Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T04:05:17.271Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Radiocarbon Dating the Ancient City of Loulan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2017

Bing Xu ,
Zhaoyan Gu ,
Xiaoguang Qin ,
Yong Wu ,
Guijin Mu ,
Yingxin Jiao ,
Lei Zhang ,
Qingzhen Hao ,
Luo Wang  and
Dong Wei
...Show all authors
Bing Xu*
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Cenozoic Geology and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19, Beitucheng Western Rd., Chaoyang District, 100029, Beijing, China University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 A Yuquan Rd., Shijingshan District, 100049, Beijing, China
Zhaoyan Gu
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Cenozoic Geology and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19, Beitucheng Western Rd., Chaoyang District, 100029, Beijing, China University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 A Yuquan Rd., Shijingshan District, 100049, Beijing, China
Xiaoguang Qin
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Cenozoic Geology and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19, Beitucheng Western Rd., Chaoyang District, 100029, Beijing, China
Yong Wu
Affiliation:
Xinjiang Institute of Archaeology, No. 4-4, Beijing Rd., 830011, Urumqi, China
Guijin Mu
Affiliation:
Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 818, Beijing Southern Rd., 830011, Urumqi, China
Yingxin Jiao
Affiliation:
Bureau of Cultural Heritage of Ruoqiang County, Shengli Rd., 841800, Ruoqiang, China
Lei Zhang
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Cenozoic Geology and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19, Beitucheng Western Rd., Chaoyang District, 100029, Beijing, China
Qingzhen Hao
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Cenozoic Geology and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19, Beitucheng Western Rd., Chaoyang District, 100029, Beijing, China
Luo Wang
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Cenozoic Geology and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19, Beitucheng Western Rd., Chaoyang District, 100029, Beijing, China
Dong Wei
Affiliation:
Research Center for Chinese Frontier of Archaeology of Jilin University, No. 2699 Qianjin Street, 130012, Changchun, China
Jiaqi Liu
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Cenozoic Geology and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 19, Beitucheng Western Rd., Chaoyang District, 100029, Beijing, China
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected].
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The discovery of the ancient city of Loulan in Xinjiang, China, at the beginning of the 20th century was of great significance for understanding the evolution of culture and civilization in Inner Asia. However, due to the lack of systematic chronological studies, the history of this ancient city remains unclear, particularly the date of its construction and abandonment. Here, we present the results of the first systematic radiocarbon (14C) dating carried out on artifacts from ancient Loulan. Our results show that human activity began as early as 350 cal BC, flourished during the interval from the 1st to 4th centuries AD, and completely disappeared around 600 AD. Most of the buildings in the city were constructed during the Eastern Han Dynasty rather than in Wei/Jin Dynasty, as previously indicated by excavated documents and letters (Hedin 1898; Xiao 2006). The development and flourishing of Loulan coincided with the interval of high ice accumulation and meltwater supply from surrounding mountains. The city began to decline and was finally abandoned following an abrupt decrease in ice accumulation and meltwater supply (Yao et al. 1996; Lauterbach et al. 2014), suggesting that natural climate change was the major factor responsible for the abandonment of Loulan.

