The Explanation of the Selection of Settlement and Environment in the Western Liaohe River Valley during the Middle Holocene Epoch
Received date: 2007-03-12
Revised date: 2007-07-02
Online published: 2007-12-25
Supported by
National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.40471031
The paper focuses on the environmental explanation of the selection of settlement sites belonging to different types of archaeological culture in the middle Holocene Epoch, Western Liaohe River Valley. Through Chi-square Test, the authors point out that the settlements in the target region were mainly distributed in the sloping field of 400-500 m above sea level and the distribution presents spatial and temporal changes. The settlements in 8000-6000 a BP concentrated on the sloping field of 400-500 m above sea level. The settlements in 6000-3000 a BP were extending from the core area of 400-500 m above sea level to the higher and lower directions. While showing the preference of the height of 400-500 m above sea level, the settlements in the Western Liaohe River Valley in the middle Holocene Epoch demonstrated a horizontal amassment in the sloping field 10-40 m away from the riverbed. From the environmental explanation of the selection of settlement sites belonging to different types of archaeological culture, the paper gets three main findings: 1) the Western Liaohe River Valley could be divided into two parts, the woodland and the grassland, according to the style of living of the people. The periphery of the woodland is the living space of the people 8000-6000 a BP, when gathering, fishing and hunting were the main life style. The grassland is the main distribution area of primitive agriculture. 6000-3000 a BP is the vital period for the development of primitive agriculture, during which the settlements had a trend expanding from the periphery of woodland to the grassland. The sequence of the settlement sites defines the spatial and regional features of environment. 2) Though the Holocene Epoch experienced a prominent warming period, the animal and vegetation resources were far from abundant, restricted by the zonality constraints of the Western Liaohe River Valley. The living resources reserves could only afford the living of the people in 8000-6000 a BP when the population density was very low. In 6000-3000 a BP, the growth of population had exceeded the environmental capacity of this area. To fulfill the survival requirement, primitive agriculture was developing gradually and new man-land relationship was established. 3) Using thickness of the cultural sediments to analyze the continuance of the settlements in the middle Holocene Epoch, the paper points out that the population density then was much sparser than modern times. Considering the environmental capacity and population density, agriculture cultivation in the middle Holocene Epoch did not cause significant environmental disturbance.
HAN Maoli, LIU Xiaoquan, FANG Chen, ZHANG Yi, LI Qingmiao, ZHAO Yuhui . The Explanation of the Selection of Settlement and Environment in the Western Liaohe River Valley during the Middle Holocene Epoch[J]. Acta Geographica Sinica, 2007 , 62(12) : 1287 -1298 . DOI: 10.11821/xb200712005
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