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Establishing a Firm Chronological Framework for Neolithic and Early Dynastic Archaeology in the Shangluo Area, Central China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Yizhi Zhu ,
Peng Cheng ,
Shi-Yong Yu ,
Huagui Yu ,
Zhihai Kang ,
Yachang Yang ,
A J T Jull ,
T Lange  and
Weijian Zhou
Yizhi Zhu*
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, CAS, Xi'an 710075, China
Peng Cheng
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, CAS, Xi'an 710075, China Xi'an AMS Center, Xi'an 710072, China
Shi-Yong Yu
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, CAS, Xi'an 710075, China
Huagui Yu
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, CAS, Xi'an 710075, China Institute of Shannxi Yanchang Petroleum (Group) Co. Ltd., Xi'an 710075, China
Zhihai Kang
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, CAS, Xi'an 710075, China Xi'an AMS Center, Xi'an 710072, China
Yachang Yang
Affiliation:
Shaanxi Archaeology Institute, Xi'an 710054, China
A J T Jull
Affiliation:
NSF Arizona AMS Facility, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA
T Lange
Affiliation:
NSF Arizona AMS Facility, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA
Weijian Zhou
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, CAS, Xi'an 710075, China Xi'an AMS Center, Xi'an 710072, China Xi'an Jiao Tong University, Xi'an 710049, China
*
Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

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Technological and theoretical advancements in modern radiocarbon chronology make the precise dating of archaeological and geological events possible. Here, we show examples of how these state-of-the-art methods can be used to establish and refine the archaeological cultural chronology for the Shangluo area in the Qinling Mountains of central China. In this study, the Donglongshan and Zijing sites were dated using the high-precision accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C method. Also, detailed magnetic-susceptibility measurements were conducted at both sites to gain preliminary information about past climate changes. The 14C dates, after being treated with Bayesian statistics, provide a firm constraint on the archaeological chronological framework for this area. Within this framework, the Malan loess-Holocene soil transition can be placed at 10,400–10,090 BC, while the duration of the Yangshao and Longshan cultures was dated to ∼4200–2900 and ∼2900–2100 BC, respectively, revealing an undisrupted history of human occupation in this area until the early dynastic period. Magnetic susceptibility values began to increase in the early Holocene, indicating a progressive amelioration of regional climate. The widespread development of paleosol during the middle Holocene indicates that warm and wet climate conditions prevailed, providing a favorable environmental context within which the Yangshao culture thrived. Magnetic susceptibility values then decreased from ∼2100 BC when the Xia Dynasty started, and loess accumulated again, pointing to cooling and drying climate conditions that may have led to a cultural transition from the Neolithic to the dynastic civilization.

Type
Archaeology
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 52 , Issue 2: 20th Int. Radiocarbon Conference Proceedings , 2010 , pp. 466 - 478
Copyright
Copyright © 2010 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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