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Landforms influence the development of ancient agriculture in the Songshan area, central China
Quaternary International 521 (2019) 85–89
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Quaternary International journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/quaint
Landforms influence the development of ancient agriculture in the Songshan area, central China
T
Yinan Liaoa, Peng Lub,*, Duowen Moa, Hui Wangc, Michael J. Storozumd, Panpan Chenb, Junjie Xue a
College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China Institute of Geography, Henan Academy of Sciences, Zhengzhou, 450052, China c Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, 100710, China d Institute of Archaeological Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China e College of History, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450000, China b
A R T I C LE I N FO
A B S T R A C T
Keywords: Songshan area Early agriculture Landforms Human-environment interactions
The environment exerts a strong influence on the development of ancient agricultural systems, however ancient environmental conditions are often poorly understood in comparison to the development of ancient agricultural systems. In this study, we investigated the temporal patterns of crop distributions from the Neolithic to Bronze Age (9000-2300 yr BP) in the Songshan Mountain area of Henan Province, China in relation to the landforms. Our results show that broomcorn and foxtail were widely distributed across all landforms, regardless of the time period, but more sites are located on hills and mesas and less on the plains. Rice remains dating to the Peiligang period (9000-7000 yr BP) are only found in the plains. While some rice sites are distributed in the hill and mesa areas during the Yangshao period (7000-5000 yr BP), the plains are still the major area where rice sites are found. During the Longshan period (5000-4000 yr BP), soybeans are found at sites located on both mesas and plains. Wheat first appeared during the Erlitou periods (3900-3600 yr BP or 1900–1600 BC) in the region, but the evidence is too limited to determine its landform preference. In the following Shang (3600-3046 yr BP or 1600–1046 BC) and Zhou (3046-2256 yr BP or 1046–256 BC) dynasties, this crop was widely distributed at sites in hills, mesas and plains. Our study reveals that different landforms provide preferred ecological conditions for certain types of agricultural development and played a key role in determining farming styles: dry-farming or rice-farming.
1. Introduction Archaeological research around the world has shown that humans have a preference for cultivating their crops on specific landforms. In China, researchers have paid a particular attention to the relationship between landforms and the development of either millet- or rice-based agricultural systems, but there is no consensus yet. Ren et al. (2016) proposes that early agricultural sites in southern China were distributed in piedmont plains and intermountain basins. Liu et al. (2004) took early agriculture as an important content of interdisciplinary archaeological program in Yiluo region to gain insights into regional social processes. Rosen (2008) linked early agriculture to the regional landscape change. Zhang et al. (2018) thought that upland loess conditions became more suitable for millet-based agriculture during the Peiligang and Yangshao periods in the Luoyang Basin. Huang (2008) believe that
*
Peiligang agricultural sites in the Central China were mostly located on the mesas, around 8000–7000 yr BP. Wang et al. (2017a) posit that there were two modes of farming in the middle reaches of the Yellow River during the Peiligang period: millet-based agriculture in hilly areas and mixed rice–millet farming on the plains. One potential problem with these arguments is that most of these researches focus on a limited selection of time periods and landforms. It is apparent that even early agricultural strategies and the relationship with landforms were not stationary. It is thus necessary to examine the history of the relationship between ancient agricultural systems and landform in a specific region. The Songshan area, Henan Province was one of the early centers for Chinese civilization. On the basis of previous researches, we examine the subsistence strategies from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age (Liu et al., 2010; Wang et al., 2017b; Lee et al., 2007). First, broomcorn millet-based mixed agriculture began during the Peiligang period
Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (P. Lu).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2019.07.015 Received 8 January 2019; Received in revised form 6 July 2019; Accepted 8 July 2019 Available online 09 July 2019 1040-6182/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.
