A palynological study of environmental changes and their implication for prehistoric settlement in the Ilan Plain, northeastern Taiwan

Abstract

Pollen records from two sediment cores taken from Ilan Plain, northeastern Taiwan provide new insights into the environmental and cultural history of the last 4200 years. The record indicates a relatively warm climate at around 4200 cal b.p. The environmental conditions would have been suitable for people whose settlements and activities were mainly in the littoral zone during this period. However, at ca. 3800 cal b.p., elements tolerant of brackish water dominated the vegetation, indicating that the environment was influenced by marine incursion. The remarkable increase in wetland flora suggests the presence of widespread marshlands thereafter. It is quite conceivable that settlement movement from the fluvial plain to hills between 3800 and 2400 cal b.p. can be correlated with the environmental changes in lowlands. A conspicuous gap in the archaeological sequence between 2400 and 1300 cal b.p. corresponds chronologically with a period of heavy rainfall or frequent typhoons as indicated by the aggradational episode in the Lanyang drainage basin as well as the flourishing of Alnus forests. The persistence of frequent landslides and climate deterioration would have had a dramatic impact on ancient humans and led to abandonment of the settlements. By 1300 cal b.p. a lowland flora is widespread indicating a shift from a marsh to a terrestrial environment in response to a well-developed fluvial plain. Decrease of landslides and the amelioration in climate could have advantages to human activities again. However, both the pollen and archaeological records indicate that intensive colonisation had a profound effect upon the vegetation within the Ilan region about 400 years ago.