Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Spatiotemporal evolution of prehistoric Neolithic-Bronze Age settlements and influencing factors in the Guanting Basin, northeast Tibetan Plateau

  • Research Paper
  • Published:
Science China Earth Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

For almost two decades, the relationship between prehistoric natural disasters that struck the Guanting Basin in northeast Tibetan Plateau and the destruction of Lajia, an archeological site, has attracted scholarly attention and been widely discussed. Whereas most studies have focused on the impacts of disasters on a single site within the Guanting Basin, few have examined patterns of spatiotemporal evolution of human settlements from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. Consequently, there is a lack of clarity on the processes and mechanisms underlying the evolution of prehistoric human-land relationships in the Guanting Basin. We therefore examined spatiotemporal variations in settlements in the Guanting Basin during the period, based on the locations, altitudes, and areas of archaeological sites. We found that four sites were located on the third terrace of the Yellow River during the late Yangshao period (5500–5000 cal yr BP) and distributed within a small area. During the period between the Majiayao and Qijia cultures (5300–3600 cal yr BP), the number of sites evidently increased and the scale and distribution of settlements expanded, with settlements generally shifting toward the lower elevation areas of the Guanting Basin. During the Xindian period (3400–2700 cal yr BP), the number and scale of sites showed a downward trend and the distribution of settlements contracted. The Xindian settlement underwent altitude-based spatial differentiation, with some groups moving to areas at higher altitudes and others remained in lower altitude areas. Moreover, we found that the number, scale, and distribution range of Neolithic and Bronze Age sites in the Guanting Basin were closely related to the evolution and distribution patterns of prehistoric cultures in the regions of Gansu and Qinghai, which were further affected by climate change and agricultural development. Furthermore, there is no evidence that the altitudinal distribution pattern of Neolithic and Bronze Age settlements in the Guanting Basin was influenced by paleofloods rather it was primarily influenced by changes in subsistence strategies.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aldenderfer M. 2011. Peopling the Tibetan Plateau: Insights from archaeology. High Altitude Med Biol, 12: 141–147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • An C B, Tang L Y, Barton L, Chen F H. 2005. Climate change and cultural response around 4000 cal yr B.P. in the western part of Chinese Loess Plateau. Quat Res, 63: 347–352

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bai Y J, Zhang P Z, Gao T, Yu R Z, Zhou P C, Cheng H. 2017. The 5400 a BP extreme weakening event of the Asian summer monsoon and cultural evolution. Sci China Earth Sci, 60: 1171–1182

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barton L, Newsome S D, Chen F H, Wang H, Guilderson T P, Bettinger R L. 2009. Agricultural origins and the isotopic identity of domestication in northern China. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 106: 5523–5528

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bureau of National Cultural Relics. 1996. Atlas of Chinese Cultural Relics-Fascicule of Qinghai Province (in Chinese). Beijing: China Cartographic Publishing House Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Cai Y J, Tan L C, Cheng H, An Z S, Edwards R L, Kelly M J, Kong X G, Wang X F. 2010. The variation of summer monsoon precipitation in central China since the last deglaciation. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 291: 21–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen F H, Dong G H, Zhang D J, Liu X Y, Jia X, An C B, Ma M M, Xie Y W, Barton L, Ren X Y, Zhao Z J, Wu X H, Jones M K. 2015a. Agriculture facilitated permanent human occupation of the Tibetan Plateau after 3600 B.P. Science, 347: 248–250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chen F H, Xu Q H, Chen J H, Birks H J B, Liu J B, Zhang S R, Jin L, YAn C B, Telford R J, Cao X Y, Wang Z L, Zhang X J, Selvaraj K, Lu H Y, Li Y C, Zheng Z, Wang H P, Zhou A F, Dong G H, Zhang J W, Huang X Z, Bloemendal J, Rao Z G. 2015b. East Asian summer monsoon precipitation variability since the last deglaciation. Sci Rep, 5: 11186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • d’Alpoim Guedes J, Lu H L, Li Y X, Spengler R N, Wu X H, Aldenderfer M S. 2014. Moving agriculture onto the Tibetan Plateau: The Archaeobotanical evidence. Archaeol Anthropol Sci, 6: 255–269

