Radiocarbon dating of charcoal from the Bianjiashan site in Hangzhou: New evidence for the lower age limit of the Liangzhu Culture

Abstract

(2015) Determining the lower limit of Liangzhu culture based on black carbon purification with hydropyrolysis technique. Quaternary Geochronology, 30 (A). pp. 9-17. ISSN 1878-0350Access from the University of Nottingham repository: http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/31873/1/Final%20Bianjiashan%20Liangzhu %20manuscript_Quat%20Geochron_2015.pdf Copyright and reuse:The Nottingham ePrints service makes this work by researchers of the University of Nottingham available open access under the following conditions. This article is made available under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives licence and may be reused according to the conditions of the licence. For more details see: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ A note on versions:The version presented here may differ from the published version or from the version of record. If you wish to cite this item you are advised to consult the publisher's version. Please see the repository url above for details on accessing the published version and note that access may require a subscription.For more information, please contact eprints@nottingham.ac.uk Located in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the Liangzhu Culture was one of the most 14 important Neolithic cultures at the dawn of Chinese civilization. However, uncertainty over the lower age 15 limit ending the Liangzhu Culture has resulted in a lack of consensus in defining its timespan. In order to 16 establish the lower age limit, a representative site of late Liangzhu Culture, the Bianjiashan wharf, located in 17Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, Eastern China, was selected for investigation. Wooden stakes in the wharf 18 and charcoals in the sediment profile near to the wharf site were collected for 14 C AMS dating. To remove 19 any contaminants, the charcoals were pre-treated by catalytic hydropyrolysis (HyPy) to isolate black carbon 20 fractions (BC HyPy ). 21 22The continuous charcoal age distribution along the vertical profile of the silt core suggests the continual 23 occupation of the Bianjiashan Site and that the site was developed soon after the river formed. The end of 24 river sedimentation indicates that the demise of the Bianjiashan Site occurred no later than Cal BC 2470 (95% 25 probability). The mean age of the more recent calendar calibrated age range BC 2525 for the BC HyPy residue 26 1 Corresponding author. Tel.:+86-571-87951336;Fax:+86-571-87951336.Email address: Zhang_xiaoyu@zju.edu.cn(Xiaoyu Zhang).is consistent with earlier evidence. The wharf, as a typical structure of the late Liangzhu Culture, was 27 established between Cal BC 2635 and 2890 (95% probability). The start of the river charcoal sedimentation 28 was found to have a very similar overall age span and, therefore, the river existed at the Bianjiasha Site for 29 no more than a maximum of just over 400 years, which is taken as the maximum period, it was occupied by 30 the Liangzhu population. In comparison to the fresh charcoal samples, the BC HyPy fractions and products 31 were ...

Molecular characterization of the thermally labile fraction of biochar by hydropyrolysis and pyrolysis-GC/MS

“…The H/C ratio is indicative of the aromaticity degree [46] and carbonisation intensity [14,21] in turn associated with the stability of biochar [18,47]. Therefore BCHyPy could be a parameter to be considered in order to characterise environmental recalcitrance of biochar and its sequestering potential.…”

Rethinking pig domestication in China: regional trajectories in central China and the Lower Yangtze Valley

“…In the Lower Yangtze Valley it is only in the Liangzhu period (5500–4300 BP)—almost 3000 years after the initial pig domestication at Kuahuqiao—that pigs began to make a significant contribution to the diet. This is documented at sites such as Bianjiashan (4900–4500 BP) and Meirendi (late Lianghzu), where pig remains account for over 90 and 70 per cent of the faunal assemblages respectively (Zhang 2014; Matsui et al 2016).…”

“…Here, we discuss ‘suid’ (i.e. pigs, wild boars, feral pigs and probably hybrids of the three) rather than ‘pig’, as both domestic pigs and wild boars are present in the Liangzhu assemblages (Zhang 2014; Matsui et al 2016). This adds another layer of complexity to the human-suid relationship; it remains unclear whether this relationship involved hunting, free-ranging feralisation or other management strategies.…”

“…An aggregation of suid remains appears to be limited to the core area. Suid remains make up over 90 per cent of the faunal assemblage at Bianjiashan, located to the north of Liangzhu city, for example (Zhang 2014).

Figure 5.Suidae NISP (number of identified specimens) percentage from study sites plotted over the map of Liangzhu sites: 1) Jiangzhuang; 2) Chuodun; 3) Shaoqingshan; 4) Guangfulin; 5) Maqiao; 6) Longnan; 7) Meirendi; 8) Bianjiashan; 9) Tashan (figure by N. Dong).

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The emergence of complex society in China: the case of Liangzhu

“…The Liangzhu culture, however, suffered a major decline in the later third millennium BC (Zhang et al . 2015), and most of its prosperous urban centres were abandoned or fell into decline. The reasons for this are much contested, but may well have a climatic explanation, perhaps connected with pervasive and systematic flooding.…”