Quaternary International 521 (2019) 85–89
Y. Liao, et al.
Fig. 1. Distributions of ancient settlements and landforms in the Songshan area. (A. Peiligang periods; B. Yangshao periods; C. Longshan periods; D. Bronze Age).
shallow river valleys, where the sediments are of primarily alluvial origin. The Songshan area is also an important area in the social development of Central China as suggested by many Neolithic and Bronze Age settlements (Fig. 1). These settlements can be divided into four periods including Peiligang (9000-7000 yr BP), Yangshao (7000-5000 yr BP), Longshan (5000-4000 yr BP) and Bronze age (4000-2300 yr BP, including Erlitou Culture, Shang and Zhou Dynasty). On the whole, Peiligang settlements mainly distributed in the hills and mesas while less sites are in plains. During Yangshao and Longshan periods, the number of settlements markedly increased. There are many sites in the plains and hills. In the Bronze Age, the settlements began to concentrate on the plains, although a certain number of settlements still existed in hills and mesas (Lu et al., 2019).
(Zhang et al., 2012). The crops also included foxtail millet and rice. The proportion of agriculture was small and the major subsistence strategy was hunting and gathering at that time. In the Yangshao periods, agriculture became the main mode of subsistence. By the Longshan period, foxtail millet replaced broomcorn millet as the major crop. During the Bronze Age, the “Five Agricultural Crops” (including foxtail millet, broomcorn millet, rice, soybean, and wheat) became prevalent throughout the region (Zhao, 2005. We combine their findings with our geoarchaeological work to examine if there is any relationship between subsistence strategies and landforms. 2. Background The area around Songshan Mountain is located in Central China including Zhengzhou, Luoyang, Xuchang, Pingdingshan and the surrounding regions in Henan Province (Fig. 1). It has a warm temperate continental monsoon climate with four distinct seasons. There are several rivers that belong to the Yellow River basin and Huai River basin. Wheat and maize are presently the major crops of this region. Rice only comprises a small percentage of the crops cultivated in this area. The area can be divided into four major landform types, mountains, loess hills, loess mesas, and alluvial plains (Fig. 2). The mountain is in the center. The piedmont zones of mountains are loess hills, with deep and densely distributed gullies. It mainly composed of Quaternary loess deposits. Loess mesas are widely distributed around the hills and completely composed of Quaternary loess deposits. The tops of the loess mesas are generally flat, but there are numerous deep valleys. Alluvial plains are formed around the loess mesas. The plains are flat with
3. Materials and methods 3.1. Data sources We collected data on regional ancient plant remains from published reports. These data were sorted into the Peiligang period, Yangshao period, Longshan period, and Bronze Age (Erlitou period, Shang Dynasty, and Zhou Dynasty). Five types of crops were included, broomcorn millet, foxtail millet, rice, soybean, and wheat. The amount of each crop is arranged according to the different periods based on radiocarbon ages. The spatial data used in this study are derived from the 30-m resolution DEM (digital elevation model) of the National Earth System Science Data Sharing Infrastructure, National Science & Technology 86
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Fig. 2. Distributions of ancient farming in the Songshan area (A. Peiligang period; B. Yangshao period; C. Longshan period; D. Bronze Age).
4. Results
three sites are in the plains (Fig. 2A). Broomcorn millet was found at four hilly sites except Fudian (Lee et al., 2007). Foxtail millet was found in four hilly sites except Lijiagou (Wang, 2016). Two mesa sites contain foxtail millet and no other crops were found. Rice was found only at Tanghu (Zhang et al., 2012) and Zhuzhai (Bestel et al., 2017) located in the plains. Broomcorn millet and foxtail millet were also found at these two sites (i.e., Tanghu and Zhuzhai). Millet is much more abundant than rice at these two sites. No rice was found at Shigu site in plain, but both broomcorn millet and foxtail millet were found at this site (Liu et al., 2010). Our analysis results are coincident with the Peiligang farming mode suggested by Wang et al. (2017a,b). Millet-based agriculture was mainly in the hilly and mesa areas while mixed rice–millet farming was found only on the plains. During the Peiligang period, agriculture was not the major subsistence strategy. Humans mainly depended on hunting and gathering (Zhao, 2005). People usually chose locations convenient for hunting and gathering, like the areas near mountains where wild resources are rich (Fig. 1A). Meanwhile, they also planted different crops according to the regional landform conditions, forming the Peiligang farming mode of millet agriculture in the hills and mixed farming in the plains.
