Impacts of the Wetland Environment on Demographic Development During the Neolithic in the Lower Yangtze Region—Based on Peat and Archaeological Dates

Konglan Shao,Can Wang,Jianping Zhang,Houyuan Lu,Keyang He

doi:10.3389/feart.2021.635640

Abstract

Wetlands were important resources for the hunting–gathering and early farming communities in coastal areas in the Neolithic. However, the relationship between the development of the wetland environment and the human population remains unclear due to the lack of successive wetland environmental changes throughout the Holocene in coastal areas. Here, the summed probability distributions (SPD) of radiocarbon dates of peat were used as an indicator and combined with archaeological radiocarbon dates to reconstruct the wetland environmental and demographic changes during the Neolithic in the lower Yangtze region. The results showed that the shifts in demographic centers and population development were related to wetland environment with peat formation. The first shift of the demographic center was from the hilly regions to the coastal plain and occurred during ca. 8,300–8,000 cal yr BP, which might be caused by the attractiveness of survival resources offered by the coastal wetland environment and the 8.2 ka event. The second shift occurred from the Ningshao Plain to the Taihu region and might be attributed to the widespread waterlogged environment in the Ningshao Plain. The peak of demographic development coincided with the peak of peat formation during the middle Holocene in the lower Yangtze region, indicating that the wetland environment facilitated changes in human societies. The formation of peat might be related to the sea-level and El Niño-Southern Oscillation events; however, further studies are required for deep comprehension. The present study is an attempt at identifying the past impacts of the wetland environment on demographic development and can form the basis for a more comprehensive understanding of the interactions between the humans and their living environment.

Highlights

The lower Yangtze region is characterized as one of the flourish Neolithic cultural centers and early agricultural centers (Jiang and Liu, 2006; Liu et al, 2017; Zuo et al, 2017)
This means that the high summed probability distributions (SPD) of peat in the lower Yangtze region indicates a widespread wetland environment characterized by abundant plant growth and relatively stable and excess water table
The data were used to investigate the impacts of wetland environment on Neolithic demographic evolution

Summary

Introduction

The lower Yangtze region is characterized as one of the flourish Neolithic cultural centers and early agricultural centers (Jiang and Liu, 2006; Liu et al, 2017; Zuo et al, 2017). Previous studies indicate that wetland environment attracted Neolithic people (Chen et al, 2008; Zong et al, 2011); the exact relationship between the evolution of the wetland environment and human activities remains unclear due to the lack of successive wetland environment reconstruction during the Holocene. Peat has been used as indicators of sealevel or floods in previous studies (Zhao et al, 1979; Törnqvist et al, 2004; Zhang et al, 2004; Zong, 2004; Zhang et al, 2005; Zhan and Wang, 2014; Brain et al, 2017; Hijma and Cohen, 2019). The direct peat dating can refrain the anomalous radiocarbon dates caused by reworked sediments, which is a prevalent problem in the lower Yangtze region (Stanley and Chen, 2000; Li et al, 2014; Long et al, 2016)

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion