Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Emmanuelle Casanova, Timothy D. J. Knowles, Alex Bayliss, Melanie Roffet-Salque, Volker Heyd, Joanna Pyzel, Erich Classen, Laszlo Domboroczki, Michael Ilett, Philippe Lefranc, Christian Jeunesse, Arkadiusz Marciniak, Ivo van Wijk, Richard P. Evershed
Summary: Direct dating of archaeological pottery vessels using radiocarbon dating of food residues has allowed for accurate study of the introduction of new food commodities. This study specifically focuses on the introduction of dairying in Central Europe by the LBK cultural group, providing evidence that it occurred with the arrival of the first settlers, rather than being gradually adopted later.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
C. Manen, T. Perrin, J. Guilaine, L. Bouby, S. Brehard, F. Briois, F. Durand, P. Marinval, J-D Vigne
Summary: Manen et al. respond to a critical comment and emphasize the need for new interpretive frameworks that incorporate both geological and cultural data.
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Albert J. Ammerman
Summary: The aim of this comment is to address the misrepresentations of their work on the Neolithic transitions found in a recent article, and to clarify misconceptions that have persisted in the literature. Additionally, the comment briefly discusses the convergence between their own recent regional modeling and the position held by other scholars in the field.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Bing-Qi Zhu, Jia-Xing Zhang, Chun Sun
Summary: The study discusses the dynamic changes of different types of dune landforms over the past half century in the Hexi Corridor, China. The results reveal two states of sand dunes movement in the region and show that the speed of sand dunes movement is positively correlated with wind speed.
FRONTIERS IN EARTH SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Yishi Yang, Jia Wang, Gang Li, Jiajia Dong, Huihui Cao, Minmin Ma, Guoke Chen, Guanghui Dong
Summary: Broomcorn and foxtail millet were the most important crops in northern China during the Neolithic period. The dominance of these two millet crops shifted over time, with foxtail millet replacing broomcorn millet by the end of the Neolithic period. Recent archaeological excavations provided an opportunity to examine this shift, and the results suggest that changes in human settlement intensity and climate played a role in the replacement of broomcorn millet with foxtail millet.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Chiara Belli, Valentina Caracuta, Dani Nadel, Elisabetta Boaretto, Reuven Yeshurun, Mina Weinstein-Evron
Summary: The study of charcoal and seed assemblages from the el-Wad Terrace site in Mount Carmel, Israel reveals the plant environment during the Early to Late Natufian period. The findings suggest it was an East Mediterranean oak forest/maquis, with oak and almond trees as primary components. The highest density of remains was found in the Early Natufian phase, indicating intensive human occupation during that time.
VEGETATION HISTORY AND ARCHAEOBOTANY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Pavel Kundrat, Jana Marikova-Kubkova, Iva Herichova, Pavla Tomanova, Marketa Petrova, Josef Tecl, Petr Kozlovcev, Kristyna Kotkova, Anna Fialova, Jan Kubancak, Jan Valek, Ivo Svetlik, Katerina Pachnerova Brabcova
Summary: The Southern Corridor of the bishopric district is the earliest Romanesque remains in the 3rd Courtyard of Prague Castle. It likely originated from the 11th to 12th century based on historical context. Radiocarbon dating of charcoals found in its mortars supports the previous age estimate and suggests ongoing building activity at the site until at least the 14th to 16th century.
JOURNAL OF RADIOANALYTICAL AND NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Xin Li, Wenyu Wei, Minmin Ma, Minxia Lu, Linyao Du, Yishi Yang, Guoke Chen, Lele Ren
Summary: This study reports zooarchaeological, stable isotope, and radiocarbon dating data from the Han Dynasty Heishuiguo Cemetery in the Hexi Corridor of northwest China. The findings reveal that domestic chickens, pigs, and sheep were mainly used as funerary objects, with other livestock such as cattle, horses, and dogs also buried. Stable isotope data suggest a higher consumption of C-4 foods (likely millets) by chickens, pigs, and dogs compared to herbivorous livestock during the Han Dynasty. The trend of declining C-4 food weight in animal fodders from -2,300 to 200 BCE was reversed during the Han Dynasty, possibly due to control by the Han Empire and immigration from the Yellow River valley.
