Liangzhu Culture Research Articles

Middle to late Holocene changes in climate, hydrology, vegetation and culture on the Hangjiahu Plain, southeast China

Climate evolution and hydrological conditions have been crucial factors for cultural development on the east coast of China. The Hangjiahu Plain, given its unique geographic and bioclimatic location, and plentiful Neolithic sites, is an ideal area in which to examine the relationship between environmental change and cultural development along the Lower Yangtze River. We report high-resolution pollen, algae, spore, charcoal, total organic carbon and grain size data from core BHQ2, collected from the Beihu Wetland on the Hangjiahu Plain. The record spans the period from 6300 to 400 cal yr BP. We infer that the climate shifted from warm and wet during the middle Holocene to dry in the late Holocene. Warm and stable hydrological conditions in the Beihu Wetland area during the intervals 6300–6000 and 5300–4250 cal yr BP were optimal for the development of the Majiabang and Liangzhu Cultures. Turbulent, brackish-water conditions in the Beihu Wetland area from 6000 to 5300 cal yr BP, however, led people of the Songze Culture to abandon the area. Collapse of the Neolithic culture and abandonment of the site at Liangzhu City could have been linked to climate drying in the interval 4250–3500 cal yr BP. Dry climate and the turbulent, saltwater environment that prevailed from 3800 to 3600 cal yr BP made conditions difficult for the Maqiao Culture. After 3600 cal yr BP, brackish water gradually receded and local rice agriculture expanded. Persistent warfare during the Warring States Period and the Qin-Han Dynasties may have been a response to colder climate from 2300 to 2000 cal yr BP. The decrease in monsoon precipitation in the Hangjiahu Plain region was influenced by summer solar radiation during the middle to late Holocene.

Letting the stones speak: An interdisciplinary survey of stone collection and construction at Liangzhu City, prehistoric Lower Yangtze River

AbstractOur interdisciplinary investigation of the stone collection and construction process of Liangzhu City walls offers important evidence to understand the engineering and organization behind the construction. We examined spatial distributions, physical and petrological characteristics of the stones discovered from our excavations of representative wall sections. These results were compared with similar aspects as well as sedimentation contexts and availability of the surveyed stones from the surrounding regions to identify the source areas for the stone collection. We developed criteria based on physical and petrological characteristics and spatial distribution of stones for the identification of construction units and estimated the volume of stones for each unit. We concluded that even though the overall scale of stonework construction was enormous, the actual tasks of stone collection and construction were likely completed by small individual working groups. Liangzhu workers preferred to collect directly available, hand‐portable stones from source areas. However, some areas with suitable stone sources were neglected by Liangzhu workers. The total workforce may have followed a central organization, and many groups likely worked simultaneously. Through the repeated efforts of numerous small working groups, Liangzhu society constructed a massive, multicomponent infrastructure. Our study holds implications for wider archaeological research of ancient stone architecture.

Analysis of Microbial Community in the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City and Study on Protective Materials.

This study aims to provide a reference for the protection of the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City. As a basis for the further preservation of these cultural relics, it is essential to analyze the microflora colonizing these soil objects. To do that, samples with microbial characteristics were obtained and analyzed by SEM and metagenomic sequencing to reveal the constitute of the microflora. We investigated the biodegradation of the protective material-epoxy resin by microorganisms in the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City, and found that they would interact with each other, which would affect the performance of the epoxy resin. The specific mechanism of action requires further investigations. We evaluated the effect of ethyl orthosilicate on soil properties. Interestingly, we found that excess ethyl orthosilicate added to the soil of the Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City will cause a change in particle size and allowed the soil to condense in the laboratory. This indicates that the large use of orthosilicate may lead to intensified soil weathering, which in turn will cause soil erosion.