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Menocal P B. 2001. Cultural responses to climate change during the Late Holocene. Science, 292: 667–673

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dong G H, Jia X, An C B, Chen F H, Zhao Y, Tao S C, Ma M M. 2012. Mid-Holocene climate change and its effect on prehistoric cultural evolution in eastern Qinghai Province, China. Quat Res, 77: 23–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dong G H, Jia X, Elston R, Chen F H, Li S C, Wang L, Cai L H, An C B. 2013a. Spatial and temporal variety of prehistoric human settlement and its influencing factors in the upper Yellow River valley, Qinghai Province, China. J Archaeol Sci, 40: 2538–2546

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dong G H, Wang L, Cui Y F, Elston R, Chen F H. 2013b. The spatiotemporal pattern of the Majiayao cultural evolution and its relation to climate change and variety of subsistence strategy during late Neolithic period in Gansu and Qinghai Provinces, northwest China. Quat Int, 316: 155–161

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dong G H, Yang Y S, Han J Y, Wang H, Chen F H. 2017b. Exploring the history of cultural exchange in prehistoric Eurasia from the perspectives of crop diffusion and consumption. Sci China Earth Sci, 60: 1110–1123

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dong G H, Zhang F Y, Liu F W, Zhang D J, Zhou A F, Yang Y S, Wang G H. 2017a. Multiple evidences indicate no relationship between prehistoric disasters in Lajia site and outburst flood in upper Yellow River valley, China. Sci China Earth Sci, doi: 10.1007/s11430-017-9079-3

    Google Scholar 

  • Dong G H, Zhang F Y, Ma M M, Fan Y X, Zhang J W, Wang Z L, Chen F H. 2014. Ancient landslide-dam events in the Jishi Gorge, upper Yellow River valley, China. Quat Res, 81: 445–451

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dong G H, Zhang S J, Yang Y S, Chen J H, Chen F H. 2016. Agricultural intensification and its impact on environment during Neolithic Age in northern China (in Chinese). Chin Sci Bull, 61: 2913–2925

    Google Scholar 

  • Drennan R D, Dai X M. 2010. Chiefdoms and states in the Yuncheng Basin and the Chifeng region: A comparative analysis of settlement systems in North China. J Anthropol Archaeol, 29: 455–468

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duan K Q, Yao T D, Wang N L, Xue B Q, Thompson L. 2012. High resolution ice core records about Holocene climatic instability in Central Tibetan Plateau area (in Chinese). Sci China Earth Sci, 9: 1441–1449

    Google Scholar 

  • Fang H, Feinman G M, Nicholas L M. 2015. Imperial expansion, public investment, and the long path of history: China’s initial political unification and its aftermath. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 112: 9224–9229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flad R. 2007. Excavating Asian History: Interdisciplinary Studies in Archaeology and History. In: Norman Y, Bradley C L. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. 352

  • Han J C. 2017. Comment on “Outburst flood at 1920 BCE supports historicity of China’s great flood and the Xia dynasty”. Science, 355: 1382

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hart J P, Rieth C B. 2002. Northeast Subsistence-settlement change: A.D. 700–1300. In: New York State Museum Bulletin 496. Albany: University of the State of New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Hosner D, Wagner M, Tarasov P E, Chen X C, Leipe C. 2016. Spatiotemporal distribution patterns of archaeological sites in China during the Neolithic and Bronze Age: An overview. Holocene, 26: 1576–1593

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hou G L, Lai Z P, Sun Y J, Ye M L. 2012. Luminescence and radiocarbon chronologies for the Xindian Culture site of Lamafeng in the Guanting Basin on the NE edge of the Tibetan Plateau. Quat Geochronol, 10: 394–398

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hou G L, Liu F G, Xiao L B, Zeng Z Z. 2008. The transmutation of settlements of prehistoric cultures in eastern Qinghai caused by climate change (in Chinese). Acta Geog Sin, 63: 34–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Hou G L, Xu C J, Fan Q S. 2010. Three expansions of prehistoric humans towards northeast margin of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and environmental change (in Chinese). Acta Geog Sin, 65: 65–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Hsu K J. 1998. Sun, climate, hunger, and mass migration. Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 41: 449–472

