Holocene hydro-environmental evolution and its impacts on human occupation in Jianghan-Dongting Basin, middle reaches of the Yangtze River, China

Abstract

Based on the comprehensive analyses of 18 core profiles' sedimentary sequences and lithological characteristics in Jianghan-Dongting Basin of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and the spatial-temporal distribution of archeological sites in this area, we reconstructed the Holocene hydro-environmental evolution, and its relationship with human occupation. The comparison reveals: 11.5-5.5 ka BP, the water level of rivers and lakes in the middle Yangtze River appeared a rising trend, concurrently, under the development of Neolithic culture and rice agricultural activities, human occupation extended from piedmont plain to inner basin plain in the study area. The water level fell in 5.5-4.0 ka BP, meanwhile, the number of human settlements of Qujialing-Shijiahe culture rapidly increased, especially in the inner basin plain. The water level rose again around 4.0 ka BP, floods spread massively in this period, which led to the decline of Shijiahe culture. The main causes for hydro-environmental evolution in the study area are the fluctuation of sea level and the aggradation of fluvio-lacustrine sediments.

History of Mid- and Late Holocene Palaeofloods in the Yangtze Coastal Lowlands, East China: Evaluation of Non-Pollen Palynomorph Evidence, Review and Synthesis

“…Several sites experienced repeated flooding during this climatically transitional period [375], and some of the floods were very extreme events. Lake levels increased markedly at this time [278,376]. For more than a millennium after the end of phase 'c' on figure 6 at about 3800 cal.…”

“…Several sites experienced repeated flooding during this climatically transitional period [375], and some of the floods were very extreme events. Lake levels increased markedly at this time [278,376]. phase is recorded in sedimentary sequences throughout the Yangtze catchment, including the delta lowlands (Table 3) as recorded at Tianyilu [303], and it clearly had major hydrological consequences [181,268,374].…”

“…The main focus of this paper is the fluvial flood history of the lower Yangtze, and especially the delta lowlands around lake Taihu, but for comparative purposes it is important also to consider the flood history of the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze valley and its tributary headwaters, and also because increased river flow and discharge in those areas of the catchment will have had an input into the situation downstream. Now much reclaimed for agriculture [7,386], the major lakes and other wetlands in the mid-Yangtze area, particularly Dongting Lake and Poyang Lake, would have expanded and provided accommodation space for floodwater and sediment from upstream [8,134,360,376,[387][388][389][390][391][392], but a considerable amount would still have entered the lower Yangtze valley, adding to overbank flooding and sedimentation in the study area. Records of major floods in the upper and mid-Yangtze region and in tributary headwaters are listed in Table 4.…”

“…Records of major floods in the upper and mid-Yangtze region and in tributary headwaters are listed in Table 4. As with the Lower Yangtze, it is clear that flood events have occurred in the higher and middle reaches of the river at intervals throughout the Holocene [376,[393][394][395]. Zhang et al [351] have demonstrated that all sections of the Yangtze valley have had the same monsoon, and therefore climate, history and so have been subject to the same external environmental drivers.…”

Evolution of Neolithic site distribution (9.0–4.0 ka BP) in Anhui, East China

“…Recently, discussions surrounding the variable patterns of human prehistoric sites and their geographic context in China have begun to focus on the relationship between the spatial-temporal distribution of settlement sites and the geographical environment (Liu and Feng, 2012;Li et al, 2013;Chen et al, 2015;Wang et al, 2015;Putzer et al, 2016;Weiberg et al, 2016;Dutt et al, 2019;Lu et al, 2019). Previous studies have primarily focused on the Yellow River Basin (Dong et al, 2013;Guo et al, 2013;Wagner et al, 2013;Li et al, 2015), a delta area in the lower reaches, and the Jianghan-Dongting Plain, located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River (Chen et al, 2008;Deng et al, 2009;Wu et al, 2014aWu et al, , 2014bWu et al, , 2018Zhao and Mo, 2020). Consequently, there has been little research on the south-north transition belt in the eastern monsoon region of China (e.g.…”