Numerical simulation of mid-Holocene tidal regime and storm-tide inundation in the south Yangtze coastal plain, East China

Coastal flooding is reported as one of the major causes for the interruptions of Neolithic cultures inhabiting the south Yangtze coastal plain, China during the middle Holocene. The archaeologically sterile transgressive sedimentary layers could be the results of extreme events or relative sea-level rise induced by the enlargement of the local tidal range or global/regional sea-level rise. To clarify the mechanism of the transgressive deposits at typical Neolithic sites and the termination of Neolithic Liangzhu Culture in the south Yangtze coastal plain, this study reconstructed the paleo-topography at 7.6, 6.4 and 4.5 cal ka BP on the basis of a database including 107 sediment cores and 644 radiocarbon ages and simulated the paleo-tidal regimes and the inundation areas induced by typhoon events under the paleo-topography and sea levels using a hydrodynamic model of high-resolution Changjiang Estuary Finite-Volume Community Ocean Model (CE-FVCOM). The simulation results of tidal regimes showed that the tidal amplitude increased from 1.6 m to 2.2 m in the head of Hangzhou Bay induced by the paleo-topographic change during the period 7.6–4.5 cal ka BP. By contrast, it reduced from 1.6 m to 1.0–1.2 m in the Ningbo Plain, southeast of the bay, which was unable to explain the long-lasting marine inundation there and supported our previous assumption of an event of abrupt sea-level rise at 4.5–4.4 cal ka BP. Simulation of the storm-induced inundation further suggested that coastal flooding mainly occurred along the coastline of the Taihu Plain under the combined effect of tidal amplification and typhoon events at 4.5 cal ka BP, while the inundation almost covered half of the Taihu Plain if all factors including tidal amplification, extreme event and the abrupt sea-level rise were considered. We therefore suggest that the obvious increase in flood risk under the backdrop of sea-level rise was a major cause for the abandonment of the Liangzhu Culture in the south Yangtze coastal plain at around 4.4 cal ka BP.

Cultural response to Middle Holocene sea‐level fluctuations in eastern China: a multi‐proxy approach

The Middle Holocene period witnessed significant environmental and cultural transitions regarding the deceleration of sea‐level rise and the emergence of early agriculture, which profoundly moulded human–environment interactions in coastal regions. The Hemudu Culture (7000–5000 cal. a BP) is primarily distributed in eastern China coastal plains and marks a milestone in the origin of rice agriculture, and thus serves as an ideal case for examining these dramatic transitions. However, most existing studies have only focused on one particular aspect of the interactions amongst cultural evolution, subsistence strategies and sea‐level fluctuations in the Yaojiang Valley, and comprehensive understanding of cultural responses to Middle Holocene sea‐level fluctuations across the Ningshao Plain remains ambiguous. In this multi‐proxy study, pollen, phytolith and diatom remains from a high‐resolution profile of the Xiawangdu site (Hangzhou Bay, eastern China), along with a systematic collection of archaeological sites and radiocarbon dates for the Hemudu and Liangzhu cultures, were employed to assess human adaptation to the coastal environment. Coinciding with the cultural interruption between 6200 and 5600 cal. a BP, induced by Middle Holocene sea‐level transgression, Hemudu Culture diffused from the Yaojiang Valley northward to the Zhoushan Islands and southward to the Ningbo Plain, e.g. the Xiawangdu site. The regional ecological environment has experienced an evolutionary sequence from marine transgression (6200–5600 cal. a BP), to coastal lagoon (5600–5300 cal. a BP), through to freshwater wetland (5300–4300 cal. a BP). Settlements of pile dwellings and terraces were constructed to adapt to the hydrological transition from coastal lagoon to freshwater wetland around 5300 cal. a BP. In addition, evidence of both rice phytoliths and Poaceae pollen suggests that rice had already been domesticated by 5600 cal. a BP. Thus, the dispersal, settlement and subsistence of Hemudu Culture in the coastal lowlands of eastern China were largely dependent upon sea‐level fluctuations.

On determining the nature of Liangzhu 良渚 symbols

This paper takes five aspects of the symbols of the Liangzhu culture as its subject of study: the quantity of Liangzhu symbols, the ability of these symbols to express meaning and make differentiation, the nature of their conventional usage, the principles of their configuration, and the possibility that Liangzhu symbols represented spoken language. This paper argues that these five aspects show that Liangzhu symbols were a complex system and some of the symbols were already a written language.

