Chronological Evidence Research Articles

Chronological data dating the death of Khan Berke

The article considers the results of the source research of the texts of the Siro-Egyptian authors’ compiled writings. These texts were published in the fi rst volume of the Golden Horde’s compendium, translated in Russian by V.G. Tiesenhausen. Chronological evidence, contained in the writings’ messages were thoroughly researched using historical and chronological methods. Special attention is paid to applying the Cross-validation method to the chronological data, which allowed for the validation of the controversial evidence by comparing it with the information from external sources. The external sources in the research are the chronicles of Rashid-al-Din as well as Russian chronicles, which include the information about the death of Berke Khan. The results of the conducted research reconstruct the most exact time period of the death of Berke Khan. The revealed chronological controversies allowed to identify the more reliable and less accurate sources dating the events related to the period of Berke Khan reigning. Separate attention in the article is paid to the data on the kinship ties of the Horde khans. The author discusses the text compilations concerning the advantages and disadvantages connected with the details of the Siro-Egyptian authors’ compiled writings.

The timing and mode of southern Andean human migrations

Abstract While recent genomic and isotopic information show that migration has been pervasive along human history, southern Andean archaeology has largely overlooked its importance in shaping human trajectories of sociocultural change. Building on previous isotopic research that identified the presence of migrant farmers in the Uspallata Valley (Mendoza, Argentina), we present chronological and bioarchaeological results that help to characterize the timing and mode of human migrations in the southern Andes. The burials with migrants show the representation of the different age classes, including a high abundance of children, as well as both men and women, suggesting that family groups were likely involved. The Bayesian modeling of 16 direct dates for migrants indicates that these migrations started between 1210–1275 CE (median 1255 CE) and finished at 1320–1425 CE (median 1360 CE), indicating that there is nearly no overlap between the commencement of this migration phase and the southwards expansion of the Inka Empire. The model defines a diachronic process that lasted between 55 and 195 years, implying that migration to Uspallata was a multi-generational process that involved between two and eight generations (median of four generations). Our contextual, bioarchaeological and chronological evidence indicates that the conditions fostering migration to Uspallata were sustained through time, inviting to explore persisting push-pull dynamics acting during this period. 87Sr/86Sr results show that migration occurred across the daily territories of these groups and may have involved movement across social or ethnic frontiers.

New chronology evidence of prehistoric human activities indicated by pottery luminescence dating in the humid subtropical mountains of South China

The age of prehistoric human sites serves as a fundamental basis for studying the relationship between human activities and landscape changes in the humid subtropical mountains of South China. The presence of pottery in these archaeological sites is widespread and offers a valuable resource for precise dating purposes. The Longtoushan (LTS) site, located in the northern mountains of Fujian Province, contains a rich variety of pottery types from various periods, representing a rare multi-period stratigraphic overlap in this area and playing a crucial role in constructing the cultural sequence and lineage of prehistoric and ancient times in this region. In this study, we employed thermoluminescence (TL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) techniques to establish the age of pottery samples collected from the LTS site situated in the upper Minjiang River region of southeast China for the first time, while also comparing our findings with other dating methods to construct a chronological framework for the site. The results showed that: (1) The samples analyzed in this study can be classified according to the peak strength of 325 °C TL signal at natural and regenerative doses of quartz. Samples with weak TL signal at 325 °C (type II samples) showed high recuperation and equivalent dose underestimation at a low preheat temperature (220 °C) in OSL test. (2) Conventional SAR procedures employed for type I samples are not suitable for type II samples. Type II samples require additional OSL stimulation towards the end of the cycle and an extended stimulation duration. (3) The application of various dating methods has revealed that the LTS site represents a long-term settlement in the humid subtropical mountains of South China, commencing around 4.6–4.4 thousand years ago (ka). Specifically, the dating of pottery pieces from kiln sites and tombs in the late Neolithic period provides a specific temporal reference for further understanding of prehistoric human culture and production behavior in the humid mountains of Fujian.