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang C C, Pang J L, Zhou Y L, Su H X, Zhang Y Z, Wang L S. 2013. Palaeoenvironmental implications of the prehistorical catastrophes in relation to the Lajia Ruins within the Guanting Basin along the Upper Yellow River, China. Holocene, 23: 1584–1595

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang C C, Su H X. 2009. Climate change and Zhou relocations in early Chinese history. J Hist Geogr, 35: 297–310

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang C C, Zhou Y L, Zhang Y Z, Guo Y Q, Pang J L, Zhou Q, Liu T, Zha X C. 2017. Comment on “Outburst flood at 1920 BCE supports historicity of China’s Great Flood and the Xia dynasty”. Science, 355: 1382.4–1382

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jia X. 2012. Cultural evolution process and plant remains during Neolithic-Bronze Age in northeast Qinghai Province (in Chinese). Doctoral Dissertation. Lanzhou: Lanzhou University

    Google Scholar 

  • Jordan K A. 2004. Seneca Iroquois settlement pattern, community structure, and housing, 1677–1779. Northeast Anthropol, 67: 23–60

    Google Scholar 

  • Kidder T, Liu H W, Xu Q H, Li M L. 2012. The alluvial geoarchaeology of the Sanyangzhuang site on the Yellow River floodplain, Henan Province, China. Geoarchaeology, 27: 324–343

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kowalewski S A. 2008. Regional settlement pattern studies. J Archaeol Res, 16: 225–285

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leipe C, Demske D, Tarasov P E. 2014. A Holocene pollen record from the northwestern Himalayan lake Tso Moriri: Implications for palaeoclimatic and archaeological research. Quat Int, 348: 93–112

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li H M, Zuo X X, Kang L H, Ren L L, Liu F W, Liu H G, Zhang N M, Min R, Liu X, Dong G H. 2016. Prehistoric agriculture development in the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, southwest China: Archaeobotanical evidence. Sci China Earth Sci, 59: 1562–1573

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li S C. 2009. Prehistoric Culture Evolution in Northwest China (in Chinese). Beijing: Cultural Relics Press. 200–293

    Google Scholar 

  • Liu L. 1996. Settlement patterns, chiefdom variability, and the development of early states in North China. J Anthropol Archaeol, 15: 237–288

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu L. 2007. The Chinese Neolithic: Trajectories to Early States (in Chinese). Beijing: Cultural Relics Press. 145–204

    Google Scholar 

  • Lu H L, Yang X Y, Ye M L, Liu K B, Xia Z K, Ren X Y, Cai L H, Wu N Q, Liu T S. 2005. Millet noodles in Late Neolithic China. Nature, 437: 967–968

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ma M M, Dong G H, Chen F H, Meng X M, Wang Z L, Elston R, Li G Q. 2014. Process of paleofloods in Guanting Basin, Qinghai Province, China and possible relation to monsoon strength during the mid-Holocene. Quat Int, 321: 88–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ma M M, Dong G H, Jia X, Wang H, Cui Y F, Chen F H. 2016. Dietary shift after 3600 cal yr BP and its influencing factors in northwestern China: Evidence from stable isotopes. Quat Sci Rev, 145: 57–70

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ma M M, Dong G H, Jia X, Zhang Z C. 2012. Analysis of settlement patterns during Neolithic and Bronze period and its influencing factors in Hualong County, Qinghai Province, China (in Chinese). Quat Sci, 32: 209–218

    Google Scholar 

  • Madella M, Fuller D Q. 2006. Palaeoecology and the Harappan Civilisation of South Asia: A reconsideration. Quat Sci Rev, 25: 1283–1301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Magilligan F J, Goldstein P S. 2001. El Niño floods and culture change: A late Holocene flood history for the Rio Moquegua, southern Peru. Geology, 29: 431–434

