhang Meiliang, Cheng Hai, Lin Yushi et al., 2004. High resolution paleoclimatic environment records from a stalagmite of Dongge Cave since 15 000 a in Libo, Guizhou Province, China. Geochimica, 33(1): 65-74. (in Chinese)
Zhang Meiliang, Lin Yushi, Qin Jiaming et al., 2003. The record of paleoclimatic change and the termination of the last interglacial period from a stalagmite of Qixing Cave in South Guizhou. Acta Sedimentologica Sinica, 21(3): 473-481. (in Chinese)
Zhang Q, Zhu C, Liu C L et al., 2005. Environmental change and its impacts on human settlement in the Yangtze River Delta, P.R. China. Catena, 60: 267-277.
Zhang Senshui, Cao Zetian, 1980. Outline of the Paleolithic cultures in Guizhou Province. Journal of Guiyang Normal College (Social Sciences), (2): 1-11. (in Chinese)
Zhu Cheng, Zheng Chaogui, Ma Chunmei et al., 2003. On the Holocene sea-level highstand along the Yangtze Delta and Ningshao Plain, east China. Chinese Science Bulletin, 48(24): 2672-2683.
Zong Y Q, Innes J B, Wang Z H et al., 2011. Environmental change and Neolithic settlement movement in the lower Yangtze wetlands of China. The Holocene, 22(6): 659-673.

Outlines

/