4.1. Peiligang period
4.2. Yangshao period
Ancient crop remains were found at 10 Peiligang sites. Five of them are located in hilly areas. Two sites are on the mesas while the other
Our collected materials include 18 Yangshao sites. Twelve of 18 Yangshao sites are sites on hills. Four sites are located on the mesas and
Infrastructure of China (http://www.geodata.cn). The crop data mentioned above were linked to the DEM through their geographic coordinates. 3.2. GIS-based spatial analysis Using GIS-based analysis, ancient agriculture distribution data are overlaid with geomorphic maps. Spatial statistical analysis enables us to recognize the types and amounts of crops in the different landform types including mountains, hills, mesas and plains. 3.3. Statistics The amounts of each crop found in each of the four different landform types was counted using statistical analysis according to the four periods of Peiligang, Yangshao, Longshan, and Bronze Age in the entire region. These data allowed us to obtain an overall understanding of the temporal and spatial characteristics of ancient farming in the Songshan area.
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Age. More than half of agricultural sites had both rice and millet. Additionally, the emergence of the “Five Agricultural Crops” (including foxtail millet, broomcorn millet, rice, soybean and wheat) is a notable difference in the agricultural system during the Bronze Age. Several sites have all five crops. Based on these data, the Bronze Age farming can be defined as the “Five Agricultural Crops” farming mode. During the Bronze Age, some large-scale sites like Erlitou and Zhengzhoushangcheng were distributed in the plain areas and settlements also began to concentrate in the plains and (Lu and Tian, 2013). Meanwhile, small settlements were distributed around large settlements (Lu et al., 2019), suggesting the emergence of a higher degree of social complexity (Liu et al., 2004). This may be related to the strengthening of social control associated with the “Five Agricultural Crops” farming mode in the region. During the middle to late Holocene, rivers silted up, providing a favorable hydrologic condition for rice planting and also for the “Five Agricultural Crops” farming mode While millet-based mixed farming was widely distributed in many places around Songshan Mountain, some higher elevation areas with poor hydrological conditions were the places only for growing foxtail millet and broomcorn millet.
two sites are on the plains (Fig. 2B). All 18 sites have evidence for the presence of foxtail millet. 10 of the 12 hilly sites had broomcorn millet. In addition, rice was found at three hilly sites, namely Yingyang, Maanhe, and Yuancun. Three mesa sites had broomcorn millet, and one (i.e., Caiyuangou site) of the three sites had rice. Two plain sites had foxtail millet, broomcorn millet and rice. Similar to the Peiligang periods, most millet-rice mixed agriculture sites were distributed in the plains during Yangshao period. Meanwhile, mesa and hill sites were dominated by millet. The difference is that rice remains are found in some hill and mesa sites. Therefore, the Yangshao farming mode can be summed up as millet agriculture in the hills and mesas and mixed agriculture in the plains and also in low-lying hills and mesas. The number of Yangshao settlements was much larger than that of Peiligang periods. Most Yangshao settlements are built in the new locations, away from the Peiligang periods (Lu and Tian, 2013). At that time, agriculture had become the primary subsistence strategy (Zhao, 2005). Yangshao people had a preference for planting crops near their villages. Even though there are many fault-block hills and mesas in the Songshan area, the tops of the mesas and hills are flat, being naturally suitable for developing agriculture (Lu et al., 2014). Many Yangshao settlements are found on these hills and mesas, but some settlements are also found on the plains. Their residents planted rice besides foxtail millet and broomcorn millet according to the natural conditions. The height difference between the top of some hills and the riverbed was minor (Rosen, 2008; Wang et al, 2017a,b; Zhang et al., 2018), thus creating favorable conditions for rice cultivation.