New age constraints reveal moraine stabilization thousands of years after deposition during the last deglaciation of western New York, USA

Abstract. The timing of the last deglaciation of the Laurentide Ice Sheet in western New York is poorly constrained. The lack of direct chronology in the region has led to a hypothesis that the Laurentide Ice Sheet re-advanced to near its Last Glacial Maximum terminal position in western New York at ∼ 13 ka, which challenges long-standing datasets. To address this hypothesis, we obtained new chronology from the Kent (terminal) and Lake Escarpment (first major recessional) moraines using radiocarbon ages in sediment cores from moraine kettles supplemented with two optically stimulated luminescence ages from topset beds in an ice-contact delta. The two optically stimulated luminescence ages date the Kent (terminal) position to 19.8 ± 2.6 and 20.6 ± 2.9 ka. Within the sediment cores, there is sedimentological evidence of an unstable landscape during basin formation; radiocarbon ages from the lowest sediments in our cores are not in stratigraphic order and date from 19 350–19 600 to 14 050–14 850 cal BP. We interpret these ages as loosely minimum-limiting constraints on ice sheet retreat. Our oldest radiocarbon age of 19 350–19 600 cal BP – from a rip-up clast – suggests ice-free conditions at that time. Above the lowest sediments there is organic-rich silt and radiocarbon ages in stratigraphic order. We interpret the lowest ages in these organic-rich sediments as minimum-limiting constraints on kettle basin formation. The lowest radiocarbon ages from organic-rich sediments from sites on both Kent and Lake Escarpment moraines range from 15 000–15 400 to 13 600–14 000 cal BP. We interpret the 5 kyr lag between the optically stimulated luminescence ages and kettle basin formation as the result of persistent buried ice in ice-cored moraines until ∼ 15 to 14 ka. The cold conditions associated with Heinrich Stadial 1 may have enabled the survival of ice-cored moraines until after 15 ka, and, in turn, climate amelioration during the Bølling period (14.7–14.1 ka) may have initiated landscape stabilization. This model potentially reconciles the sedimentological and chronological evidence underpinning the re-advance hypothesis, which instead could be the result of moraine instability and sediment mobilization during the Bølling–Allerød periods (14.7–13 ka). Age control for future work should focus on features that are not dependent on local climate.

A new type of clay-Li deposit: Fault-controlled hydrothermal alteration in southern Hubei Province, China

Clay-Li deposits are among the major Li deposits in the world and occur mainly in sedimentary and/or volcanic-sedimentary strata. The Li orebodies are generally stratiform and stratibound, and Li is mainly hosted in various clay minerals. Here, we report a new type of clay-Li deposit that occurs along fault zones developed in metasedimentary rocks with significant alteration, and Li is also hosted in clay minerals in the Jinyinshan area in Xianning, southern Hubei Province, China. The study area has no granitic rock outcrops, but approximately 15 km south is the Mufushan granite batholith, where large-scale rare metal mineralization, such as Li, Be, Nb and Ta granitic pegmatites, developed in the internal and outer contact zones of the granite batholith. In this study, high-Li clay minerals, including chlorite, kaolinite and smectite, were identified. The enrichment of Li is closely related to hydrothermal activity along the F9 fault in the region. Hydrothermal apatite coexisting with Li-clay in the orebody along the fault zone yielded an in situ U–Pb age of 135.2 ± 13.9 Ma, which is in good agreement with the ages of granites and Li-pegmatites around the Mufushan batholith. Petrographic, geochemical, and chronological evidence suggests that the ore-forming fluids and Li were likely sourced from the Mufushan granite batholith or a similar blind granite at the depth of the study area; that is, the granite-derived ore-forming fluids can travel long distances along fault zones, and during this pathway, Li from the metasedimentary rocks (i.e., the Lengjiaxi Group) may also have been leached by the fluids and contributed to the Li mineralization in the Jinyinshan clay-Li deposit. The close spatial relationships among different clay minerals indicate that fluid physical–chemical conditions (changes in temperature) may play a crucial role in controlling the formation of Li-rich clay minerals. Our study indicates that the Mufushan area has great potential for hydrothermal clay-Li mineralization occurring in the Lengjiaxi Group metasedimentary rocks around the Mufushan batholith.

Intensive use of Northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan plateau during the middle Holocene: New excavation of a base camp, Dongguotan site

The available archaeological materials indicate that the hunter-gatherers with microblade technology were widespread across the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The limited chronological evidence and characteristics of the cultural remains suggest that most of the archaeological remains were temporary camps used for short periods of time. Our findings at the Dongguotan site indicate that hunter-gatherers established a camp site for relatively longer-term occupation on the northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau during the Middle Holocene, shedding light on the intensive use of this area.

