Spatial–Temporal Variation of Cropping Patterns in Relation to Climate Change in Neolithic China

Abstract

The Neolithic period witnessed the start and spread of agriculture across Eurasia, as well as the beginning of important climate changes which would take place over millennia. Nevertheless, it remains rather unclear in what ways local societies chose to respond to these considerable changes in both the shorter and longer term. Crops such as rice and millet were domesticated in the Yangtze River and the Yellow River valleys in China during the early Holocene. Paleoclimate studies suggest that the pattern of precipitation in these two areas was distinctly different. This paper reviews updated archaeobotanical evidence from Neolithic sites in China. Comparing these results to the regional high-resolution paleoclimate records enables us to better understand the development of rice and millet and its relation to climate change. This comparison shows that rice was mainly cultivated in the Yangtze River valley and its southern margin, whereas millet cultivation occurred in the northern area of China during 9000–7000 BP. Both millet and rice-based agriculture became intensified and expanded during 7000–5000 BP. In the following period of 5000–4000 BP, rice agriculture continued to expand within the Yangtze River valley and millet cultivation moved gradually westwards. Meanwhile, mixed agriculture based on both millet and rice developed along the boundary between north and south. From 9000–7000 BP, China maintained hunting activities. Subsequently, from 7000–6000 BP, changes in vegetation and landscape triggered by climate change played an essential role in the development of agriculture. Precipitation became an important factor in forming the distinct regional patterns of Chinese agriculture in 6000–4000 BP.

Relationship Between C4Biomass and C4Agriculture During the Holocene and its Implications for Millet Domestication in Northeast China

“…These data consist of the following: (i) the probability distribution of archaeological dates in NE China since 14 ka, which is considered a reasonable proxy for prehistoric demographic fluctuations (Wang et al., 2014) (Figure 3j). (ii) Latitudinal changes in the occurrence of millet remains in northern China (Leipe et al., 2019; Li et al., 2020) (Figure 3k). (iii) The proportion of millet remains in the flotation results and millet starch grains extracted from the grinding tools at Neolithic sites located within 0–150 km northwest of the Chahai site (Jia et al., 2016; Ma et al., 2016; Y. G. Sun, 2015) (Figure 3l), which can be used to semi‐quantitatively evaluate the importance of millet in the prehistoric human economies (Gremillion, 2014).…”

Spatiotemporal variation in human settlements and their interaction with living environments in Neolithic and Bronze Age China

“…We also review the results of archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological analysis from excavated Neolithic and Bronze Age sites in China (Cao and Dong, 2020; Dong et al, 2021a; Du et al, 2020; Li et al, 2020a; Yang et al, 2019a, 2020; Supplementary Materials), to detect the characteristics of human subsistence strategies in different areas of China throughout the Neolithic and Bronzes Age periods, which may have significantly affected human adaptability to living environments and climate change, and the scope and intensity of human settlement during prehistoric periods (e.g., Chen et al, 2015a; D' Andrea et al, 2011; Gron and Sørensen, 2018). To examine the potential relationship between the spatial patterns of human settlements and livelihoods during different periods, we merge archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological data from the same sites dated 10,000–8500 BP, 8500–7000 BP, 7000–5500 BP, 5500–4000 BP, 4000–3000 BP, and 3000–2200 BP, respectively (Figures 3, 4), to outline the spatial patterns of human livelihoods during these six stages.…”

The alteration from agricultural to nomadic regimes resulted in human livelihood transformation in North-Central China during the 12th century: The archaeobotanical evidence

“…Scholars have demonstrated that the transformation of human livelihoods can result from past changes in both climate and society (Chen et al, 2015a;Ma et al, 2016;Zhou et al, 2016;Dong G. H. et al, 2017;Li R. et al, 2020). To explore the variables behind changing agricultural systems of humans in the historic period, we produced a PANN (annual mean precipitation) reconstruction from lacustrine deposits of the Gonghai Lake in Northern China (Chen et al, 2015b; Figure 7A); a half-year winter temperature reconstruction from phenological cold/warm events recorded in Chinese historical documents in eastern China (Ge et al, 2003; Figure 7B), Chinawide temperature composites established by combining multiple paleoclimate proxy records obtained from ice cores, tree rings, lake sediments and historical documents (Yang et al, 2002; Figure 7C); a count of the number of wars (The Compilation Group of Military History of China, 2003;Ge et al, 2014; Figure 7D), and a population scale for the Northern Song and Jin Dynasties (Wu, 2000; Figures 7E-G).…”

“…China has long been accepted as one of the three independent world centers for the origin of crop-based agriculture (Zhao and Piperno, 2000;Fuller et al, 2009;Lu et al, 2009;Yang et al, 2012;Zuo et al, 2017). With methodological advances in archaeobotany such as flotation and radiocarbon dating, the development of agriculture and its influencing factors in prehistoric China have been intensively studied (He et al, 2017;Long et al, 2018;Li R. et al, 2020). Originating in the Yellow River basin in the early Holocene, millet agriculture (based on both foxtail and broomcorn millets) was established around 4000 BCE in northern China (Barton et al, 2009;Zhao, 2014).…”