Between domestication and civilization: the role of agriculture and arboriculture in the emergence of the first urban societies

The transition to urbanism has long focused on annual staple crops (cereals and legumes), perhaps at the expense of understanding other changes within agricultural practices that occurred between the end of the initial domestication period and urbanisation. This paper examines the domestication and role of fruit tree crops within urbanisation in both Western Asia and China, using a combination of evidence for morphological change and a database that documents both the earliest occurrence of tree fruit crops and their spread beyond their wild range. In Western Asia the domestication of perennial fruit crops likely occurs between 6500 bc and 3500 bc, although it accompanies a shift in location from that of the earliest domestications within the Fertile Crescent to Mesopotamia, where the earliest urban societies arose. For China, fruit-tree domestication dates between ca 4000 and 2500 bc, commencing after millet domestication and rice domestication in Northern and Southern China, respectively, but within the period that led up to the urban societies that characterised the Longshan period in the Yellow River basin and the Liangzhu Culture in the Lower Yangtze. These results place the domestication of major fruit trees between the end of the domestication of staple annual crops and the rise of urbanism. On this basis it is argued that arboriculture played a fundamental role within the re-organisation of existing land use, shifting the emphasis from short-term returns of cereal crops into longer term investment in the developing agricultural landscape in both Western and East Asia. In this respect perennial tree crops can be placed alongside craft specialisation, such as metallurgy and textiles, in the formation of urban centres and the shaping the organisational administration that accompanied the rise of urbanism.

Multi-proxy evidence for paleoclimate evolution performed on a paleolake sediment core in the East Asian Monsoon Region

A sediment succession from a paleolake in the Hangjiahu Plain, Southeast China, covering the period 11.4–5.0 cal ka BP was studied using grain size, total organic carbon (TOC), organic carbon isotope (δ13Corg), C/N ratio, pollen, carbonate and its carbon and oxygen isotopes (δ18Ocarb and δ13Ccarb) analysis to reconstruct climate changes. The methods of redundancy analysis (RDA) ordination and correlation analysis (CA) were employed to quantify the influence of geochemical indexes on the biological index (the pollen) and to explain the environmental significance of each proxy more scientifically and accurately, so as to provide more reliable indication for the reconstruction of the paleoclimate. The reconstruction, supported by the AMS 14C age modelling, indicates climatic evolution during the Early–Middle Holocene period, at least, experienced four stages: (1) a period of gradual warm and humid during the early Holocene (11.4–8.7 cal ka BP). (2) A middle continuous cold–dry stage (8.7–8.0 cal ka BP), precipitation and temperature declined revealed by the proxies. (3) 8.0–6.6 cal ka BP, which was the wettest and warmest stages in the climate change sequence, precipitation, and temperature increased markedly, and this stage was consistent with the Holocene Climate Optimum. (4) A cold–dry period during the middle Holocene (6.6–5.0 cal ka BP), and particularly worth mentioning was that a large number of Oryza pollens were found which indicated the rice-based agriculture developed. In particular, the Liangzhu Culture in this region appeared at this time.

HISTORICAL STAGES OF CHINA JADE CULTURE. THE EPOCH OF “HOLY JADE”

The article discusses the emergence and formation of the pearl of Chinese jade culture – the “Holy Jade” or “Jade God” epoch. On the example of the archaeological jade artifacts of Xinglong, Kunshan, Lingjiatan and Liangzhu cultures, the dynamics of the development of jade processing technologies and the growing role of religious jade objects in Chinese culture are shown. The “Holy Jade” with an engraved deep pattern of the ancient inhabitants of China was given a mysterious religious significance. Jade symbolised faith in God and created the necessary entourage to communicate with Heaven. A variety of jade artifacts were symbols of human status in ancient Chinese society, accompanied him in the afterlife. The epoch of “Holy Jade” laid the foundation for the development of all the jade culture of China, gave an impetus to the improvement of processing technologies of this mineral of delicate colour.

Multiple indicators of rice remains and the process of rice domestication: A case study in the lower Yangtze River region, China

The process of rice domestication has been studied for decades based on changing morphological characteristics in assemblages of both macroremains, such as charred seeds and spikelet bases, and microremains, such as phytoliths, esp. bulliform and double-peaked phytoliths. The applicability of these indicators in determining if a specific assemblage is wild or domesticated, however, is rarely discussed. To understand the significance of these indicators in the determination of domestication, we collected 38 archaeological samples from eight Neolithic sites, dating from 10-2ka BP, in the lower Yangtze River region to analyze and compare the changes of these different indicators over eight thousand years. The data demonstrate that the comprehensive analysis of multiple indicators may be the best method to study the process of rice domestication developed thus far. An assemblage of rice remains can be identified as domesticated forms if they meet the following criteria simultaneously: 1) the proportion of domesticated-type bulliform phytoliths is more than 73%; and 2) the proportion of domesticated-type rice spikelet bases is higher than 75%. Furthermore, we found that each indicator tends to change steadily and gradually over time, and each stabilized at a different time, suggesting that the characteristics of domesticated rice developed slowly and successively. Changes of multiple indicators during the period between 10,000–2,000 yr BP indicate that the process of rice domestication in the lower Yangtze River region lasted as long as ca. 6,000 years during the Neolithic, and can be divided into three stages with the turning points in the middle Hemudu-late Majiabang culture (6,500–5,800yr BP) and the late Liangzhu culture (4,600–4,300yr BP).

The excavation of the Wujiachang Cemetery in Fuquanshan Site, Shanghai in 2010

Abstract Fuquanshan Site is a central settlement site of the Liangzhu Culture. The 2010 excavation in the Wujiachang locality of Fuquanshan Site was productive. The relatively small excavation area of 231sqm yielded six burials, 14 ash pits, three ash ditches, and one water well. Four of the burials were dated to the Liangzhu Age. The Liangzhu grave goods assemblage was exceptionally rich. It comprised more than 400 artifacts that included sumptuous objects of jade cong-tubes, jade bi-discs, jade yue-battle axes, ivory scepters, etc. Their presence suggested that M204 and M207 were elite burials. The complete removal of feature M207 from the field allowed meticulous excavation of the burial in the convenience of laboratory environment, as well as the immediate preservation of the uncovered cultural relics. The deposition indicated that Wujiachang was an artificial mound cemetery of the elites of the Liangzhu Culture.

Investigating dietary patterns and human mobility in bone apatite at the Zhuangqiaofen site (5000-3700 BP), Zhejiang Province, China

The Taihu Lake basin is one of the cradles of Chinese civilization with abundant archaeological sites, but the humid and acidic soil conditions of this part of China limit the application of studies using stable isotope ratios of bone collagen. To circumvent this problem, we explore the suitability of using bone hydroxyapatite for stable isotope ratio measurements of carbon (δ13C) and oxygen (δ18O) as a substitute to collagen in order to obtain dietary and mobility information about humans (n = 22) and animals (n = 7) from the Neolithic site of Zhuangqiaofen. The human δ13C values range from −14.0‰ to −11.5‰ and have an average of −12.8 ± 0.7‰ which indicates that they were mainly consuming a C3 diet, most likely rice (Oryza sativa). The range of δ13C values of the dogs (−13.6‰ to −12.5‰; n = 5) and pigs (−13.9‰ and −12.7‰; n = 2) are similar to the humans and also suggest that they consumed C3 foods. Humans have a wide range of δ18O values (−12.7‰ to −8.5‰) with an average value of −10.8 ± 1.2‰, which suggests that they were mobile and ingested water from a variety of different sources. This human mobility might be attributed to: the need for labor to construct public works at larger sites in the area, trade networks involving jade and pottery in the Jianghuai region or to the unique funerary customs of the Liangzhu Culture that were based on blood relationships. In contrast, the dog δ18O values have a much smaller range (−12.0‰ to −11.4‰) and have an average value of −11.7 ± 0.2‰. The δ18O values of the two pigs are nearly identical at −12.1‰ and −12.2‰ and similar to the dogs, and these results can be used as an isotopic baseline with which to compare the human δ18O results.

