Amelioration of habitat since the early Holocene contributed to the origin of agriculture in the farming-pastoral zone of northern China

Xin JIA ¹Zhiping ZHANG ²Yonggang SUN ³Runqi JIANG ⁴Shuangwen YI ⁵Wei CHEN ⁶Jue SUN ⁶Guoqiang LI ⁷Shuzhi WANG ⁸Enrui LI ⁹Xiaonong HU ⁹Qingchun BAO ¹⁰Harry F.LEE ¹¹Huayu LU⁵

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作者信息

1. Jiangsu Center for Collaborative Innovation in Geographical Information Resource Development and Application,Nanjing 210023,China;School of Geography and Ocean Science,Nanjing University,Nanjing 210023,China;Key Laboratory of Virtual Geographic Environment(Ministry of Education of PRC),Nanjing Normal University,Nanjing 210023,China;School of Geography,Nanjing Normal University,Nanjing 210023,China;Institute of Environmental Archaeology,Nanjing Normal University,Nanjing 210023,China
2. Jiangsu Center for Collaborative Innovation in Geographical Information Resource Development and Application,Nanjing 210023,China;Key Laboratory of Virtual Geographic Environment(Ministry of Education of PRC),Nanjing Normal University,Nanjing 210023,China;School of Geography,Nanjing Normal University,Nanjing 210023,China;Institute of Environmental Archaeology,Nanjing Normal University,Nanjing 210023,China
3. Schlool of History and Culture,Chifeng University,Chifeng 024000,China
4. School of Geography,Nanjing Normal University,Nanjing 210023,China;Institute of Environmental Archaeology,Nanjing Normal University,Nanjing 210023,China
5. School of Geography and Ocean Science,Nanjing University,Nanjing 210023,China
6. State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy,Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Nanjing 210008,China
7. Key Laboratory of Western China s Environmental Systems(Ministry of Education),College of Earth and Environmental Sciences,Lanzhou University,Lanzhou 730000,China
8. Institute of Archaeology,Chinese Academy of Social Sciences,Beijing 100710,China
9. Ulanqab Museum,Ulanqab 012000,China
10. The Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology,Hohhot 010011,China
11. Department of Geography and Resource Management,The Chinese University of Hong Kong,Hong Kong 999077,China
折叠

Abstract

The origin of agriculture in the farming-pastoral zone of northern China remains in dispute.The central region of the Inner Mongolia Plateau is located in the core area of the farming-pastoral zone;thus,it is a critical region for exploring the origin of the dryland farming system in northern China.This study selected the Yumin Site and Banan Site,which belong to the Yumin Culture-the beginning of Neolithic culture in Inner Mongolia-as the research objects.Based on the quartz optically stimulated luminescence(OSL)dating on the sedimentary sections from the Yumin site(YM)and Banan site(BN1 and BN2),the Holocene chronology framework of each section was established.After that,by identifying carbonized grains in the Yumin site and the multi-proxy analysis of each section,we investigated the relationship between the origin of agriculture and climate change in this region.The results revealed that the timing of the origin of agriculture recorded in the Yumin site lagged behind the timing of a significant increase of precipitation during the early Holocene but coincided with the timing of a significant increase of vegetation around 8.4 ka.This phenomenon was further confirmed by the published high-resolution paleoenvironmental records from the surrounding area of the Yumin Culture.We propose that with the gradual amelioration of hydrothermal conditions since the beginning of the Holocene,the regional ecosystem had been improved,resulting in the gradual conversion of the land surface from infertile sand to organic-rich soil,providing an appropriate environmental foundation for the origin of dryland farming in northern China around 8.4 ka.This study highlighted that the"accumulative environmental effects"during the early Holocene played a vital role in the origin of agriculture in northern China and provided a reference for agricultural management in the context of future climate change.

Key words

Origin of agriculture/Accumulative environmental effects/Yumin Culture/Northern China/Holocene

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基金项目

National Key R&D Program of China(2022YFF0903500)

National Natural Science Foundation of China(42271163)

National Natural Science Foundation of China(42301173)

出版年

2024

中国科学:地球科学(英文版)

中国科学院

中国科学:地球科学(英文版)

影响因子：1.002

ISSN：1674-7313

参考文献量7

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