5. Discussion and conclusions Specific pattern based on the different type of landforms that are most suitable for their cultivation. We briefly discuss the relationship between the landforms and the crop distributions for each of the four periods (Peiligang, Yangshao, Longshan, Bronze Age). Based on the number of plant remains found in the area, it can be concluded that foxtail millet and broomcorn millet were always the major crops in the region. The amounts of these two crops continuously increased from the Peiligang, through Yangshao and Longshan, to the Bronze Age. Moreover, they can be found in three of four major landforms including hills, mesas and plains. In total, there were more sites found in hills and mesas and less in plains. It is noticeable, however, that large quantities of millets were found at some plain sites like the Erlitou site. No evidence of rice agriculture was found in the hill and mesa sites of Peiligang period. Meanwhile, a lot of rice remains were found in some plain sites. A similar phenomenon appeared during the Erlitou and Shang periods. Numerous rice grains were found at the Wadian Longshan site. However, archaeologists found no evidence of rice at some plain sites. There is not much evidence of soybean and wheat at Longshan, Erlitou, Shang and Zhou sites in the region. There is no obvious pattern of the distribution. These crops can be found in all landform types including hills, mesas and plains. On the whole, there were more crops in the hill and mesa sites and less in plain sites. The early farming mode can be divided into three stages. In the Peiligang period, millet-based agriculture was mainly located on the hills and mesas while mixed rice–millet farming was only practiced on the plains. During the Yangshao and Longshan periods, millet agriculture was primarily found in the hills and mesas while mixed agriculture was practiced in the plains, also in low-lying hills and mesas. During the Bronze Age, the agriculture can be defined as the “Five Agricultural Crops” farming mode. In general, landforms play a key role in shaping early agricultural strategies. Millet was cultivated in the hills and mixed agriculture was practiced in the plains. Rice remains were found from the Yangshao, through Longshan, to Bronze Age periods at some low-lying hill and mesa sites.
4.3. Longshan period There are 10 Longshan agriculture sites in our collected materials. Among 10 Longshan agriculture sites, seven sites are distributed in the hilly areas while the other three sites are in mesas (Fig. 2C). All 10 sites have evidence for the presence of foxtail millet. Six of seven hilly sites had broomcorn millet with an exception of Nianzizhuang site. In addition, rice and soybeans were found at two hilly sites, namely Wangchenggang and Xinzhai. Two of three mesa sites (i.e., Guchengzhai and Wadian) had broomcorn millet. The third mesa site (i.e., Wadian) had evidence of rice and soybeans. Although data from the plain landform are missing, we speculate that mixed agriculture was also present in the plains during the Longshan period according to data from the neighboring Xijincheng, Baligang and Haojiatai sites (Deng and Qin, 2017). The Longshan farming mode is best described as millet agriculture in hills and mesas with mixed agriculture in plains, also in low-lying hills and mesas. Longshan settlements are located on top or nearby many Yangshao settlements (Lu and Tian, 2013). Although the proportion of agriculture during the Longshan period is different from that during the Yangshao period (Zhao, 2005), the Longshan farming practices remained similar to the Yangshao farming practices. Millet agriculture was mainly distributed in the hill and mesa areas, and mixed agriculture was practiced in the plains. Low-lying hills and mesas also had mixed farming and the crops included rice, foxtail millet, broomcorn millet and soybeans. 4.4. Bronze Age Among 17 Bronze Age agriculture sites, 10 sites are on hills, three sites on mesas, and remaining four sites on the plains (Fig. 2D). Foxtail millet remains are found at all 17 sites. Rice was found at 11 of the 17 sites. All plain sites had mixed farming and the crops included foxtail millet, broomcorn millet, and rice. Some plain sites (e.g., Erlitou and Zhengzhoushangcheng) also had soybean and wheat. One of three mesa sites (i.e., Dongzhao) had rice. Wheat and soybean were also found at this site. Half of hilly sites were dominated by millet-rice mixed farming and only two of these hilly sites had wheat and soybean. On the whole, the mixed farming was prevalent during the Bronze
Conflict of interest The authors declared that they have no conflicts of interest to this work. We declare that we do not have any commercial or associative interest that represents a conflict of interest in connection with the work submitted. 88
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Acknowledgement