The location of Tartessos: a fresh case for the reliability of Avienus’ Ora Maritima

Recent geomorphological, paleoenvironmental, and chronological evidence allows for a reconstruction of the coasts of southwest Iberia during the first millennium BCE that accords with descriptions of the region offered by authors of antiquity, most notably the description by the fourth-century CE Roman writer R. F. Avienus in his poem Ora Maritima. This poem contains information that appears to date from the sixth century BCE regarding, for instance, the pre-Roman polity of Tartessos. The reliability of this work as a historical source has been questioned for decades. Critics argue that the information is pertinent to our understanding of the literary, rather than historiographical, context of the Late Roman Empire. However, philological as well as historical analyses reveal no clear cause to doubt the documentary value of the Ora Maritima. Furthermore, geomorphological research makes it possible to identify most place-names in the poem; for example, the city embraced by the river Tartessos, apparently the political and trade center of the realm, may likely have stood on the present-day spit of La Algaida, which was an isle in the first millennium BCE. While this hypothesis has been advanced elsewhere, this article offers an entirely new set of evidences to support it.1

Who, Why, When, and Where From? The Peopling of the Canary Islands and the Challenges of Archaeometry

Archaeologists in the Canary Islands have gathered substantial quantitative data from radiocarbon measurements and aDNA analyses. While undeniably helpful and necessary for apprehending past human activity, their interpretation, based on theories underpinning models developed for island chains, has lagged, leaving a gap in our understanding of processes of occupation and social network systems. The decontextualized nature of the archaeological landscape of the Canaries and a lack of consensus about proper radiocarbon methodologies are some of the factors contributing to heated scholarly debate. Here, for the Canary Islands, the author reviews the current literature on aDNA and discusses settlement theories, the chronological evidence used for occupation models, and how such perspectives align with current thinking on island colonization.

Urartian Red Burnished Ware in local context: An archaeometric study of the assemblage from Metsamor (Armenia, South Caucasus)

This paper presents a case study on Urartian Red Burnished Ware (URBW) distribution within a provincial Urartian Kingdom settlement through the use of geochemical and petrographic analyses in a comparison of local ceramics. This pottery assemblage study is based on joint Armenian-Polish excavations in Metsamor, specifically from its so-called “outer town” sector. The stratigraphic and chronological evidence indicates that URBW was distributed in the settlement—in small quantities—from 760 to 600 BCE. This analysis proves that URBW was produced in workshops located ∼ 2–3 days travel from the settlement. The intent of importing such vessels was not so much for their functionality but was more likely in response to their individual character. Results suggest that URBW could not be imitated by local potters. Their inability to replicate lustrous red slip was primarily due to technological barriers related to a failure to attain a fully controlled firing process.

Paleoproterozoic skarn mineralization events and geodynamic background in the Jiao-Liao-Ji Belt: Geological, geochemical and chronological evidence from the Daqinggou Fe–Cu polymetallic deposit in Ji'an, NE China

The Daqinggou Fe–Cu polymetallic deposit has been discovered in the Ji'an district, east of the Jiao-Liao-Ji Belt (JLJB). It consists of the Daqinggouli and Beigou ore sections, and the ore bodies are mainly magnetite ore bodies, followed by copper polymetallic ore bodies. Six metallogenic stages have been distinguished here: The dry skarn (I1), wet skarn (I2), iron oxide (I3), early quartz-sulfide (II1), late quartz-sulfide (II2), and quartz-carbonate stages (II3). There are also three types of fluid inclusions (FIs): gas-rich (W1-type), liquid-rich (W2-type), and daughter crystal (S-type) FIs. The ore-forming fluids here belong to a H2O–NaCl ± CO2 system with a medium-high temperature and medium-high salinity during the Stages I3 and II1, in addition to a H2O-NaCl system with a medium-low temperature and medium-low salinity in the Stage II2. In-situ S isotopes indicate that the Stage II1 sulfides were derived from magmatic sources, whilst the Stage II2 sulfides were derived from a mixture of magma and stratigraphic sources and Stage II3 was dominated by the sulfur source of the sedimentary strata. Additionally, the Pb isotope data reveal that the ore-forming minerals were of crustal or orogenic origin. By comparing the metallogenic elements of typical skarn deposits, we believe that the Daqinggou deposit is a calcareous skarn deposit, which originates from dimetasomatism between the microcline granite and marble of the Mayihe Formation in the Ji'an Group. The immiscibility and mixing of ore-forming fluids are the key mechanisms of metal precipitation within the deposit. Furthermore, the U-Pb ages of single zircons from microcline granites and hydrothermal apatite in the ores constrained the formation of rocks and deposit to the late Paleoproterozoic. Elemental geochemistry and zircon Hf isotope data further divided the microcline granite into I-type granite with high potassium and differentiation, originating from the partial melting of Neoarchean crustal materials in the region, which then underwent fractional crystallization. The diagenetic tectonic environment shows the characteristics of an active continental margin, which may have resulted from regional large-scale arc-continent collisions (Longgang Block and Nangrim Block), also implying the occurrence of ocean subduction during the evolution of the JLJB.

