The impact of ancient civilization on the northeastern Chinese landscape: palaeoecological evidence from the Western Liaohe River Basin, Inner Mongolia

Abstract

The Western Liaohe River Basin in northeastern China is one of the cradles of ancient Chinese civilization. Archaeological records from this region indicate that human occupation began about 8000 years ago and that agriculture and pastoralism were important activities from an early stage. Very little is known, however, about the effects that these activities had upon the landscape. This paper presents the results of a palaeoecological study from a 3.6 m sedimentary sequence in a relict oxbow lake in the Western Liaohe River Basin of southeast Inner Mongolia. The 5400-yr sequence indicates that human activities had a noticeable impact on an apparently open landscape. Buckwheat cultivation began as early as 5400 cal. yr BP with intensification of agricultural activities from approximately 4700 cal. yr BP. Nitrophilous plants such as Solanum and Cerastium, and also Artemisia were growing in the region at certain times, linked with fluctuations in the d 15 N record and probably indicative of increased pastoralism and unintentional/ intentional manuring. Burning was probably used for clearance of the steppe vegetation for agriculture with a close relationship apparent between increased influx of microfossil charcoal and the presence of buckwheat. Superimposed upon this record of human impact is also clear indication of three significant intervals of climate change between 2900 and 2600, 1200 and 600 and 600 and 30 cal. yr BP. The latter two are discussed in relation to the 'Mediaeval Warm Period' and 'Little Ice Age' apparent in sedimentary sequences across the Northern Hemisphere. Discussions are therefore made in terms of the impact that both climate change and ancient Chinese civilizations had upon shaping the present day landscape and vegetation.

Upper Pleistocene‐Holocene geomorphic changes dictating sedimentation rates and historical land use in the valley system of the Chifeng region, Inner Mongolia, northern China

“…Such gullies infl uenced soil erosion, agricultural potential and irrigation efficiency, especially on the slopes of the hilly terrain surrounding the city of Chifeng. In contrast to Li et al (2006), we do not think that processes of desertifi cation, such as soil erosion, were entirely caused by anthropogenic factors. Although the human manipulation of lands, especially on highland plateaux above the valley fl oors, could have accelerated the rate of soil erosion, as indeed happened during the last 200 years, it seems that in the Chifeng region these processes were mainly the result of long-term natural factors.…”

“…Although some recent paleo-environmental studies have included the Chifeng area (cf. Teng, 2004;Li et al, 2006), most have focused on short-term anthropogenic causes of soil erosion and desertifi cation, such as overgrazing, unsustainable agricultural activities in marginal lands, and the environmental damage caused by modern infrastructures (Zhao et al, 2005;Wang et al, 2008).…”

The Role of People in the Holocene

“…In the far north-east of China, Makohonienko et al (2004) document deforestation from around 900 bc onwards and show that the spread of grassland over the Manchurian Plains was the result of human activities over the past 1000 years. Li et al (2006) also show that in Inner Mongolia human impact on the landscape, already significant before 5400 years BP, intensified from 4700 years BP onwards. In the region of the Yellow River delta, successive episodes of deforestation and cultivation took place from 4000 years BP onwards (Yi et al 2003).…”

Commentary: A Critical Review of Environmental Archaeology in Northeast China

“…Without collaboration from archaeological experts, their use of archaeological data for the reconstruction of humanenvironment interactions has also caused many problems, such as the deterministic approach (discussed below) adopted by some natural scientists (e.g. M. Han et al 2007; W. Jiang et al 2008;Y. Li et al , 2006Song and Zhang 2001).…”

“…An example of this is the belief that almost every cultural change was caused in some way by environmental changes in prehistoric times, largely exclusive of purposive human agency. A number of publications (e.g., Delige'er 2004; Kong et al 1991;Li and Zhang 2004;Y. Li et al 2006;Teng 2004;Yang and Suo 2000) that generally discuss the relationship between pre-historic economies and cultural shifts, and that focus on palaeo-environments in the western Liaoning region of Northeast China, are based primarily on a large-scale ecological reconstruction with little emphasis on the complex interactions between ecological factors and human decision making.…”