grind? New light on Early Neolithic subsistence economy in the Middle Yellow River Valley, China. Antiquity 84 (325), 816–833. Lu, P., Chen, P.P., Tian, Y., He, Y., Mo, D.W., Ruixia Yang, R.X., Lasaponara, Rosa, Nicola, Masini, 2019. Reconstructing settlement evolution from neolithic to Shang dynasty in Songshan mountain area of central China based on self-organizing feature map. J. Cult. Herit. 36, 23–31. Lu, P., Tian, Y., Chen, P.P., Yan, L.J., Song, L.S., 2014. The relationship between settlements distribution and regional tectonics around the Songshan Mountain during 9000-3000 aBP. Acta Geograph. Sin. 69 (6), 738–746 (in Chinese with English abstract). Lu, P., Tian, Y., 2013. The successive mode of 9000-3000aB.P. settlement and its relationship with the terrain around Songshan Mountain. Quat. Sci. 33 (9), 965–971. Ren, X., Lemoine, X., Mo, D., Kidder, T.R., Guo, Y., Qin, Z., Liu, X., 2016. Foothills and intermountain basins: does China's fertile arc have “hilly flanks”? Quat. Int. 426, 86–96. Rosen, A.M., 2008. The impact of environmental change and human land use on alluvial valleys in the Loess Plateau of China during the Middle Holocene. Geomorphology 101, 298–307. Wang, C., 2016. Research on the Early Farming-Human Activities in the Central China and Their Relation with Climate Change. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (in Chinese with English abstract). Wang, C., Lu, H., Gu, W., Wu, N., Zhang, J., Zuo, X., Hu, Y., 2017a. The spatial pattern of farming and factors influencing it during the Peiligang culture period in the middle Yellow River valley, China. Sci. Bull. 62 (23), 1565–1568. Wang, C., Lu, H., Gu, W., Zuo, X., Zhang, J., Liu, Y., Hu, Y., 2017b. Temporal changes of mixed millet and rice agriculture in Neolithic-Bronze Age Central Plain, China: archaeobotanical evidence from the Zhuzhai site. Holocene 28 (5), 738–754. Zhang, J., Lu, H., Gu, W., Wu, N., Zhou, K., Hu, Y., Wang, C., 2012. Early mixed farming of millet and rice 7800 years ago in the middle Yellow River region, China. PLoS One 7 (12), e52146. Zhang, J.N., Xia, Z.K., Zhang, X.H., Michael Storozum, Huang, X.Z., Jianye Han Xu, H., Zhao, H.T., Cui, Y.F., Dodson, J., Dong, G.H., 2018. Early–middle Holocene ecological change and its influence on human subsistence strategies in the Luoyang Basin, north-central China. Quat. Res. 89 (2), 446–458. https://doi.org/10.1017/qua.2017. 104. Zhao, Z.J., 2005. Plant archaeology and its new development. Archeology 7, 42–49 (in Chinese with English abstract).
The study is funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41671014, 41701014), Major Program of the National Social Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11&ZD183), Zhengzhou environmental archaeological research, the Major Project of Songshan Mountain Culture Research Society, and the Digital Environment Archaeology Specially-appointed Researcher of Henan, China. Appendix A. Supplementary data Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2019.07.015. References Bestel, S., Bao, Y., Zhong, H., Chen, X., Liu, L., 2017. Wild plant use and multi-cropping at the early Neolithic Zhuzhai site in the middle Yellow River region, China. Holocene 28 (2), 195–207. Deng, Z.H., Qin, L., 2017. A comparative study of agricultural structure in the Longshan Period of Central Plains. Huaxia Archeol. 3, 98–108 (in Chinese with English abstract). Huang, F.C., 2008. Comment on "platform agriculture" during Peiligang Culture period. Agricul. Archaeol. 4, 23–28 (in Chinese). Lee, G.A., Crawford, G.W., Liu, L., Chen, X., 2007. Plants and people from the early Neolithic to Shang periods in north China. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 104 (3), 1087–1092. Liu, L., Chen, X.C., Lee, Y.K., Wright, Henry, Rosen, Arlene, 2004. Settlement patterns and development of social complexity in the Yiluo region, north China. J. Field Archaeol. 29, 75–100. Liu, L., Field, J., Fullagar, R., Bestel, S., Chen, X., Ma, X., 2010. What did grinding stones
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Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Quaternary International journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/quaint
Landforms influence the development of ancient agriculture in the Songshan area, central China
T
Yinan Liaoa, Peng Lub,*, Duowen Moa, Hui Wangc, Michael J. Storozumd, Panpan Chenb, Junjie Xue a
College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China Institute of Geography, Henan Academy of Sciences, Zhengzhou, 450052, China c Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, 100710, China d Institute of Archaeological Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China e College of History, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450000, China b
A R T I C LE I N FO
A B S T R A C T
Keywords: Songshan area Early agriculture Landforms Human-environment interactions
