The transition to farming in northeast China

Abstract

This paper assesses the applicability of the ‘availability model’ to the transition from hunting and gathering to farming in northeast China. It evaluates the model from the perspective of an integrated archaeological framework that combines ‘tool-complex analysis’ with available faunal and floral data from selected early to mid-Holocene sites that span the transition. Tool-complex analysis is an empirical study that is based on the (possible) connection between the types of tools used and the economies of prehistoric societies. The evaluation process concludes that a modified non-lineal version of the availability model might more accurately describe the transition process in this region, and a ‘three trends model’ is offered as a potential alternative.