Landslides in the Remolinos gypsum escarpment (NE Spain): controls imposed by stratigraphy, fluvial erosion, and interstratal salt dissolution

Dissolution of karst rocks (evaporites and carbonates) can cause significant mechanical weakening, but its preparatory role for landslide development has been scarcely explored. Fluvial valleys carved in gypsum bedrock typically display prominent escarpments with numerous landslides and perched valleys indicative of rapid retreat rate. The stratigraphic and cartographic analysis of the 37-km-long Remolinos gypsum escarpment in the Ebro Valley (NE Spain) reveals that landslide types are controlled by the lithological succession: (1) rotational slides in sections with mudstones and marls at the base; (2) rock-slope collapses (massive rock-falls) where the cliff includes halite packages at the foot; and (3) relatively small rock-falls and topples being the main failures affecting cliffs entirely made by gypsum. Fluvial undercutting by the highly mobile Ebro River is the main process that controls the spatial and temporal distribution of slope instability. Geomorphic and chronological evidence supports that the abandonment in 1574 of the El Castellar village was at least partially motivated by a shift in the river channel toward the escarpment and the consequent landslide activity. Several lines of evidence support the concept whereby interstratal salt dissolution (halite and glauberite), here designated as subsurface solutional undermining, play a significant preparatory role for landslide development: (1) dissolution of salt close to the scarp by the inward advance of dissolution fronts and subsidence of the overlying strata; (2) collapsed fault blocks with no offset across the grabens; and (3) brine seepages and extensive efflorescences and precipitates of Na-sulfates and halite.

An historical reassessment of the maritime Southeast Asian forest and marine commodities trade and its implications for archaeological investigations of Asian contact in northern Australia

This paper reassesses the maritime Southeast Asian forest and marine commodities trade from the sixteenth century to World War I. The ‘Macassan’ traders who visited northern Australia were primarily from Makassar and southern Sulawesi (including Bugis, or Bajau and Sumbawan immigrants) and the Lesser Sunda Islands (to where these ethnic groups had migrated) but also included the Indigenous Australians who accompanied them on their voyages. Research into other ethnic groups (Chinese, Makassar-Malay, Seram Laut Islanders, Solorese and Timorese mariners) also associated with both northern Australia and the maritime Southeast Asian forest and marine trade suggests that they be included in the ‘Macassan’ group. Analysis of historical sources for the late nineteenth–early twentieth century Macassan trepang (sea cucumber) industry in north Australia demonstrates that perahu spare cargo capacity was filled with additional commodities when the trepang harvest was low, ensuring voyage profitability. Comparison of the maritime Southeast Asian trade with ethnographic, archaeological, historical, and linguistic evidence in northern Australia, suggests that 20 commodities were likely to have been exported from the latter, seven of which have never before been mentioned in the literature. Mapping of the Macassan routes transporting the 20 commodities shows that northern Australia was connected to a vast network of maritime Southeast and East Asian trade with global reach. The importance of these findings for Asian contact archaeology in northern Australia is threefold: (1) archaeologists should look beyond ceramic provenance, metal, and glass to seek material and chronological evidence for the extraction and processing of a wider range of forest and marine commodities; (2) evidence for the extraction of particular commodities might be a proxy for age estimation of a site; and (3) the origins of introduced material culture will reflect its East, South, and Southeast Asian and, ultimately, global connectivity.

New evidence for Middle Bronze Age chronology from the Syro-Anatolian frontier

Dates differ by up to 150 years in the protracted debate around the chronology of the Middle Bronze Age Near East. Here, the authors present radiocarbon and ceramic evidence from destroyed buildings at Zincirli, Türkiye, that support the Middle Chronology. Ceramics from late Middle Bronze Age sites in Syria and Anatolia, and Bayesian modelling of 18 well-stratified radiocarbon samples from site destruction contexts attributable to Hittite king Ḫattusili I, indicate a date in the later seventeenth century BC. Since the Northern Levant connects the Mesopotamian and Eastern Mediterranean second-millennium BC chronologies, this evidence supports the convergence of these long-debated schemas, with implications for the start of the Late Bronze Age and the rise of empires.