Evidence of evolutionary history and selective sweeps in the genome of Meishan pig reveals its genetic and phenotypic characterization.

BackgroundMeishan is a pig breed indigenous to China and famous for its high fecundity. The traits of Meishan are strongly associated with its distinct evolutionary history and domestication. However, the genomic evidence linking the domestication of Meishan pigs with its unique features is still poorly understood. The goal of this study is to investigate the genomic signatures and evolutionary evidence related to the phenotypic traits of Meishan via large-scale sequencing.ResultsWe found that the unique domestication of Meishan pigs occurred in the Taihu Basin area between the Majiabang and Liangzhu Cultures, during which 300 protein-coding genes have underwent positive selection. Notably, enrichment of the FoxO signaling pathway with significant enrichment signal and the harbored gene IGF1R were likely associated with the high fertility of Meishan pigs. Moreover, NFKB1 exhibited strong selective sweep signals and positively participated in hyaluronan biosynthesis as the key gene of NF-kB signaling, which may have resulted in the wrinkled skin and face of Meishan pigs. Particularly, three population-specific synonymous single-nucleotide variants occurred in PYROXD1, MC1R, and FAM83G genes; the T305C substitution in the MCIR gene explained the black coat of the Meishan pigs well. In addition, the shared haplotypes between Meishan and Duroc breeds confirmed the previous Asian-derived introgression and demonstrated the specific contribution of Meishan pigs.ConclusionsThese findings will help us explain the unique genetic and phenotypic characteristics of Meishan pigs and offer a plausible method for their utilization of Meishan pigs as valuable genetic resources in pig breeding and as an animal model for human wrinkled skin disease research.

Middle-Holocene sea-level fluctuations interrupted the developing Hemudu culture in the lower Yangtze River, China

The eastern coastal zone of China is densely populated and widely recognized as a center of rice domestication, which has undergone dramatic sea-level fluctuation during the Holocene epoch. Hemudu culture is distributed mainly in the eastern coastal area and was once presumed as a mature agricultural economy based on rice, making it an ideal case for examining the remarkable human-environment interaction in the Lower Yangtze River. Though numerous studies have been conducted on the cultural evolution, ecological environment, and rice domestication of Hemudu culture, the impact of sea-level fluctuation on human settlement and food production remains controversial. In this study, we report high-resolution pollen, phytolith, and diatom records, and accurately measured elevation from the Yushan site, which is the closest site of Hemudu culture to the modern coastline. Based on the data gathered, we suggest that the Hemudu culture and subsequent Liangzhu culture developed in the context of regression and were interrupted by two transgressions that occurred during 6300-5600 BP and 5000-4500 BP. The regional ecological environment of the Yushan site alternated between intertidal mudflat and freshwater wetlands induced by sea-level fluctuations in the mid-late Holocene. Though rice was cultivated in the wetland as early as 6700 BP, this cultivation was subsequently discontinued due to the transgression; thus, full domestication of rice did not occur until 5600 BP in this region. Comprehensive analysis of multiple proxies in this study promote the understanding of the relationship between environmental evolution, cultural interruption, and rice domestication.

