Abstract
The middle Yangtze Valley is an important region for studying the origin of rice agriculture. Archaeological remains of rice have been found in sites such as Pengtoushan and Bashidang as early as 8000 years ago. However, we know little about the adaptive diversity in this region as research has mostly focused on rice cultivation. With the help of new discoveries, this paper explores another adaptation behavior pattern that emphasizes the utilization of aquatic resources in the western part of the Jianghan Plain during the Paleolithic–Neolithic transition. Although the sea level was continuously rising with the warming process of early Holocene, the lakes that later became widely distributed were still in formation, thus not available for human utilization in the middle Yangtze Valley. However, most notably, the amelioration of the environment was producing a sort of new niche: utilizing aquatic resources became possible at least in parts of this region. A case study from the Guanzhou Site, based on lithics, suggests there were increasing demands for the utilization of aquatic resources. The study proposes that at least two different adaptation strategy changes occurred in the western Jianghan Plain during the Paleolithic–Neolithic transition, i.e., rice agriculture or complex hunting–gathering. These strategies represent adaptations to the different ecological conditions at the crossroads of habitat types.
Highlights
About ten thousand years ago, the arrival of the Holocene was marked by a stable and mild climate after the last ice age terminated
Since we have studied the question of the Paleolithic–Neolithic transition (PNT) for many years, in this paper we investigate the archaeological records in the Xiajiang area (Xiajiang area: the mountain and gorge area along the Yangtze River, including several important terrains, the Three Gorges, mountain area in Southwest China, the edge of Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau) and its adjacent regions, especially first-hand unearthed lithics from the Guanzhou site in Hubei Province
In China, sites in there is a potential strategy relating to aquatic resources, and based on the what we indicate mentioned above, the RHBFadaptation technique strategy relating to aquatic resources, and based on what we mentioned above, the ridged hammer bipolar flaking (RHBF) technique has a potential in aquatic utilization
Summary
About ten thousand years ago, the arrival of the Holocene was marked by a stable and mild climate after the last ice age terminated. The ridged hammer bipolar flaking (RHBF) technique has been recognized in the eastern region of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River since the discovery and excavation of a series of sites from the Upper Paleolithic to the early Neolithic in recent years. These new archaeological records provide a precious opportunity to learn about the cultural diversity of this region. By hitting four or five times, a flake would fall off the boulder
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