Thermochronology and U–Pb dating of detrital zircons from the Demerara Plateau (French Guiana‐Suriname): Implications for the provenance of the Early Cretaceous syn‐rift sedimentation

AbstractThe provenance of Early Cretaceous sandstones dredged on the northern margin of the Demerara Plateau, offshore French Guiana and Suriname, reveals the sediment routing system that prevailed through the Equatorial Atlantic rifting. Fission‐track analysis and U–Pb dating of 310 and 111 detrital zircons, respectively, have been performed. Microfacies analysis and inherited cooling ages suggest that the sandstones were deposited in shallow marine environments during the Early Cretaceous, before the Late Albian drowning of the marginal plateau. Most of the U–Pb zircon crystallisation ages are comprised of between 700 and 600 Ma and are attributed to the Pan‐African‐Brasiliano orogeny. Statistical and chronological evidence suggest that the zircon fission‐track cooling ages were inherited from source materials. Triassic peak ages (>50% of the population) are attributed to the early phase of Central Atlantic rifting. One sample records a cooling phase at ca. 170 Ma, presumably following volcanic hotspot activity and the opening of the Central Atlantic Ocean. Two other samples record the rapid exhumation of the French Guiana transform margin during the Equatorial Atlantic rifting (127 ± 11 and 106 ± 8 Ma). We propose a source‐to‐sink model in which the Pan‐African‐Brasiliano basement of the margin was eroded as a result of flexural uplift along the French Guiana margin, and the detrital material funnelled in the Cacipore graben sustained the Early Cretaceous syn‐rift sedimentation on the marginal plateau.

Arroyo formation impacts on an early dryland agricultural community in Northeastern Utah, USA

AbstractIndigenous Fremont farmers in Cub Creek, a part of northeastern Utah's Dinosaur National Monument, occupied the northern ecological margin of maize cultivation in western North America from A.D. 300 to 1300. Agriculture in Cub Creek was a response to multidecadal precipitation variability, but when precipitation stabilized between A.D. 750 and 1050, agricultural conditions improved and populations expanded to form villages along the floodplains of local dryland streams. Did the very same conditions (i.e., decreased precipitation variability) that allowed the growth of agricultural societies make them simultaneously vulnerable to arroyo formation, a key geomorphic risk to floodplain agriculturalists? Preliminary results from Cub Creek show that rapid sedimentation punctuated by episodic arroyo formation characterized the last 2000 years. We use stratigraphic and chronological evidence formalized in a Bayesian age model to develop a set of working hypotheses that a 2.5 m‐deep discontinuous arroyo formed before either A.D. 1020 or A.D. 1275. The earlier age corresponds with occupation of the Cub Creek village, while the later age corresponds with the end of Fremont agriculture in Cub Creek, and demonstrates regional synchronicity with arroyo formation across the Colorado Plateau. A second arroyo formed before A.D. 1490, indicating rapid alluvial cycling in Cub Creek. We conclude that floodplain instability and arroyo formation combined with the return of the dominant multidecadal precipitation variability regime beginning at A.D. 1050 was a key constraint on the growth potential of local populations. These findings have potential implications for the development of early Indigenous dryland agricultural systems throughout the interior of western North America.

OSL chronological evidence reveals one of the earliest island-type Neolithic sites in the coastal area of South China

Many prehistoric sites are preserved in the southeast China coastal area; however, it is still unclear when ancient human activity occurred owing to a lack of chronological evidence, which is unfavourable for research on the coupling of prehistoric man-earth relationships. In this study, we present an optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) chronology analysis of two profiles (T1 and T4) collected from the Neolithic Jianhu (JH) site on Haitan Island, South China. The single-aliquot regenerative-dose (SAR) protocol for coarse silt (38–63 μm) quartz was used to determine the equivalent dose (De). The results showed that the OSL technology is reliable and of great value for archaeochronology in coastal aeolian regions. The results suggest that the JH site is one of the earliest Neolithic sites in the coastal area of Fujian. The ages of cultural layers with ancient human activities at the JH site varied from 7.4 ± 1.13 to 5.77 ± 0.35 ka, thereby making the JH site the earliest Neolithic site in the coastal area of Fujian. The sand-tempered pottery unearthed from the JH site can be used as direct evidence of ancient human survival, and its age is 6.33 ± 0.21 ka with a high precision, which presents the earliest OSL data on pottery in South China. We also discuss the regional environmental background of ancient human activity. The Keqiutou culture corresponds to a period of relatively high sea level and a superior natural environment on Haitan Island. The sea retreat 5.7 ka ago was a crucial factor driving prehistoric human migration to the Fuzhou Basin and Taiwan Island.

