Wood Charcoal From Archaeological Sites in the Qinghai Lake Basin, Western China: Implications For Human Resource Use and Anthropogenic Environmental Change

Abstract

The archaeological record of the Qinghai Lake Basin, northeast Tibetan Plateau, western China, contains charcoal-based evidence of significant changes in the distribution of local shrub land and woodland through the last 12,500 14C yr BP. These vegetation trends correspond with regional changes in hunter-gatherer settlement and patterns of Holocene climate change. This charcoal-based record is useful to address current issues concerning the timing of anthropogenic vs. climatic factors in the development of grazing lands in the northeast Tibetan Plateau.