Abstract
The Yangtze River Valley is an important economic region and one of the cradles of human civilization. It is also the site of frequent floods, droughts, and other natural disasters. Conducting Holocene environmental archaeology research in this region is of great importance when studying the evolution of the relationship between humans and the environment and the interactive effects humans had on the environment from 10.0 to 3.0 ka BP, for which no written records exist. This review provides a comprehensive summary of materials that have been published over the past several decades concerning Holocene environmental archaeology in the Yangtze River Valley, to further understand large-scale regional Holocene environmental and cultural interaction within this area. The results show that: (1) in recent years, Holocene envi-ronmental archaeology research in the Yangtze River Valley has primarily taken paleoflood and sea-level change stratigraphical events to be the foundational threads for study. This began with research on the spatiotemporal distribution of archaeological sites, typical archaeological site stratigraphy, and research on background features concerning environmental evolution recorded by the regional natural sedimentary strata. (2) Significant progress has been made at the upper, middle, and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, indicating that Holocene environmental ar-chaeology research along the Yangtze River Valley is deepening and broadening. (3) Dramatic changes to Neolithic cultures that occurred approximately 4.0 ka BP were influenced by climate change and associated consequences, although the impacts differed on the various Neolithic cultures in the Yangtze River Valley. Local topography, regional climate, and varying survival strategies may have contributed to these differences. (4) Newly-published research pays particular attention to the sedimentary records of the past with resolutions as high as one year to several months, the degree to which humans altered the quality of their natural environment, and human adjustments to settlement and subsistence practices during periods of Holocene climate change. The application of technologies such as remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), and molecular biological analysis are also gradually being extended into the research field of Holocene environmental archaeology in the Yangtze River Valley.
Highlights
Environmental archaeology is an interdisciplinary science combining archaeolog-ical science, geochronology, Quaternary geology, zoology, botany, sedimentology, stra-tigraphy, geochemistry, micropaleontology, remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), and other natural sciences [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]
A review of past research revealed that Holocene environmental archaeology studies in the Yangtze River Valley have expanded from scattered investigations fo-cusing on typical individual sites to systematic research on the spatiotemporal distri-bution and typical site archaeological stratigraphy over the entire Yangtze River Valley, including the upper, middle, and lower reaches
Dra-matic changes in Neolithic cultures around 4.0 ka BP were affected by the climate vari-ation during “Holocene Event 3,” along with associated consequences, the impacts differed among the various Neolithic cultures inhabiting the Yangtze River Valley area
Summary
Environmental archaeology is an interdisciplinary science combining archaeolog-ical science, geochronology, Quaternary geology, zoology, botany, sedimentology, stra-tigraphy, geochemistry, micropaleontology, remote sensing, GIS, and other natural sciences [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. Despite its importance in the understanding of large-scale region-al Holocene environmental change and cultural evolution (Figure 2), studies on the progress of environmental archaeology research in the Yangtze River Valley, where the history of Neolithic and Bronze Age cultures spans nearly 7000 years (Figure 2), and analyses of human–environment interaction in prehistory, have not been thoroughly reviewed. From the perspective of the spatiotemporal distribution of archaeological sites, archaeological stratigraphy of typi-cal sites, and regional environmental evolution archived from typical natural sedi-mentary strata, there has been significant progress in Holocene environmental archae-ology in the upper, middle, and lower reaches of the Yangtze River
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