Spatial and temporal variety of prehistoric human settlement and its influencing factors in the upper Yellow River valley,Qinghai Province,China |
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Authors: | Guanghui Dong Xin Jia Robert Elston Fahu Chen Shuicheng Li Lin Wang Linhai Cai Chengbang An |
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Affiliation: | 1. MOE Key Laboratory of Western China''s Environmental System, Research School of Arid Environment and Climate Change, Lanzhou University, South Tianshui Street 222, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu Province, China;2. Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada, Reno 89557, USA;3. School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China;4. School of Architecture, HuaQiao University, Xiamen 361021, Fujian Province, China;5. Qinghai Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Xining 810007, Qinghai Province, China |
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Abstract: | We report an investigation of forty-two prehistoric sites in the upper Yellow River valley located in Guide, Jianzha, Hualong, Xunha and Minhe, Qinghai Province, China, including forty-four new radiocarbon dates from twenty-four sites, review published archaeological surveys and radiocarbon dates, analyze landform features and discuss the reasons for spatial and temporal variety of regional prehistoric human settlement. Our results suggest that people occupied the upper Yellow River valley during the early Holocene, but a continuous archaeological record begins only after about 5500 Cal yr BP. Thereafter, the intensity of prehistoric human settlement in the area is varied. Neolithic human settlement spread northwestward to high altitude areas of the upper Yellow River valley during early-mid Majiayao and Qijia periods, but moved southeastward to lower locations in the area during late Majiayao period. During the Bronze period, two coeval archaeological cultures, the Kayue and Xindian, occupied the upper Yellow River Region. Kayue archaeological sites are numerous and widely distributed in the high areas of the upper Yellow River, while Xindian sites are restricted to the lowest basin of the region. Variation in site density and location are likely the result of changing paleoclimate and technology. |
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Keywords: | Upper Yellow River valley Prehistoric period Human settlement Radiocarbon dating Archaeological investigation |
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