Environmental and social factors influencing the spatiotemporal variation of archaeological sites during the historical period in the Heihe River basin, northwest China
In northwestern China, many historical nomadic kingdoms and Chinese dynasties sought to control the Heihe River basin, an important location on the eastern part of the ancient Silk Road. Archaeologists have argued that changes in material culture are tied to the frequent turnover in polities in the...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2021
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/146633 |
| _version_ | 1824456779791073280 |
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| author | Shi, Zhilin Chen, Tingting Storozum, Michael J. Liu, Fengwen |
| author2 | Earth Observatory of Singapore |
| author_facet | Earth Observatory of Singapore Shi, Zhilin Chen, Tingting Storozum, Michael J. Liu, Fengwen |
| author_sort | Shi, Zhilin |
| collection | NTU |
| description | In northwestern China, many historical nomadic kingdoms and Chinese dynasties sought to control the Heihe River basin, an important location on the eastern part of the ancient Silk Road. Archaeologists have argued that changes in material culture are tied to the frequent turnover in polities in the area, but no published evidence supports these claims. In this paper, we evaluate the relative importance of environmental and political factors in determining the spatiotemporal pattern of archaeological sites in the middle and lower reaches of the Heihe River basin by using previously published high-resolution paleoclimate records and a variety of historical documents. Our results indicate that humans intensively exploited the Heihe River basin during Han dynasty (202BC–AD 220). Following the Han dynasty, during the Wei-Jin (AD 222–589) and Sui-Tang (AD 581–907) periods the number of archaeological sites. In the Western Xia-Yuan period (AD 1038–1368), people mainly settled in the lower reaches of the Heihe River basin and only returned to the middle reaches of the Heihe River basin during the Ming and Qing dynasties (AD 1368–1912). Although climate change and the local environment affected human activities in Heihe River basin, geopolitical events, such as forced mass migrations, are more responsible for influencing the distribution of archaeological sites over the past 2000 years. |
| first_indexed | 2025-02-19T03:59:32Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/146633 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-02-19T03:59:32Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1466332021-03-03T08:27:07Z Environmental and social factors influencing the spatiotemporal variation of archaeological sites during the historical period in the Heihe River basin, northwest China Shi, Zhilin Chen, Tingting Storozum, Michael J. Liu, Fengwen Earth Observatory of Singapore Humanities::History Settlement Patterns Chinese Archaeology In northwestern China, many historical nomadic kingdoms and Chinese dynasties sought to control the Heihe River basin, an important location on the eastern part of the ancient Silk Road. Archaeologists have argued that changes in material culture are tied to the frequent turnover in polities in the area, but no published evidence supports these claims. In this paper, we evaluate the relative importance of environmental and political factors in determining the spatiotemporal pattern of archaeological sites in the middle and lower reaches of the Heihe River basin by using previously published high-resolution paleoclimate records and a variety of historical documents. Our results indicate that humans intensively exploited the Heihe River basin during Han dynasty (202BC–AD 220). Following the Han dynasty, during the Wei-Jin (AD 222–589) and Sui-Tang (AD 581–907) periods the number of archaeological sites. In the Western Xia-Yuan period (AD 1038–1368), people mainly settled in the lower reaches of the Heihe River basin and only returned to the middle reaches of the Heihe River basin during the Ming and Qing dynasties (AD 1368–1912). Although climate change and the local environment affected human activities in Heihe River basin, geopolitical events, such as forced mass migrations, are more responsible for influencing the distribution of archaeological sites over the past 2000 years. 2021-03-03T08:27:07Z 2021-03-03T08:27:07Z 2019 Journal Article Shi, Z., Chen, T., Storozum, M. J., & Liu, F. (2019). Environmental and social factors influencing the spatiotemporal variation of archaeological sites during the historical period in the Heihe River basin, northwest China. Quaternary International, 507, 34-42. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2018.12.016 0033-5894 0000-0002-3948-6074 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/146633 10.1016/j.quaint.2018.12.016 2-s2.0-85058689807 507 34 42 en Quaternary International © 2018 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. |
| spellingShingle | Humanities::History Settlement Patterns Chinese Archaeology Shi, Zhilin Chen, Tingting Storozum, Michael J. Liu, Fengwen Environmental and social factors influencing the spatiotemporal variation of archaeological sites during the historical period in the Heihe River basin, northwest China |
| title | Environmental and social factors influencing the spatiotemporal variation of archaeological sites during the historical period in the Heihe River basin, northwest China |
| title_full | Environmental and social factors influencing the spatiotemporal variation of archaeological sites during the historical period in the Heihe River basin, northwest China |
| title_fullStr | Environmental and social factors influencing the spatiotemporal variation of archaeological sites during the historical period in the Heihe River basin, northwest China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Environmental and social factors influencing the spatiotemporal variation of archaeological sites during the historical period in the Heihe River basin, northwest China |
| title_short | Environmental and social factors influencing the spatiotemporal variation of archaeological sites during the historical period in the Heihe River basin, northwest China |
| title_sort | environmental and social factors influencing the spatiotemporal variation of archaeological sites during the historical period in the heihe river basin northwest china |
| topic | Humanities::History Settlement Patterns Chinese Archaeology |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/146633 |
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