FRONTIERS IN EARTH SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Edyta Kalinska, Edijs Breijers, Helena Alexanderson, Maris Krievans, Valdis Berzins
Summary: The ancient Ventspils Lagoon has been studied using optically stimulated luminescence dating (OSL) to determine its development and age, revealing a wide age range and different stages of development.
ESTUARINE COASTAL AND SHELF SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Anthropology
Eoin W. Parkinson, T. Rowan McLaughlin, Carmen Esposito, Simon Stoddart, Caroline Malone
Summary: This paper reviews the evidence for long-term trends in anthropogenic activity and population dynamics across the Holocene in the central Mediterranean region, using a database of radiocarbon dates from archaeological sites. The new chronology identified significant points in time where activity levels, population dynamics, and cultural change interacted to create strong temporal patterns in the archaeological record, revealing societies subject to collapse, recovery, and continuing instability over centuries. By modeling growth rates in various regions and comparing with wider prehistoric Europe and northern Africa, the paper offers new perspectives on societal functioning through meta-analyses of the archaeological record.
JOURNAL OF WORLD PREHISTORY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Kai Xiao, Xiaoqing Yao, Xi Zhang, Ning Fu, Qiuhong Shi, Xiaorui Meng, Xuechang Ren
Summary: This study investigated the potential toxic elements (PTEs) in road dust in Jiayuguan, the largest steel-producing city in Northwest China. The results showed that the highest concentrations of PTEs were found in the local road dust samples, with manganese, barium, zinc, and chromium being the most prevalent. Selenium was highly enriched and polluted, possibly due to human activities and coal combustion. The sources of PTEs in road dust samples included both natural and industrial sources, as well as coal and oil combustion. The study also revealed non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks associated with these elements, with children being more vulnerable to the non-carcinogenic risks and a certain area showing a carcinogenic risk related to chromium contamination from a local abandoned chromate plant.
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Xuelian Zhang, Shihua Qiu, Lianzhen Cai, Hong Xu, Haitao Zhao, Guoliang Chen
Summary: This article outlines the research progress on radiocarbon dating of the Erlitou site and discusses the significance of dating in resolving historical controversies.
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Jianyi Tong, Jian Ma, Wenying Li, Xi'en Chang, Jianjun Yu, Jianxin Wang, Yingxia Ma, Yiliang Tian, Kuerban Reheman, Mulati Simayi, Liu Ruiliang
Summary: The Hami Oasis in the Eurasian steppes was a dynamic region during the Bronze Age, connecting the Tianshan Corridor and the Hexi Corridor. The Tianshanbeilu cemetery, the largest in the area, went through four phases of development and is the earliest and longest-lasting known cemetery in eastern Xinjiang.
Article
Geography, Physical
Guoqiang Li, Yixuan Wang, Zhongfeng Yan, Caixin Qin, Weiping Ding, He Yang, Xiaoyan Wang, Xiaojian Zhang
Summary: This study investigates the loess deposition and climatic changes in the central Hexi Corridor region of NW China over the past 25 ka. The results show that loess deposition initiated at least 25 ka ago, with maximum accumulation rates occurring during the Last Glacial Maximum. The climate in the Hexi Corridor demonstrates a cold-dry glacial and a warm-moist interglacial, and the intensities of the East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM) and East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) have an anti-phase relationship over the past 25 ka. The EASM precipitation variability in the Hexi Corridor is not a direct response to changes in 30 degrees N summer insolation.
