Abstract
The Xindian culture of northwest China has been seen as a prototypical example of a transition toward pastoralism, resulting in part from environmental changes that started around 4000 years ago. To date, there has been little available residential data to document how and whether subsistence strategies and community organization in northwest China changed following or in association with documented environmental changes. The Tao River Archaeology Project is a collaborative effort aimed at gathering robust archaeological information to solidify our baseline understanding of economic, technological, and social practices in the third through early first millennia BC. Here we present data from two Xindian culture residential sites, and propose that rather than a total transition to nomadic pastoralism—as it is often reconstructed—the Xindian culture reflects a prolonged period of complex transition in cultural traditions and subsistence practices. In fact, communities maintained elements of earlier cultivation and animal-foddering systems, selectively incorporating new plants and animals into their repertoire. These locally-specific strategies were employed to negotiate ever-changing environmental and social conditions in the region of developing ‘proto-Silk Road’ interregional interactions.
Highlights
The turn of the third to second millennia BC (i.e., c. 4000 BP) is a time when the western regions of the area currently within the People’s Republic of China witnessed a number of radical changes in patterns of subsistence, organization of communities and general ways of life
On the Tibetan plateau, for example, computational climatic models show that related climate changes may have led to a major transition in subsistence regimes that resulted in a shift from millet farming to more cold-adapted crops like barley (d’Alpoim Guedes, 2016; d’Alpoim Guedes et al, 2013, 2015)
When compared with results at Qijiaping and other earlier sites, Xindian activities show selective uptake of new crops and animals, and a continuation of older practices. Xindian activities in this region took advantage of the opportunities presented by environmental changes, social dynamics, and interregional interaction that were available in an ever-changing world
Summary
The turn of the third to second millennia BC (i.e., c. 4000 BP) is a time when the western regions of the area currently within the People’s Republic of China witnessed a number of radical changes in patterns of subsistence, organization of communities and general ways of life (see Womack et al, 2017; Yang et al, 2019a, 2019b). Climate change does not impact all regions of the globe in a homogeneous fashion, and the integration of environmental and archaeological studies can provide data about the types of challenges that people faced but how they reacted to these in specific local contexts (Contreras, 2016; d’Alpoim Guedes et al, 2016a, 2016b; Hudson et al, 2012; Haldon et al, 2018; Kintigh et al, 2014). In lower altitude regions of the loess plateau off the Tibetan plateau it is unclear what impacts, if any, environmental change had on subsistence and society, due to a lack of data on human practices and organization from excavated settlements (Jaffe & Hein, 2020)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
