Journal ArticleDOI
Sanyangzhuang: early farming and a Han settlement preserved beneath Yellow River flood deposits
TLDR
The discovery of a Han period farming site sealed beneath 5m of flood deposits, where courtyard houses have been excavated belonging to the Western Han Dynasty and Wang Mang period (c 140 BC�AD 23) is described in this paper.Abstract:
The authors present the discovery of a Han period farming site sealed beneath 5m of flood deposits, where courtyard houses have been excavated belonging to the Western Han Dynasty and Wang Mang period (c 140 BC�AD 23) Preservation is exceptional, both at the village of Sanyangzhuang itself and, by dint of satellite reconnaissance, over a vast landscape contemporarily covered by the flood Deep profiles show that here land surfaces of the Neolithic and Warring States periods also lie buried The potential for the study of the early agricultural sequence and a deeper knowledge of Han society is truly outstanding The discoveries also offer a vivid account of the way a settlement was overwhelmed by floodingread more
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Increased affluence explains the emergence of ascetic wisdoms and moralizing religions.
TL;DR: The idea, inspired by life history theory, that absolute affluence would have impacted human motivation and reward systems, nudging people away from short-term strategies (resource acquisition and coercive interactions) and promoting long- term strategies (self-control techniques and cooperative interactions) is put forward.
Journal ArticleDOI
Cahokia’s emergence and decline coincided with shifts of flood frequency on the Mississippi River
Samuel E. Munoz,Kristine E. Gruley,Ashtin Massie,David A. Fike,Sissel Schroeder,John W. Williams +5 more
TL;DR: Data show that Cahokia emerged during a period of reduced megaflood frequency associated with heightened aridity across midcontinental North America, and that its decline and abandonment followed the return of large floods, concluding that shifts in flood frequency and magnitude facilitated both the formation and the breakdown of Cahokia.
Journal ArticleDOI
Archaeology of the Anthropocene in the Yellow River region, China, 8000–2000 cal. BP
Yijie Zhuang,Tristram R. Kidder +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, a variety of environmental and archaeological data was used to show that human modifi cation is a driver of historical processes, although archaeological analysis emphasizes the importance of climatic events as a driver.
Book
The Economic History of China: From Antiquity to the Nineteenth Century
TL;DR: This paper examined the institutional foundations, continuities and discontinuities in China's economic development over three millennia, from the Bronze Age to the early twentieth century, and found that China's preindustrial economy diverged from the Western path of development.
Journal ArticleDOI
Environmental and technological effects on ancient social evolution at different spatial scales
TL;DR: In this article, the authors summarize some case studies on the abandonment of ancient sites, the prosperity and collapse of ancient cultures, and demographic changes, as well as the influence of environment and technology during the prehistoric and historic periods.
References
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Anthropogenic influences on changes in the sediment load of the Yellow River, China, during the Holocene:
Ren Mei-e,Zhu Xianmo +1 more
TL;DR: Using data on formation of the Loess Plateau of central China, Loess-palaeosol sequences, pollen analysis, historical geography, and long-term experimentation on rates of soil erosion, it is demonstrated that current serious erosion on the loess plateau is mainly due to human destruction of the natural vegetation and irrational land use as mentioned in this paper.
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Soil erosion response to climatic change and human activity during the Quaternary on the Loess Plateau, China
TL;DR: In this article, a review of published stratigraphic, archaeological and pedosedimentary evidence in order to reconstruct the history of soil erosion in China is presented, and the recent implementation of soil and water conservation measures has decreased sediment load in the Yellow River by 25%.
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Sedimentation rates in the lower Yellow River over the past 2300 years as influenced by human activities and climate change
TL;DR: In this article, the sedimentary record has been used to determine the historical sedimentation rate in the lower Yellow River and the historical literature has been studied to obtain information on climate change and human activities.
Book
The open empire : a history of China to 1600
TL;DR: The Open Empire as mentioned in this paper depicts China as a country with a dynamic, open history with a diverse population, including nobles, peasants, women, students, writers, and rebels, all offering their own distinct and colorful perspective.