Middle Holocene marine flooding and human response in the south Yangtze coastal plain, East China

Coastal flooding catastrophes have affected human societies on coastal plains around the world on several occasions in the past, and are threatening 21st century societies under global warming and sea-level rise. However, the role of coastal flooding in the interruption of the Neolithic Liangzhu culture in the lower Yangtze valley, East China coast has been long contested. In this study, we used a well-dated Neolithic site (the Yushan site) close to the present coastline to demonstrate a marine drowning event at the terminal stage of the Liangzhu culture and discuss its linkage to relative sea-level rise. We analysed sedimentology, chronology, organic elemental composition, diatoms and dinoflagellate cysts for several typical profiles at the Yushan site. The field and sedimentary data provided clear evidence of a palaeo-typhoon event that overwhelmed the Yushan site at ∼2560 BCE, which heralded a period of marine inundation and ecological deterioration at the site. We also infer an acceleration in sea-level rise at 2560–2440 BCE from the sedimentary records at Yushan, which explains the widespread signatures of coastal flooding across the south Yangtze coastal plain at that time. The timing of this mid-Holocene coastal flooding coincided with the sudden disappearance of the advanced and widespread Liangzhu culture along the lower Yangtze valley. We infer that extreme events and flooding accompanying accelerated sea-level rise were major causes of vulnerability for prehistoric coastal societies.

The Remains of Liangzhu Culture at Jiangzhuang Site in Xinghua and Dongtai Cities, Jiangsu

AbstractIn October 2011 to December 2015, the Institute of Archaeology, Nanjing Museum conducted two terms of excavations to the Jiangzhuang Site located in the administrated areas of Xinghua and Dongtai Cities, Jiangsu Province. The main work was the large-scale uncovering of the settlement of the Liangzhu Culture located in the west zone of the site, the features recovered from which included burials, house foundations, ash pits, water wells, ash ditches, etc. In the cemetery of the Liangzhu Culture in the northeast of the west zone of the site, burials were densely arranged; most of the burials had burial receptacles, and the skeletons were well preserved, the burial positions of which included primary burials and secondary burials. The discovery and excavation of the settlement of Liangzhu Culture at Jiangzhuang Site revised the traditional viewpoint of the academic field that the north border of the Liangzhu Culture was limited by the Yangtze River and provided new materials for the comprehensive and in-depth researches on the civilization and society of the Liangzhu Culture. The large amount of human skeletons unearthed from the burials of the Liangzhu Culture will also effectively improve the indepth researches on the burial custom, social organization and relationship and racial attribution of the people of Liangzhu Culture.

Earliest hydraulic enterprise in China, 5,100 years ago

Here we present one of the world's oldest examples of large-scale and formalized water management, in the case of the Liangzhu culture of the Yangtze Delta, dated at 5,300-4,300 years cal B.P. The Liangzhu culture represented a peak of early cultural and social development predating the historically recorded Chinese dynasties; hence, this study reveals more about the ancient origins of hydraulic engineering as a core element of social, political, and economic developments. Archaeological surveys and excavations can now portray the impressive extent and structure of dams, levees, ditches, and other landscape-transforming features, supporting the ancient city of Liangzhu, with an estimated size of about 300 ha. The results indicate an enormous collective undertaking, with unprecedented evidence for understanding how the city, economy, and society of Liangzhu functioned and developed at such a large scale. Concurrent with the evidence of technological achievements and economic success, a unique relationship between ritual order and social power is seen in the renowned jade objects in Liangzhu elite burials, thus expanding our view beyond the practicalities of water management and rice farming.

Utilization of Structure from Motion for processing CORONA satellite images: Application to mapping and interpretation of archaeological features in Liangzhu Culture, China

Remote sensing has been supporting archaeology since the early 20th century. Recent high-resolution satellites have enabled the detailed observation and mapping over wide areas enhancing the importance of remote sensing techniques. Besides its severe geometric skewness, CORONA satellite image, the reconnaissance satellite of United States operated during the 1960 to 1972, has provided a wealth of historical information. From CORONA satellite images, archaeologists can begin to understand the original landscape of sites worldwide that have undergone rapid urban expansion. However, most previous archaeological studies of CORONA satellite images have focused on homogeneously textured arid condition with little vegetation. The present study maps and analyzes the Liangzhu sites group near Shanghai, China, which occupies a low wet environment in the temperate climatic zone. The CORONA satellite images were orthorectified by the Structure from Motion technique and subjected to digital surface model (DSM). The accuracy of the orthorectified image was confirmed by evaluating the root means square error. However, the extracted DSM suffered from speckled noise and the so-called bowl effect distortion. >80% of the known sites were successfully detected through stereoscopic interpretation and additional unknown features were metrically mapped. The parallel dike-like features of the Tangshan complex were reconstructed and their likely function suggested.