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Geography, Physical
Joseph M. Young, Alberto Reyes, Duane G. Froese
Summary: In this study, radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence dates associated with the Moorhead and Emerson Phases in the Lake Agassiz basin were examined and filtered using statistical methods. The results suggest that the freshwater drainage interpretation during the Moorhead Phase as the trigger for the Younger Dryas cold reversal is not entirely supported by the existing data, and additional high-quality radiocarbon dates are needed to further constrain lake level histories in the basin.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Geography, Physical
Mehdi Taheri, Farhad Khormali, Xin Wang, Arash Amini, Ahmad Landi, Haitao Wei, Martin Kehl, Fahu Chen
QUATERNARY INTERNATIONAL
(2020)
Article
Geography, Physical
Haitao Wei, Leibin Wang, Hassan Azarmdel, Farhad Khormali, Manfred Frechen, Guoqiang Li, Fahu Chen
Summary: This study utilized OSL technique to investigate loess deposits in the northern Iranian Plateau, revealing a potentially valuable paleoclimatic record that contributes to understanding climate change in the Caspian region and the vast transitional region between Asia and Europe.
QUATERNARY INTERNATIONAL
(2021)
Article
Geography, Physical
Lele Ren, Ying Yang, Qianqian Wang, Shanjia Zhang, Tingting Chen, Yifu Cui, Zhongxin Wang, Guanjin Liang, Guanghui Dong
Summary: The study investigated the historical development of agriculture in the Datong River valley during the Qijia culture and explored the changes in cropping patterns from the Late Neolithic to the Early Iron Age in the Gansu-Qinghai region. Results showed that millet, barley, and wheat played different roles at different time periods in the region.
Article
Geography, Physical
Guanghui Dong, Linyao Du, Wenyu Wei
Summary: Transcontinental exchange in northern China intensified from the late fifth millennium BP, affecting human subsistence strategies and human-environment relationships. The utilization of animals in northern China changed significantly from 5000 to 2500 BP, showing spatial-temporal variations closely associated with prehistoric trans-Eurasian exchange and influenced by local factors such as environment, agriculture, and climate change.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Liangcheng Tan, Guanghui Dong, Zhisheng An, R. Lawrence Edwards, Haiming Li, Dong Li, Robert Spengler, Yanjun Cai, Hai Cheng, Jianghu Lan, Rustam Orozbaev, Ruiliang Liu, Jianhui Chen, Hai Xu, Fahu Chen
Summary: The study reconstructs precipitation changes in Central Asia, revealing a 640-year megadrought between 5820 and 5180 years BP, and discusses its impact on cultural development and exchange.
Article
Geography, Physical
Xin Jia, Haiming Li, Harry F. Lee, Zhen Liu, Yong Lu, Zhujun Hu, Xueqiang Sun, Zhijun Zhao
Summary: Recent research has shown that foxtail millet-based agriculture dominated Neixiang County in Central China during the mid-late Holocene. The Nanyang Basin had three different farming patterns, while the distribution of human settlements with rice cultivation matched with the climate pattern, determining the direction of agricultural development.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Haiming Li, Zhen Liu, Nathaniel James, Xinsheng Li, Zhujun Hu, Hongwei Shi, Liqiang Sun, Yong Lu, Xin Jia
Summary: The study of agricultural development in Jiangsu Province during the Holocene period reveals that a warm and wet climate may have initially prompted ancient peoples to settle and adopt rice farming, with millet agriculture gradually diffusing southward. This mixed farming system supported widespread settlement and population growth, with advanced planting technology being introduced and leading to a highly developed agricultural system in Jiangsu. Population growth eventually established Jiangnan as the regional economic center, with a shift towards high-yielding rice and wheat cultivation over millet.
FRONTIERS IN EARTH SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Archaeology
Zhilin Shi, Fengwen Liu, Yishi Yang, Haiming Li, Guisheng Wang, Guanghui Dong, Hucai Zhang
Summary: The study reveals the important role of social factors and technological innovations in the shift from mixed-crop farming to the cultivation of barley and wheat in the Hei River Basin during the historical period.
