Zhuang, Yijie;
Du, Shenglun;
(2022)
Holocene sea-level change and evolution of prehistoric settlements around the Yangtze Delta region.
In: Carson, Mike T, (ed.)
Palaeolandscapes in Archaeology: Lessons for the Past and Future.
(pp. 192-214).
Routledge
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Text (Chapter 8)
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Abstract
The ebb and flow of prehistoric cultures on the low-lying alluvial and deltaic plains around the Yangtze Delta are inherently related to Holocene sea-level change. Some of the profound developments in prehistoric settlement distributions, settlement structures and subsistence economies coincided with several episodes of Holocene sea-level oscillations in the region. Distributions of prehistoric settlements indicate a gradual but clear demographic shift from the mountainous valleys to coastal plains from the early Holocene onwards. Concurrent with this trend was the onset of wetland occupation and a series of technological adaptations were made to adapt to the new environments. Among them slowly intensifying exploitation of marine resources with a parallel development in rice farming which eventually became predominant in subsistence economies as the society was rapidly expanding, especially during the Liangzhu culture period (5300-4300BP). We review published palaeo-environmental, palaeo-ecological and archaeological data dating from the early to late Holocene in the region. We first assess how the changing sea-level affected geomorphological processes, hydrologies and soils in the region in different time periods. We then examine patterns of prehistoric settlement distributions corresponding to these sea-level induced environmental changes. This is followed by a synthetic discussion on how the settlement structures, architecture, subsistence economies and water management practices in different cultural periods represented systematic human adaptations to the volatile coastal wetland environments.
| Type: | Book chapter |
|---|---|
| Title: | Holocene sea-level change and evolution of prehistoric settlements around the Yangtze Delta region |
| Publisher version: | https://www.routledge.com/Palaeolandscapes-in-Arch... |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Institute of Archaeology UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Institute of Archaeology > Institute of Archaeology Gordon Square |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10183957 |
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