Environmental changes and human activities at a fortified site of the Liangzhu culture in eastern China: Evidence from pollen and charcoal records

Liangzhu culture represents the culmination of the Neolithic culture in the Yangtze Delta. Two archaeological trenches (LZ-N and LZ-W) from a fortified archaeological site in close proximity to Hangzhou, eastern China, were excavated and studied. The sediments were analyzed to provide vegetation and fire records for the reconstruction of environmental change and human impact during the past 5000 years. Pollen data reveal that mixed evergreen-deciduous subtropical broadleaved forests may have developed around lakes or swamps in this area. Abundant charcoal detritus and Gramineae pollen with a size >38 μm indicate that rice agriculture flourished during 5000–4500 cal yr BP. Low concentrations of charcoal detritus and Gramineae pollen with a size >38 μm suggest that the site was abandoned after 4500 cal yr BP. Pollen and charcoal data from the LZ-N section suggest that this area has experienced a weakened human activity during the late period of the Liangzhu culture (between 4500 and 4300 cal yr BP), implying that the demise of the Liangzhu culture was a prolonged process rather than a short-lived event.

The 5400 a BP extreme weakening event of the Asian summer monsoon and cultural evolution

We explored a time series of the Asian summer monsoon (ASM) variability during the transition period from the middle to the late Holocene in the marginal Asian monsoon region. We used an absolutely dated 230Th record with only a ~20-year dating error, and oxygen isotope data with an 8-year average temporal resolution from the top 22-mm segment of stalagmite WXB07-4 from Wanxiang Cave, western Loess Plateau. The ASM intensity weakened gradually from 6420 to 4920 a BP, which was mainly characterized by three phases: (1) a strengthening phase with a higher precipitation amount between 6420 and 6170 a BP; (2) a smooth fluctuating interval during 6170–5700 a BP; and (3) a sudden extreme weakening period from 5700 to 4920 a BP. Interestingly, the extreme weakening interval of the ASM occurred during the period between 5700 and 4920 a BP, an abrupt change dated at 5430 a BP, which is known as the 5400 a BP, or 5.4 ka BP, event. The period included 290 years of gradual weakening, and 350 years of slow strengthening. This was synchronous with some cave records from the Asian monsoon region within dating errors. Comparing with Chinese archaeological archives over the past 7000 years, the early decline of the Yangshao Culture in the Yellow River Basin and the Hongshan Culture in the West Liao River Basin occurred during the period of gradual decrease of ASM precipitation. The dramatic decline in precipitation, caused by the extreme weakening of the ASM at 5400 a BP, may have been partly related to the decline of the Miaodigou Culture at the Yangguanzhai site in the Weihe River valley; the middle Yangshao Culture in western Henan in the Yellow River Basin; the early Dawenkou Culture on the lower reaches of the Yellow River; and the middle Hongshan Culture in the west of the Liaohe River valley. During the later period of the 5400 a BP event (5430–4920 a BP), a small amplitude increase and a subsequent sharp decrease of ASM precipitation may have also been linked to the contemporaneous prosperity and disappearance of the late Yangshao and Hongshan cultures; the disappearance of the late Yangshao Culture represented by the Yangguanzhai site in the Guanzhong basin on the Weihe River; the fourth phase of the late Yangshao Culture on the upstream Dadiwan site; the beginning of the middle Dawenkou Culture, the formation of its late stage, and the rise of the Longshan culture; and the rise of the Qujialing and Liangzhu cultures on the lower Yangtze River. Compared with the stalagmite precipitation records on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, the rise and expansion of the Majiayao Culture in the upper Yellow River valley at 5300 a BP may have also been connected to the more dramatic increase of the summer monsoon precipitation at higher, rather than lower, altitudes during the late 5400 a BP event.