Elsevier S & T

Late Quaternary Climate Change and Human Adaptation in Arid China

Madsen, D.B.; Chen, F.; Gao, X.

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Table of contents
  • Cover
  • Table of Contentsv
  • Part I Introduction1
  • Chapter 1 Archeology at the margins: Exploring the Late Paleolithic to Neolithic transition in China3
  • Abstract3
  • 1. Introduction3
  • 2. The Expedition Era3
  • 3. Archeological Bureaucracy4
  • 4. Isolation and Politics4
  • 5. The New Wave5
  • 6. Modeling the Paleolithic to Neolithic Transition5
  • Acknowledgments6
  • References6
  • Part II Climate Change9
  • Chapter 2 Responses of Chinese desert lakes to climate instability during the past 45,000 years11
  • Abstract11
  • 1. Introduction11
  • 2. Methods and Data Base12
  • 3. Results and Discussion12
  • 4. Conclusion22
  • Acknowledgement22
  • References22
  • Chapter 3 Post-glacial climate variability and drought events in the monsoon transition zone of west25
  • Abstract25
  • 1. Introduction25
  • 2. Geographical Setting26
  • 3. Laboratory Methods27
  • 4. Result and Discussion28
  • Acknowledgements37
  • References37
  • Chapter 4 Vegetation evolution in arid China during marine isotope stages 3 and 2 (~65-11 ka)41
  • Abstract41
  • 1. Introduction41
  • 2. Palaeo-Vegetation Records Available and Their Limitations41
  • 3. Vegetation Evolution43
  • References47
  • Chapter 5 Holocene vegetation and climate changes from fossil pollen records in arid and semi-arid C51
  • Abstract51
  • 1. Introduction51
  • 2. Modern Environmental Settings52
  • 3. Data Sources and Methods54
  • 4. Holocene Regional Vegetation Changes54
  • 5. Holocene Climate Changes in Arid and Semi-arid China62
  • 6. Concluding Remarks63
  • Acknowledgments64
  • References64
  • Part III Theoretical Perspectives67
  • Chapter 6 Variation in Late Quaternary central Asian climates and the nature of human response69
  • Abstract69
  • 1. Introduction69
  • 2. Part I – Late Quaternary Climate Change69
  • 3. Part II – Hypothesized Human Response to Climate Change in Arid China71
  • 4. Discussion and Summary77
  • Acknowledgments78
  • References78
  • Chapter 7 The transition to agriculture in northwestern China83
  • Abstract83
  • 1. Introduction83
  • 2. Agriculture as an Evolutionary Problem83
  • 3. Late Pleistocene – Early Holocene Prehistory of North China91
  • 4. Middle Holocene Population Movement from the Upper Yellow River96
  • 5. Conclusion97
  • Acknowledgments97
  • References97
  • Part IV Regional and Chronological Perspectives103
  • Chapter 8 Late Pleistocene climate change and Paleolithic cultural evolution in northern China: Impl105
  • Abstract105
  • 1. Introduction105
  • 2. Hunter-gatherer Mobility106
  • 3. Late Pleistocene Human Biogeography in Northern China106
  • 4. Cultural Evolution and the LGM114
  • 5. Raw Materials, Paleolithic Tool Technology, and Human Mobility118
  • 6. Hunter-Gatherer Occupation of the Western Loess Plateau118
  • 7. A Speculative Model of Cultural Evolution in Northeast Asia120
  • 8. Conclusion123
  • Acknowledgments124
  • References124
  • Chapter 9 A short chronology for the peopling of the Tibetan Plateau129
  • Abstract129
  • 1. The Biogeographic Problem129
  • 2. Plateau Colonization Models and Archeological Predictions130
  • 3. Paleoclimate and Paleoenvironment on the Tibetan Plateau132
  • 4. The Chronology of Human Colonization133
  • 5. Archeological Characteristics of the Metapopulation138
  • 6. Archeological Characteristics of the Colonizers139
  • 7. Evaluating Colonization Models143
  • 8. Seasonal Exploitation or Year-Round Occupation?146
  • 9. Conclusions147
  • Acknowledgments147
  • References147
  • Chapter 10 Modeling the Neolithic on the Tibetan Plateau151
  • Abstract151
  • 1. Introduction151
  • 2. What and when is the Tibetan Neolithic?151
  • 3. Holocene paleoclimates on the Plateau155
  • 4. Current models of the Tibetan Neolithic157
  • 5. Alternative models of the Tibetan Neolithic159
  • 6. Conclusions162
  • Acknowledgments163
  • References163
  • Chapter 11 Zooarcheological evidence for animal domestication in northwest China167
  • Abstract167
  • 1. Introduction167
  • 2. Hexi Corridor169
  • 3. Upper Yellow River Valley (Southern Gansu and Qinghai)181
  • 4. Wei 渭 River Valley (Gansu/Shaanxi)182
  • 5. Arid North China187
  • 6. Tibet190
  • 7. Xinjiang191
  • 8. Summary – Animal Domesticates in Arid China191
  • 9. Conclusion194
  • Acknowledgements196
  • References196
  • Chapter 12 Yaks, yak dung and prehistoric human habitation of the Tibetan Plateau205
  • Abstract205
  • 1. Introduction205
  • 2. The Yak (Bos [Poephagus] grunniens)206
  • 3. Importance of Yak Dung208
  • 4. Energy of Other Yak Products213
  • 5. Fuel Availability on the Tibetan Plateau215
  • 6. Yak Domestication and Yak Dung217
  • 7. Summary221
  • Acknowledgments221
  • References221
  • Part V Summary and Integration225
  • Chapter 13 Changing views of Late Quaternary human adaptation in arid China227
  • Abstract227
  • 1. Introduction227
  • 2. Rapid Climate Change and Cultural Adaptation227
  • 3. Modeling Adaptive Shifts in Arid China228
  • 4. Concluding Remarks231
  • References232
  • Subject Index233
Book details
  • Vendor Elsevier S & T
  • SKU 9780444529626
  • ISBN-13 9780080544311
  • Author Madsen, D.B.; Chen, F.; Gao, X.
  • Category Social Science
  • Subject Archaeology

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Due to political pressures, prior to the 1990s little was known about the nature of human foraging adaptations in the deserts, grasslands, and mountains of north western China during the last glacial period. Even less was known about the transition to agriculture that followed. Now open to foreign visitation, there is now an increasing understanding of the foraging strategies which led both to the development of millet agriculture and to the utilization of the extreme environments of the Tibetan Plateau. This text explores the transition from the foraging societies of the Late Paleolithic to the emergence of settled farming societies and the emergent pastoralism of the middle Neolithic striving to help answer the diverse and numerous questions of this critical transitional period.

* Examines the transition from foraging societies of the Late Paleolithic to the emergence of settled farming societies and the emergent pastoralism of the middle Neolithic
* Explores explanatory models for the links between climate change and cultural change that may have influenced the development of millet agriculture
* Reviews the relationship between climate change and population expansions and contraditions during the late Quaternary