ENVIRONMENTAL ARCHAEOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Archaeology
Melissa M. Ritchey, Yufeng Sun, Giedre Motuzaite Matuzeviciute, Shinya Shoda, Anil K. Pokharia, Michael Spate, Li Tang, Jixiang Song, Haiming Li, Guanghui Dong, Petra Vaiglova, Michael Frachetti, Xinyi Liu
Summary: This study investigates the eastern movements of barley grains and their morphological variations in prehistory, finding that barley diminished in size as it moved from its origin in southwestern Asia to Central and East Asia. The study also shows that barley moved eastward but western grinding and baking traditions did not, revealing the complexity of the eastern culinary system. Through a combination of previously published and newly collected archaeobotanical grain measurements, the study sheds light on the roles of culinary traditions underlying the observed morphological traits.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Haiming Li, Yifu Cui, Nathaniel James, Melissa Ritchey, Fengwen Liu, Junna Zhang, Minmin Ma, Guanghui Dong
Summary: This study explores the variation in agricultural systems in different environmental and prehistoric contexts in north-central China through archaeobotanical and radiocarbon dating analysis of Neolithic and Bronze Age sites. The results reveal differences in agricultural patterns due to climate conditions, landforms, and cultural interactions, with the cultivation of foxtail and broomcorn millet being consistent in the Hutuo River Valley and a mixed agriculture of millets, soybeans, and rice in other parts of Henan Province. The study also suggests that population growth played a role in the choice of main cultivated crops.
SCIENCE CHINA-EARTH SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Xin Jia, Dongsheng Zhao, Michael J. Storozum, Hongwei Shi, Guozhu Bai, Zhen Liu, Zhujun Hu, Liqiang Sun, Qi Wang, Haiming Li
Summary: The cooling event around 2.8 ka BP had significant impacts on ancient Chinese civilization, including population growth, food shortages, and migration to coastal areas. This abrupt climate shift indirectly facilitated the emergence of large-scale agriculture.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Review
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Guanghui Dong, Linyao Du, Liu Yang, Minxia Lu, Menghan Qiu, Haiming Li, Minmin Ma, Fahu Chen
Summary: Innovations in agricultural production and the spread of these innovations through the Steppe and Silk Roads had a significant impact on the evolution of human-land relationships in late prehistoric Eurasia. There were variations in subsistence strategies across different regions, with millet cultivation and pig husbandry becoming dominant in the Eastern SSRs, while wheat/barley cultivation and sheep/goat, cattle, and pig raising were prevalent in the Western SSRs. The Trans-Eurasian exchange and the introduction of millet crops also influenced subsistence patterns, particularly in the Central Silk Roads.
SCIENCE CHINA-EARTH SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Jishuai Yang, Dongju Zhang, Xiaoyan Yang, Weiwei Wang, Linda Perry, Dorian Q. Fuller, Haiming Li, Jian Wang, Lele Ren, Huan Xia, Xuke Shen, Hui Wang, Yishi Yang, Juanting Yao, Yu Gao, Fahu Chen
Summary: This study demonstrates a sustainable intensification of a pig and millet system that supported the early complex societies in North China. By utilizing pig dental residues and stable isotopes of millet grains, as well as fertilizing millet fields with pig and/or human dung, this novel system enabled sustainable agriculture and provided food for the early complex societies.
NATURE SUSTAINABILITY
(2022)
Article
Anthropology
Haiming Li, Yufeng Sun, Ying Yang, Yifu Cui, Lele Ren, Hu Li, Guoke Chen, Petra Vaiglova, Guanghui Dong, Xinyi Liu
Summary: This study uses stable isotope and archaeobotanical analyses to trace long-term trends in cultivation practices on the Loess Plateau. The results indicate that ancient farmers cultivated grains from Southwest Asia and used distinct strategies for different species.
Article
Anthropology
Yuqi Li, Michael Storozum, Haiming Li, Di Hu, Xin Wang, Xin Jia
Summary: Recent investigations at the Haermodun site in central Xinjiang have revealed new evidence of the influence of western Central Asia on the construction of fortifications in China during the early first millennium AD, shedding light on this architectural connection.