An Over-View of the Literary Evidence of Afghan Rule in Kashmir

Kashmir was ruled by the Afghans from 1752 to 1819. This period is mainly recognized for its literature contains historical evidence. The determination of this study is to evaluate the historiography of “Afghan Rule” in Kashmir. The historians who have been writing about the 18th and 19th centuries think that the literary evidence of Afghan rule in Kashmir can be understood within the context of an intermittent of power struggle. Tribally minded people fought against proponents of a proposal to establish a secular state run by a centralized, unbiased bureaucracy under the control of a dictator. The comprehension of the time period's political and cultural aspects does not seem to have been a priority for the historians. The political system and political dynamics of the Afghan Rule are still unknown because of the odd nature of the chronological evidence that has survived from that time. This is an attempt to highlight the literary evidence of cultural history of Afghans over Kashmir. This study depends on the on secondary sources.

Beads from a mediaeval pilgrim centre: Chemical composition and provenance of glass from Banganarti, Nubia, Sudan

AbstractChristian Nubia was a region with intensive transcultural connections that are visible through the understudied overseas glass bead imports found there. This paper presents the results of an analysis of 20 glass beads from Banganarti, a Christian pilgrim site active during the Makuria kingdom (mid‐sixth to 14th centuries CE). Compositional analyses using laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA‐ICP‐MS) have identified glass belonging to a number of broad compositional groups. Two beads were made of mineral soda‐lime glass, dated before the mid‐ninth century CE. Numerous beads were made from plant ash‐soda‐lime glass associated with “Mesopotamian” production dated between the eighth and 10th centuries CE. Lead‐soda‐silica glass has parallels in the ninth–10th centuries glass found in Africa and Europe. One plant ash‐soda‐lime bead was of eastern Mediterranean origin dated after the 10th century CE. Results of this study provide new evidence for provenance and chronology of glass beads available in the mediaeval Northeast Africa as well as contribute new data to the research on the pilgrim and/or trade routes of that time.

New chronological evidence reveals a continuously inhabited Neolithic–historical settlement in south China

The Xindian Ancient City (XAC) site is the most complete and frequently excavated urban site in the lower reaches of the Minjiang River. Archaeological and chronological research of this area helps clarify the history of human activity at the site and restore the geographical background of the ethnic minority regimes who lived in the coastal areas of south China during the Eastern Zhou dynasty and the related influence on regional civilisation. Dating results suggest that the site was built during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods (3.2–2.4 thousand years ago), which can reasonably explain the presence of relics from the Warring States period on and within the wall. Our dating results are also consistent with the late Neolithic stone tools and pottery fragments found in the area, suggesting that the site was an ideal settlement before castles were constructed. Based on the spatial distribution of the Neolithic sites and Holocene transgression records in the Fuzhou Basin, it was found that coastline advance and retreat were the main factors affecting the paleo-human activity in the Fuzhou Basin during the late Neolithic period. Previous studies showed that the seawater gradually withdrew from the basin around 2 ka BP. Before this, humans mainly lived in the crescent-shaped area on the west side of the Fuzhou Basin, close to the ancient coastline. Based on existing archaeological results and chronological data, it can be shown that the lower reaches of the Minjiang River, where Fujian Province's capital is located, has long been the centre of ancient human activity in the coastal areas of south China, with a civilisation history of 6–4 ka and a city construction history of at least 2.9 ka.

The Canadian Excavations at Anemurium in Cilicia. By James Russell, with contributions from C.W.J. Eliot, Hector Williams, Sheila Campbell, Nigel Kennell, and Thomas Boyd (Archéologie et Histoire Romaine 45). Toulouse, Éditions Mergoil 2021. Pp. 155. €36.97. ISBN 978-2-35518-117-7 (paper).

<i>The Canadian Excavations at Anemurium in Cilicia</i>. By James Russell, with contributions from C.W.J. Eliot, Hector Williams, Sheila Campbell, Nigel Kennell, and Thomas Boyd (Archéologie et Histoire Romaine 45). Toulouse, Éditions Mergoil 2021. Pp. 155. €36.97. ISBN 978-2-35518-117-7 (paper).