2017/05/19 by Xiao Hong Zhu, Bing Li, Chun Mei +3 · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Social Sciences · Medicine · Chemistry · #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #Archaeology and ancient environmental studies #Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies #Phytolith #Charcoal #Vegetation (pathology) #China #Geography #Archaeology #Ecology #Biology #Medicine #Chemistry
paper · pdf · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0177287
openalex publication_date 2017/05/19 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
There is significant archaeological evidence marking the collapse of the Shijiahe culture in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River in China during the late Neolithic Period. However, the causes for this cultural collapse remain unclear. Our sedimentary records from a 3.3 m long profile and 76 phytolith and charcoal samples from the Tanjialing archaeological sites provide records of interactions between an ancient culture and vegetation change. During the early Shijiahe culture (c, 4850-4400 cal BP), the climate was warm and humid. Fire was intensively used to clear the vegetation. In the mid-period of the Shijiahe culture (c, 4400-4200 cal BP), the climate became slightly dry-cold and this was accompanied by decreasing water, leading to settlements. From c, 4200 cal BP, severe drought eroded the economic foundation of rice-cultivation. These conditions forced people to abandon the Shijiahe ancient city to find water in other regions, leading to the collapse of the Shijiahe culture.