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marcott S A, Shakun J D, Clark P U, Mix A C. 2013. A reconstruction of regional and global temperature for the past 11300 years. Science, 339: 1198–1201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menze B H, Ur J A. 2012. Mapping patterns of long-term settlement in Northern Mesopotamia at a large scale. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 109: E778–E787

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mischke S, Zhang C J. 2010. Holocene cold events on the Tibetan Plateau. Glob Planet Change, 72: 155–163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nicoll K. 2004. Recent environmental change and prehistoric human activity in Egypt and Northern Sudan. Quat Sci Rev, 23: 561–580

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson C E, Lu X, Drennan R D, Zhu D. 2010. Hongshan chiefly communities in Neolithic northeastern China. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 107: 5756–5761

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Possehl G L. 2002. The Indus Civilization: A Contemporary Perspective. Lanham: Altamira Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Rasmussen S, Allentoft M E, Nielsen K, Orlando L, Sikora M, Sjögren K G, Pedersen A G, Schubert M, Van Dam A, Kapel C M O, Nielsen H B, Brunak S, Avetisyan P, Epimakhov A, Khalyapin M V, Gnuni A, Kriiska A, Lasak I, Metspalu M, Moiseyev V, Gromov A, Pokutta D, Saag L, Varul L, Yepiskoposyan L, Sicheritz-Pontén T, Foley R A, Lahr M M, Nielsen R, Kristiansen K, Willerslev E. 2015. Early divergent strains of Yersinia pestis in Eurasia 5000 years ago. Cell, 163: 571–582

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reimer P J, Baillie M G L, Bard E, Bayliss A, Beck J W, Blackwell P G, Bronk Ramsey C, Buck C E, Burr G S, Edwards R L, Friedrich M, Grootes P M, Guilderson T P, Hajdas I, Heaton T J, Hogg A G, Hughen K A, Kaiser K F, Kromer B, McCormac F G, Manning S W, Reimer R W, Richards D A, Southon J R, Talamo S, Turney C S M, van der Plicht J, Weyhenmeyer C E. 2009. IntCal09 and Marine09 radiocarbon age calibration curves, 0–50000 years cal BP. Radiocarbon, 51: 1111–1150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sabloff J A, Ashmore W. 2001. An aspect of archaeology’s recent past and its relevance in the new Millennium. In: Feinman G M, Price T D, eds. Archaeology at the Millennium: A Sourcebook. Boston: Springer US. 11–32

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Shen J, Liu X Q, Wang S M, Matsumoto R. 2005. Palaeoclimatic changes in the Qinghai Lake area during the last 18000 years. Quat Int, 136: 131–140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teng H J. 2014. Analysis of the distribution and of prehistoric settlements and diachronic changes in the West Liao river basin (in Chinese). North Cul Rel, (3): 11–17

    Google Scholar 

  • Turney C S M, Brown H. 2007. Catastrophic early Holocene sea level rise, human migration and the Neolithic transition in Europe. Quat Sci Rev, 26: 2036–2041

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Underhill A P, Feinman G M, Nicholas L M, Fang H, Luan F, Yu H, Cai F. 2008. Changes in regional settlement patterns and the development of complex societies in southeastern Shandong, China. J Anthropol Archaeol, 27: 1–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang J H. 2003. A summary of settlement archaeology (in Chinese). Huxia Archaeol, (2): 97–100

    Google Scholar 

  • Wang L, Cui Y F, Liu X F. 2014. Spatial analysis on topographic features of Majiayao sites in Gansu-Qinghai region and its indication on ancient land use pattern (in Chinese). Quat Sci, 34: 224–233

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiss H, Bradley R S. 2001. Archaeology: What drives societal collapse? Science, 291: 609–610

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu Q L, Zhang P Z, Zhang H P, Ye M L, Zhang Q Z. 2009. A palaeo-earthquake induced damming and bursting of Yellow River and then abnormal flood that destroyed Lajia relic (in Chinese). Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 39: 1148–1159

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu Q L, Zhao Z J, Liu L, Granger D E, Wang H, Cohen D J, Wu X H, Ye M L, Bar-Yosef O, Lu B, Zhang J, Zhang P Z, Yuan D Y, Qi W Y, Cai L H, Bai S B. 2016. Outburst flood at 1920 BCE supports historicity of China’s Great Flood and the Xia dynasty. Science, 353: 579–582

