Analysis of the Aggregation Characteristics of Early Settlements in the Zhengzhou Ancient Yellow River Distributary Area

Abstract

Zhengzhou is located at the dividing point of the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, which is the core area of the origin of early Chinese civilization. Studying the influence of the ancient Yellow River distributary on the aggregation of early sites is conducive to understanding the interaction between the water environment and early humans. It will provide strong support for the systematic protection and overall display and utilization of heritage. This research is based on the data of the ancient Yellow River distributary, lakes and swamps, and early settlements. This research adopted a GIS spatial quantitative analysis method to identify early settlements. The early sites in the distributary area of the ancient Yellow River were identified from the aspects of kernel density and cluster complexity. The study analyzed the influence of the evolution of lakes and swamps on the aggregation of sites, and the distance relationship between different levels of settlements and lakes and swamps. The results show that: (1) From the Peiligang period to the Xia and Shang Dynasties, early settlements aggregated in multi-center bands along the west ancient Yellow River distributary. Moreover, the Xingyang–Guangwu trough area was an aggregation area with a large quantity and high degree of complexity. (2) From the Yangshao period to the Xia and Shang Dynasties, the settlement presented the characteristics of distributions around lakes and swamps. From a spatial perspective, the distribution of a centric zone around the Xingyang–Guangwu trough lake and swamp in the west moved to the Xingze lake in the east.