Keywords

Loulan cityradiocarbon dating, climate changeculture of Inner Asia
Type
Research Article
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 59 , Issue 4 , August 2017 , pp. 1215 - 1226
Copyright
© 2017 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Ban, G. 1930. Hanshu. Beijing: The Commercial Press.Google Scholar
Chen, F, Huang, X, Zhang, J, Holmes, J, Chen, J. 2006. Humid little ice age in arid central Asia documented by Bosten Lake, Xinjiang, China. Science in China (Series D) 49(12):1280–1290.Google Scholar
Di Cosmo, N. 2002. The Tarim Mummies: ancient China and the mystery of the earliest peoples from the West. Journal of Anthropological Research 58(2):279–281.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fan, Y, Sima, B. 1996. Houhanshu. Urumqi: Xinjiang People’s Publishing House.Google Scholar
Getachew, G, Kim, S, Burri, BJ, Kelly, PB, Haac, KW, Ognibene, TJ, Buchholz, BA, Vogel, JS, Modrow, J, Clifford, AJ. 2006. How to convert biological carbon into graphite for AMS. Radiocarbon 48(3):325–336.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hare, J. 1999. Loulan: a journey of exploration from the east. Asian Affairs 30(2):131–140.Google Scholar
Harmatta, J. 1994. History of civilizations of Central Asia. 2. The development of sedentary and nomadic civilizations: 700 BC to AD 250. Paris: UNESCO Publishing.Google Scholar
Hedin, SA. 1898. Through Asia. New York: Harper & Brothers.Google Scholar
Higham, C. 2014. Encyclopedia of ancient Asian civilizations. New York: Infobase Publishing.Google Scholar
Hou, C. 2002. Clearing up questions in Loulan research—arguments about Loulan problems, Part 2. Dunhuang Research 71(1):66–72.Google Scholar
Huang, S. 1996. Some notes on the first capital of the Loulan Kingdom and Town LE. Cultural Relics 8:0–10.Google Scholar
Huang, S. 2014. The crucial reason for the debate on the original capital of Loulan Kingdom and new evidences for LA City as the Capital of Loulan Kingdom in Western Han Dynasty. In: Jiao Y, editor. The Culture and History of Loulan Xijiang. Urumqi: People’s Publishing House. p 87–116.Google Scholar
Jiao, YX. 2014. Chronological comparison between the newly/previously discovered ancient cities in Lop Nur and other relics. In: Jiao Y, editor. The Culture and History of Loulan Xijiang. Urumqi: People’s Publishing House. p 140–146.Google Scholar
Lauterbach, S, Witt, R, Plessen, B, Dulski, P, Prasad, S, Mingram, J, Gleixner, G, Hettler-Riedel, S, Stebich, M, Schnetger, B. 2014. Climatic imprint of the mid-latitude Westerlies in the Central Tian Shan of Kyrgyzstan and teleconnections to North Atlantic climate variability during the last 6000 years. The Holocene 24(8):970–984.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lin, M. 1995. On the first capital city of the Louian Kingdom. Cultural Relics 6:0–9.Google Scholar
Liu, B. 1976. Climate Change in Southern Tarim Basin. Tokyo: Ancient and Present-Day Bookstore.Google Scholar
Liu, C, Zhang, JF, Jiao, P, Mischke, S. 2016. The Holocene history of Lop Nur and its palaeoclimate implications. Quaternary Science Reviews 148:163–175.Google Scholar
Lü, H, Xia, X, Liu, J, Qin, X, Wang, F, Yidilisi, A, Zhou, L, Mu, G, Jiao, Y, Li, J. 2010. A preliminary study of chronology for a newly discovered ancient city and five archaeological sites in Lop Nor, China. Chinese Science Bulletin 55(1):63–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ma, D. 1995. An overview of 20th century Xinjiang explorations. Social Sciences in China 1:162–171.Google Scholar
Meng, F. 2014. The nature of ancient Loulan city. In: Jiao Y, editor. The Culture and History of Loulan Xijiang. Urumqi: People’s Publishing House. p 39–47.Google Scholar
Qin, X, Liu, J, Jia, H, Lu, H, Xia, X, Zhou, L, Mu, G, Xu, Q, Jiao, Y. 2011. New evidence of agricultural activity and environmental change associated with the ancient Loulan kingdom, China, around 1500 years ago. The Holocene 22(1):53–61.Google Scholar
Sheppard, P, Tarasov, PE, Graumlich, L, Heussner, KU, Wagner, M, Österle, H, Thompson, L. 2004. Annual precipitation since 515 BC reconstructed from living and fossil juniper growth of northeastern Qinghai Province, China. Climate Dynamics 23:869–881.Google Scholar
Sima, Q. 1959. Shiji (Historical Records). Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company.Google Scholar
Stein, MA. 1921. SerIndia(5 vols.). London: Oxford University.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M, Reimer, PJ, Reimer, RW. 2017. CALIB 7.1 [WWW program] at http://calib.org.Google Scholar
Wang, BH. 2014. Centennial archaeology of Loulan. In: Jiao Y, editor. The Culture and History of Loulan Xijiang. Urumqi: People’s Publishing House. p 73–77.Google Scholar
Wang, Z. 2010. The changes of Lop Nur Lake and the disappearance of Loulan. Journal of Arid Land 2:295–303.Google Scholar
Wu, J, Liu, J, Wang, S. 2004. Climatic evolution indicated by isotopic records from the Aibi Lake sediments of Xinjiang region during the last 1500 years. Quaternary Sciences 24:585–590.Google Scholar
Wünnemann, B, Chen, F, Riedel, F, Zhang, C, Mischke, S, Chen, G, Demske, D, Ming, J. 2003. Holocene lake deposits of Bosten Lake, southern Xinjiang, China. Chinese Science Bulletin 48(14):1429–1432.Google Scholar
Xia, XC, Wang, FB, Zhao, YJ. 2007. Lop Nur of China. Beijing: Science Press.Google Scholar
Xiao, XY. 2006. Summary of Archaeology in Luolan-Shanshan (in Chinese). Western Regions Studies 4:82–92.Google Scholar
Yang, B, Braeuning, A, Johnson, KR, Yafeng, S. 2002a. General characteristics of temperature variation in China during the last two millennia. Geophysical research letters 29(9):38-1–38-4.Google Scholar
Yang, B, Braeuning, A, Yafeng, S, Fahu, C. 2004. Evidence for a late Holocene warm and humid climate period and environmental characteristics in the arid zones of northwest China during 2.2∼1.8 kyr BP. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 109:D02105.Google Scholar
Yang, B, Wang, J, Bräuning, A, Dong, Z, Esper, J. 2009. Late Holocene climatic and environmental changes in arid central Asia. Quaternary International 194(1–2):68–78.Google Scholar
Yang, X, Zhu, Z, Jaekel, D, Owen, L, Han, J. 2002b. Late Quaternary palaeoenvironment change and landscape evolution along the Keriya River, Xinjiang, China: the relationship between high mountain glaciation and landscape evolution in foreland desert regions. Quaternary International 97–98:155–166.Google Scholar
Yao, T, Thompson, L, Qin, D, Tian, L. 1996. Variations in temperature and precipitation in the past 2000 a on the Xizang (Tibet) Plateau–Guliya ice core record. Science in China (Series D) 39(4):425–433.Google Scholar
Yuan, G, Zhao, Z. 1999. Relationship between the rise and decline of ancient Loulan Town and environmental changes. Chinese Geographical Science 9(1):78–82.Google Scholar
Zhang, J, Lu, H, Wu, N, Qin, X, Wang, L. 2013. Palaeoenvironment and agriculture of ancient Loulan and Milan on the Silk Road. The Holocene 23(2):208–217.Google Scholar
Zhang, QB, Cheng, G, Yao, T, Kang, X, Huang, J. 2003. A 2,326-year tree-ring record of climate variability on the northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plate. Geophysical research letters 30(14):2003GL017425.Google Scholar
Zhu Z, Chen Z, Wu Z, Li J, Li B, Wu G. 1981. Study of Aeolian Geomorphology of Taklimakan Desert. Beijing: Science Press. Google Scholar