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu W X, Dai J H, Zhou Y, Ge Q S. 2017. Comment on “Outburst flood at 1920 BCE supports historicity of China’s Great Flood and the Xia dynasty”. Science, 355: 1382

    Google Scholar 

  • Xie D J. 2002. Prehistory Archaeology of Gan-Qing Region (in Chinese). Beijing: Cultural Relics Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang X Y, Xia Z K, Cui Z J, Ye M L. 2004. Environmental settings of archaeological sites depositional processes and distribution at Guanting Basin (in Chinese). Acta Geog Sin, 59: 455–461

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang X Y, Xia Z K, Cui Z J. 2005. Holocene extreme flood and its sedimentary characteristic in the upper reaches of the Yellow River (in Chinese). Quat Sci, 25: 80–85

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang X Y, Xia Z K, Ye M L. 2003. Prehistoric disasters at Lajia Site, Qinghai, China. Chin Sci Bull, 48: 1877–1881

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yuan W W, Han M L. 2013. The explanation on the selection of settlements and environment in Haidong Prefecture, Qinghai Province during the mid-Holocene (in Chinese). Geogr Res, 32: 942–951

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang D J, Dong G H, Wang H, Ren X Y, Ha P P, Qiang M R, Chen F H. 2016. History and possible mechanisms of prehistoric human migration to the Tibetan Plateau. Sci China Earth Sci, 59: 1765–1778

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang S J, Dong G H. 2017. Human adaptation strategies to different altitude environment during mid-late bronze age in northeast Tibetan Plateau (in Chinese). Quat Sci, 37: 696–708

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang X H, Xia Z K. 2005. Analysis of Geomorphologic Structure of Second Terrace in Guanting Basin in Qinghai Province (in Chinese). Res Soil Water Conserv, 12: 33–34

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang X H. 2012. The result and its related issues of the investigation of archaeo-botanical remains in the Guanting Basin, Qinghai (in Chinese). Archaeol Cultural Rel, (3): 26–33

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang Y Z, Huang C C, Pang J L, Zhou Y L, Shang R Q, Zhou Q, Guo Y Q, Liu T, Hu G M. 2015. OSL dating of the massive landslide-damming event in the Jishixia Gorge, on the upper Yellow River, NE Tibetan Plateau. Holocene, 25: 745–757

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao D S, Shui T. 2008. Relation between human existence and environment viewing from the distribution of prehistoric archaeological sites in the Three Gorges reservoir region of the Yangtze River, China. Sci Bull, 53: 129–139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao Y, Yu Z C. 2012. Vegetation response to Holocene climate change in East Asian monsoon-margin region. Earth-Sci Rev, 113: 1–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou A F, Sun H L, Chen F H, Zhao Y, An C B, Dong G H, Wang Z L, Chen J H. 2010. High-resolution climate change in mid-late Holocene on Tianchi Lake, Liupan Mountain in the Loess Plateau in central China and its significance. Chin Sci Bull, 55: 2118–2121

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu C, Yu S Y, Lu C C. 1997. The study of Holocene environmental archaeology and extreme flood disaster in the Three Gorges of the Changjiang River and the Jianghan Plain (in Chinese). Acta Geog Sni, 52: 268–278

    Google Scholar 

  • Zou S B, Cheng G D, Xiao H L, Xu B R, Feng Z D. 2009. Holocene natural rhythms of vegetation and present potential ecology in the Western Chinese Loess Plateau. Quat Int, 194: 55–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41620104007, 41671077 & 41401091).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. MOE Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    YiFu Cui, YuJia Liu & MinMin Ma

Authors
  1. YiFu Cui
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. YuJia Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. MinMin Ma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to MinMin Ma.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Cui, Y., Liu, Y. & Ma, M. Spatiotemporal evolution of prehistoric Neolithic-Bronze Age settlements and influencing factors in the Guanting Basin, northeast Tibetan Plateau. Sci. China Earth Sci. 61, 149–162 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-017-9138-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-017-9138-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation