淮河中游地区史前人类文化演化过程的环境考古学观察

淮河中游地区位于我国东部地理、气候等自然条件多重过渡地带,又是长江流域与黄河流域、东部沿海与西部腹地之间古文化相互交流、碰撞和融合的重要区域,也是中华文明孕育和发展的重要地区之一。淮河中游地区新石器时代考古学文化的演化过程与全新世气候环境的变迁密切相关。暖干型气候条件有利于史前人类文化的发展,而冷湿型气候环境则不利于人类的生存繁衍。该地区文化的演化过程充分反映了史前人类对全新世气候环境变化的适应性和主观能动性。     

全新世气候事件及其对古文化发展的影响

全新世以来,气候和环境经历了多次变化幅度大、持续时间长、影响范围广的气候事件;同时,人类社会也经历了古代文明社会兴起与衰落阶段。本文主要以三个具体事例初步探讨了全新世气候事件对早期人类社会及其古文化的影响     

河北及京津地区早中全新世文化的时空分布及其气候环境因素

本文根据考古学14C年代数据和考古遗存情况,结合高分辨率的地层和古气候研究资料,分析了河北及京津地区早中全新世文化的时空分布格局以及影响遗址分布的地貌和气候因素。该地区早中全新世文化时间序列为:早期新石器时代文化(10,000~8,800 yr BP)、新石器早中期之间的文化缺环(约8,800~7,300 yr BP)、7,300~6,500yr BP的磁山.兴隆洼.北福地一期三大文化系统并立发展时期以及6,500~6,000 yr BP的前仰韶文化时期。文化序列与气候序列对比发现:文化发展很大程度上受到气候条件的制约。从文化分布空间来看,具有如下特征:首先,早中全新世时期的文化分布在与当时海岸线平行的弧形地带上,这种分布格局与气候和地貌条件有关。在排除了地势高亢和海侵影响地区后,太行山东麓到古海岸线之间的弧形地带成为最佳选择。其次,从遗址分布高度来看,当时人仍居住在较高地貌面上,海侵及众多湖沼阻止了人类向东部平原腹地迈进的步伐。     

全新世时期河南的地理环境与气候

全新世时期河南的地理环境与气候周锋全新世从距今约１００００年到现在。由于１００００年至８０００年之间,也就是旧石器文化向新石器文化过渡阶段的考古材料缺乏,我们无法探讨这一阶段的环境与气候,而周代及其以后的自然环境与气候,已有大量文献记载,本文也不冉叙...     

马家窑类型文化变迁的环境因素探索

以秦安大地湾为中心的西支仰韶文化,从发生初始到发展中期与以“宝鸡——华县——陕县”为中心的中支仰韶文化保持文化交流,文化相似度较高。在距今5500年左右大地湾仰韶文化兴盛发展,自成一体,具有鲜明的地方特色,同时也走向文化分流,经由石岭下类型文化过渡为马家窑类型文化,历经变迁。有趣的是这种新石器时代文化变迁轨迹与当时的气候变迁轨迹大致相符,甚至可以寻到特定的气候突变事件带来的影响痕迹。文章立足于学者对全新世世界气候、中国气候变化,中国区域性气候差异,甘青地区气候敏感性,甘青境内冷气候事件以及气候突变对古文化发展的影响等研究,探讨中全新世甘青地区气候变化趋势与冷事件如何影响马家窑类型文化的产生、发展以及影响为何。     

白洋淀地区史前环境考古初步研究

作为典型的冲积低平原与浅湖沼地貌形态的白洋淀地区,是研究全新世环境变迁及古环境与古文化相互关系的重要地域。全新世气候的变化,不仅影响着白洋淀地区的自然环境,同时也影响着史前人类的生存模式。多年来该区域考古发现的资料证实,全新世气候暖湿与冷干的交替变化,直接影响到遗址分布的数量和所处的地貌位置,亦即影响到人类对居住点的选择,与此同时也影响着史前文化的经济生活类型。     

首届中国环境考古学学术讨论会纪要

首届中国环境考古学学术讨论会于1990年10月21日在西安临潼胜利召开.这次会议由中国科学院地质研究所、陕西省考古研究所、中国科学院黄土与第四纪地质开放实验室首先发起,并相继得到了国家文物局、陕西省文物局、中国历史博物馆、中国第四纪研究委员会全新世分委员会、中国考古学会、中国古生物学会的大力支持和资助.     

中全新世内蒙古东南部和中南部环境考古对比研究

全新世(Holocene)是第四纪最后冰期结束至今的这一段时间,又被称为冰后期(Postglacial)。地球上不同区域的气候变化具有各自的特点,最后一次冰期不可能是统一的,国际第四纪委员会将全新世的起点确定为距今10000±300年。一般将全新世划分为早、中、晚三期,各地就自身的气候特征     

五帝时代(距今6-4千年)中国的气候

历史学研究表明,古代文献如《史记》记载的五帝:黄帝、颛顼、帝喾、唐尧、虞舜,可能应该视为一个时代,而不局限于五个人。获得较多支持的观点是:这个时代约在6-4kaBP,而且也不限于华夏集团,至少还包括东夷集团、苗蛮集团等。因此,从地望上讲,也不限于中原地区,还包括东部沿海及长江中游。考古学研究表明,6-4kaBP正是新石器时代晚期,后期可称为铜石并用时代。从考古文化来看,中原地区为仰韶文化中、晚期到龙山文化。东部地区为大汶口文化及(山东)龙山文化。其中在3500BC是仰韶文化中、晚期的交界,以及大汶口文化早、中期的交界。环境考古研究表明,6-4kaBP是一个由湿润气候向干旱气候转变的过渡时期。特别6.0-5.6kaBP有湿润气候的证据。4kaBP前后则明显进入晚全新世的干旱期,在此期间还包括5.5kaBP和4.2-4.0kaBP两次气候突变。现代气候资料及模拟研究表明,由早、中全新世的湿润气候向晚全新世的干旱气候转变的主要原因为岁差变化。但是,5.5kaBP及4.2-4.0kaBP的两次冷干气候突变,则可能与热盐环流的突然减弱有关,而热盐环流减弱可能是太阳活动减弱的结果。     

新石器时代初期人类生存环境的初步考察

一、前言第四纪在距今1万年左右进入全新世时期,这个时期是在经历了一个第四纪第四次冰期(大理冰期)后的一个间冰期,气候日趋转暖,也称冰后期,在这样的环境背景下,人类迎来了新石器文明。据历史气候地理的研究表明,从距今     

Landscape and Soil Development on Monaro Basalt West of Nimmitabel,New South Wales

Prolonged stability of the southern tableland of NSW, developed on early Tertiary Monaro basalt, is evident from weak landscape dissection and numerous small lakes. However, poorly developed soils and weathered zones are inconsistent with prolonged Cainozoic weathering or formation under climates substantially different to the present. Thin Holocene sediments are also at variance with the sizes of the lake basins. Low depositional landforms, termed ‘lake shadows’, occur on the eastern perimeters of most lakes, and comprise clay pellets blown from basin floors during dry phases. Deflation, dominantly during Quaternary glacial periods, and reactivated today, is responsible for the thin soils and sediment cover. The lake basins are partly solutional and partly deflational features. The modern soil cover reflects the modern climate.     

Human occupation of South Eastern Altai highlands (Russia) in the context of environmental changes

Multidisciplinary investigations including geomorphological and geoarchaeological approaches, litho-stratigraphic and pedogenetic analysis accompanied by radiocarbon dating show the contrasting human environmental changes within the highlands of the Russian Altai since the late Paleolithic. Radiocarbon ages of fossil soils formed at 1,475–1,730 m a.s.l. indicate draining of the ice-dammed lake in the Kurai basin before the beginning of the Holocene and disintegration of the Chuya lake into several shallow but quite spacious reservoirs by 8,223?±?181 cal. BP. Using archaeological sites as spatio-temporal markers allows reconstructions to be specified based on geological data. Archaeological site distribution in the Chuya valley between the Chuya and Kurai basins indicates that all cataclysmic flood events related to the Holocene hydrological changes occurred before the Scythian epoch. Due to the redeposition of most Paleolithic finds in the region, they should be carefully examined before they are utilized for any reconstructions. Using fossil and contemporary soils as an independent informative climatic proxy archive supports the conception of generally more humid and warmer climate conditions in the first half of the Holocene within the SE Altai and a more arid and cold climate in the second one. The repeated climate deteriorations that caused glacier expansion and the progressive aridity intensification in the region along with the sociopolitical reasons are the major factors that controlled the habitat of nomadic communities and cultures shifting within the SE Altai in the second half of the Holocene. Anthropogenic impact together with the progressive aridization led to the deforestation of the eastern part of the Chuya depression.     

The ethnic versus the economic frontiers of Poland

The soil which has developed at any given location is considered to be the result of five interacting factors: parent material, time, climate, topography and biotic factors. This paper discusses the role of these factors in the development of Scottish soils, which fall into three broad categories: leached soils, gley soils and organic soils. The intention is to provide a context for the case studies that follow in later papers.     

Mapping of subsurface shell midden components through percussion coring: examples from the Dundas Islands

Following earlier examples of mapping the subsurface of shell bearing sites using augering, we employ percussion coring to identify early Holocene shell midden components at two types of sites on the Northwest Coast of North America. We describe a method for mapping subsurface components at shell bearing sites including basal deposits, paleosols and transitions between distinct cultural components. Our research was undertaken for the purpose of identifying early Holocene shell middens above the modern shore, and as components below large shell midden villages. Our results augment the developmental trajectory of shell middens on the Northwest Coast by suggesting that pre-5000 BP forms of these sites may be more common than previously thought. In light of these results, we argue that the Northwest Coast cultural historical sequence, which locates an increase in the number and rate of accumulation of shell middens beginning 5000 years ago, to be premature. However, there are insufficient data from shell middens in the early Holocene, a sampling problem that the percussion coring methods described here can address.     

Incorporating Soil Associations into Linear Programming Models for Development of Irrigation Scenarios

An inadequate streamflow supply in Saginaw Bay, Michigan, affects the irrigation development in the region. Linear programming (LP) models are developed in this paper to help irrigation planners determine optimal irrigation scenarios. To incorporate the spatial variations of the soil and climate into the optimization models, soil associations are used as the basic analysis unit for estimating crop yields, irrigation requirements, and expected economic returns. The yields and irrigation requirements of corn, drybeans, and soybeans are simulated by the CERES-MAIZE, BEANGRO, and SOYGRO models at each of the twelve soil associations in the study area over the period of 1951–1980. The yield and irrigation requirement of sugarbeets are simulated by the YIELD model for all the soils in the study area over the period of 1956–1987. The crop prices, simulated crop yields and irrigation requirements, and variable costs are used to compute the expected gross margins and other coefficients in the LP models. The optimization results provide irrigation scenarios that are linked to specific soil associations, which are more useful to decision makers for identifying and targeting individual soils for irrigation development than are the spatially lumped optimal solutions. This study demonstrates that through integration of GIS and simulation models, spatial variations of the climate, soil, and water resources can be better represented in the optimization models to produce more realistic irrigation scenarios.     

Neolithic occupation and mid-Holocene soil formation at Encosta de Sant'Ana (Lisbon,Portugal): a geoarchaeological approach

Excavations at the archaeological site of Encosta de Sant'Ana (Lisbon, Portugal) uncovered a mid-Holocene buried alluvial soil associated with early Neolithic occupation layers. Routine laboratory analyses and micromorphological observations were undertaken on the soil material. Humic acids from its Ab horizon, as well as Neolithic ecofacts, were radiocarbon dated. The dates obtained indicate that soil was formed between c. 8.0 and 6.0 cal ka BP and that the pedological evidence fits the record of the North Atlantic Holocene IRD events (“Bond events”) and the so-called “Holocene climate optimum”. The geoarchaeological record reveals that Neolithic inhabitants settled upon a stable surface, still affected by soil formation that was suddenly interrupted by slope wasting, probably in correspondence to Bond event 4, at c. 6.0 cal ka BP.     

Soil fertility and slope processes in the Western Cumberland Escarpment of Kentucky: influences on the development of horticulture in the Eastern Woodlands

The archaeological record of dry rockshelters in the Red River Valley of eastern Kentucky contains botanical remains of several weedy annual seed-bearing plants that point to the independent development of agriculture during the Late Archaic and Early Woodland Period. The objective of this study is to gather quantitative data through the chemical and physical analysis of soils collected within a valley transect to gain insights into landscape processes and soil fertility that may have played a role in the early development of plant domestication and the location of garden plots in relation to rock shelter sites in the upper Cumberland Plateau region of eastern Kentucky. Soils on upland benches formed in limestones have soil fertility values that are comparable to fertile floodplain soils. Upslope outcrops of calcareous bedrock are contributing basic cations to these bench soils. Additionally, in comparison to other landscape positions these upland soils have high levels of organic carbon, available P and greater C:N ratios. Soil morphology, radiocarbon dates, and archaeological evidence indicate that many of the numerous earthflows and debris flows within the region are Early to Middle Holocene in age. These slides were likely generated by Mid-Holocene climatic shifts in which the frequency and intensity of summer precipitation increased across the southeastern United States. These slope failures may have contributed to the development of plant domestication by creating forest canopy gaps and disturbed soils in which weedy plants thrived.     

Using Monte Carlo Simulation for the Environmental Analysis of Small Archaeologic Datasets,with the Mesolithic in Northeast Belgium as a Case Study

In Europe often only small archaeological databases are available due to a lack of extensively prospected areas and the disturbance of the soils. Traditional statistical techniques do not allow location analyses on small archaeological databases, composed of dependent site data. Several authors have therefore developed alternative techniques, in which observed weight factors for the sample of the sites were compared with a distribution of weight factors obtained by simulating a randomly distributed site population of the same size. However, the Monte Carlo simulation does not require a prior defined weight factors. With this simplified technique, it becomes possible to use small archaeological datasets for demonstrating significant relations between environmental data and location behaviour in the past. An application of the technique to the Mesolithic in the northeast of Belgium has demonstrated that the proximity to water played a major role in the location behaviour. Small evolutions in the location choice could be linked with climate fluctuations in the Early Holocene.     

Mineral weathering in forest soils and its relevance to the preservation of the buried archaeological resource

There is more woodland in Britain now than for many centuries and considering many international climate change mitigation policies, woodland cover, both in Britain and internationally, is being promoted. However, neither the management of existing woodlands nor their expansion should be at the expense of important archaeological evidence. Due to the large number of known archaeological sites, the large areas of land with uninvestigated archaeological potential and the expanding woodland cover, suitable mitigation strategies need to be developed to allow preservation in situ of important sites. An understanding of how woodland soils and the buried archaeological resource interact is, therefore, essential. This paper utilises ongoing environmental research into the mineral weathering rates in forest soils and considers its application to artefact preservation. The study concludes that soil water pH, its movement, and the saturation of dissolved ions in the soil solution are major factors determining both mineral and artefact longevity. A simple guide to artefact longevity based on these properties is proposed and a geochemical model for predicting loss is tested. These tools could be applied to any soil or individual horizon irrespective of land-use.