Paleo-environmental implications of the micro-botanical remains recovered from a military garrison of Han Dynasty in Xinjiang

Abstract

According to the dynastic chronicles of the Han dynasty, City of Shule (疏勒城) was a large fortress located at in the farthest northwest of the Han Empire. The Shichengzi site was a settlement occupied by Han armies, which was considered as matching the location of City of Shule on the ancient Silk Road in Xinjiang, directly dating to about the first century AD. In the present study, we provide a preliminary investigation on palaeobotanical and palynological evidence recovered from a depositing soil profile at Shichengzi site in northern Tianshan Mountains. Although it shows that natural vegetations around Shichengzi was dominated by desert steppe during the late Holocene period, it can be seen that there was a relatively warm and humid environment when Han armies firstly relocated in the region. This suggests that such an improved climate conditions might have played an important role in supporting the development of Han culture in eastern Central Asia at approximately 2000 BP.