The environment exerts a strong influence on the development of ancient agricultural systems, however ancient environmental conditions are often poorly understood in comparison to the development of ancient agricultural systems. In this study, we investigated the temporal patterns of crop distributions from the Neolithic to Bronze Age (9000-2300 yr BP) in the Songshan Mountain area of Henan Province, China in relation to the landforms. Our results show that broomcorn and foxtail were widely distributed across all landforms, regardless of the time period, but more sites are located on hills and mesas and less on the plains. Rice remains dating to the Peiligang period (9000-7000 yr BP) are only found in the plains. While some rice sites are distributed in the hill and mesa areas during the Yangshao period (7000-5000 yr BP), the plains are still the major area where rice sites are found. During the Longshan period (5000-4000 yr BP), soybeans are found at sites located on both mesas and plains. Wheat first appeared during the Erlitou periods (3900-3600 yr BP or 1900–1600 BC) in the region, but the evidence is too limited to determine its landform preference. In the following Shang (3600-3046 yr BP or 1600–1046 BC) and Zhou (3046-2256 yr BP or 1046–256 BC) dynasties, this crop was widely distributed at sites in hills, mesas and plains. Our study reveals that different landforms provide preferred ecological conditions for certain types of agricultural development and played a key role in determining farming styles: dry-farming or rice-farming.
1. Introduction Archaeological research around the world has shown that humans have a preference for cultivating their crops on specific landforms. In China, researchers have paid a particular attention to the relationship between landforms and the development of either millet- or rice-based agricultural systems, but there is no consensus yet. Ren et al. (2016) proposes that early agricultural sites in southern China were distributed in piedmont plains and intermountain basins. Liu et al. (2004) took early agriculture as an important content of interdisciplinary archaeological program in Yiluo region to gain insights into regional social processes. Rosen (2008) linked early agriculture to the regional landscape change. Zhang et al. (2018) thought that upland loess conditions became more suitable for millet-based agriculture during the Peiligang and Yangshao periods in the Luoyang Basin. Huang (2008) believe that
*
Peiligang agricultural sites in the Central China were mostly located on the mesas, around 8000–7000 yr BP. Wang et al. (2017a) posit that there were two modes of farming in the middle reaches of the Yellow River during the Peiligang period: millet-based agriculture in hilly areas and mixed rice–millet farming on the plains. One potential problem with these arguments is that most of these researches focus on a limited selection of time periods and landforms. It is apparent that even early agricultural strategies and the relationship with landforms were not stationary. It is thus necessary to examine the history of the relationship between ancient agricultural systems and landform in a specific region. The Songshan area, Henan Province was one of the early centers for Chinese civilization. On the basis of previous researches, we examine the subsistence strategies from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age (Liu et al., 2010; Wang et al., 2017b; Lee et al., 2007). First, broomcorn millet-based mixed agriculture began during the Peiligang period
Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (P. Lu).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2019.07.015 Received 8 January 2019; Received in revised form 6 July 2019; Accepted 8 July 2019 Available online 09 July 2019 1040-6182/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.
Quaternary International 521 (2019) 85–89
Y. Liao, et al.
Fig. 1. Distributions of ancient settlements and landforms in the Songshan area. (A. Peiligang periods; B. Yangshao periods; C. Longshan periods; D. Bronze Age).
shallow river valleys, where the sediments are of primarily alluvial origin. The Songshan area is also an important area in the social development of Central China as suggested by many Neolithic and Bronze Age settlements (Fig. 1). These settlements can be divided into four periods including Peiligang (9000-7000 yr BP), Yangshao (7000-5000 yr BP), Longshan (5000-4000 yr BP) and Bronze age (4000-2300 yr BP, including Erlitou Culture, Shang and Zhou Dynasty). On the whole, Peiligang settlements mainly distributed in the hills and mesas while less sites are in plains. During Yangshao and Longshan periods, the number of settlements markedly increased. There are many sites in the plains and hills. In the Bronze Age, the settlements began to concentrate on the plains, although a certain number of settlements still existed in hills and mesas (Lu et al., 2019).
(Zhang et al., 2012). The crops also included foxtail millet and rice. The proportion of agriculture was small and the major subsistence strategy was hunting and gathering at that time. In the Yangshao periods, agriculture became the main mode of subsistence. By the Longshan period, foxtail millet replaced broomcorn millet as the major crop. During the Bronze Age, the “Five Agricultural Crops” (including foxtail millet, broomcorn millet, rice, soybean, and wheat) became prevalent throughout the region (Zhao, 2005. We combine their findings with our geoarchaeological work to examine if there is any relationship between subsistence strategies and landforms. 2. Background The area around Songshan Mountain is located in Central China including Zhengzhou, Luoyang, Xuchang, Pingdingshan and the surrounding regions in Henan Province (Fig. 1). It has a warm temperate continental monsoon climate with four distinct seasons. There are several rivers that belong to the Yellow River basin and Huai River basin. Wheat and maize are presently the major crops of this region. Rice only comprises a small percentage of the crops cultivated in this area. The area can be divided into four major landform types, mountains, loess hills, loess mesas, and alluvial plains (Fig. 2). The mountain is in the center. The piedmont zones of mountains are loess hills, with deep and densely distributed gullies. It mainly composed of Quaternary loess deposits. Loess mesas are widely distributed around the hills and completely composed of Quaternary loess deposits. The tops of the loess mesas are generally flat, but there are numerous deep valleys. Alluvial plains are formed around the loess mesas. The plains are flat with
3. Materials and methods 3.1. Data sources We collected data on regional ancient plant remains from published reports. These data were sorted into the Peiligang period, Yangshao period, Longshan period, and Bronze Age (Erlitou period, Shang Dynasty, and Zhou Dynasty). Five types of crops were included, broomcorn millet, foxtail millet, rice, soybean, and wheat. The amount of each crop is arranged according to the different periods based on radiocarbon ages. The spatial data used in this study are derived from the 30-m resolution DEM (digital elevation model) of the National Earth System Science Data Sharing Infrastructure, National Science & Technology 86
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Fig. 2. Distributions of ancient farming in the Songshan area (A. Peiligang period; B. Yangshao period; C. Longshan period; D. Bronze Age).
4. Results
three sites are in the plains (Fig. 2A). Broomcorn millet was found at four hilly sites except Fudian (Lee et al., 2007). Foxtail millet was found in four hilly sites except Lijiagou (Wang, 2016). Two mesa sites contain foxtail millet and no other crops were found. Rice was found only at Tanghu (Zhang et al., 2012) and Zhuzhai (Bestel et al., 2017) located in the plains. Broomcorn millet and foxtail millet were also found at these two sites (i.e., Tanghu and Zhuzhai). Millet is much more abundant than rice at these two sites. No rice was found at Shigu site in plain, but both broomcorn millet and foxtail millet were found at this site (Liu et al., 2010). Our analysis results are coincident with the Peiligang farming mode suggested by Wang et al. (2017a,b). Millet-based agriculture was mainly in the hilly and mesa areas while mixed rice–millet farming was found only on the plains. During the Peiligang period, agriculture was not the major subsistence strategy. Humans mainly depended on hunting and gathering (Zhao, 2005). People usually chose locations convenient for hunting and gathering, like the areas near mountains where wild resources are rich (Fig. 1A). Meanwhile, they also planted different crops according to the regional landform conditions, forming the Peiligang farming mode of millet agriculture in the hills and mixed farming in the plains.
4.1. Peiligang period
4.2. Yangshao period
Ancient crop remains were found at 10 Peiligang sites. Five of them are located in hilly areas. Two sites are on the mesas while the other
Our collected materials include 18 Yangshao sites. Twelve of 18 Yangshao sites are sites on hills. Four sites are located on the mesas and
Infrastructure of China (http://www.geodata.cn). The crop data mentioned above were linked to the DEM through their geographic coordinates. 3.2. GIS-based spatial analysis Using GIS-based analysis, ancient agriculture distribution data are overlaid with geomorphic maps. Spatial statistical analysis enables us to recognize the types and amounts of crops in the different landform types including mountains, hills, mesas and plains. 3.3. Statistics The amounts of each crop found in each of the four different landform types was counted using statistical analysis according to the four periods of Peiligang, Yangshao, Longshan, and Bronze Age in the entire region. These data allowed us to obtain an overall understanding of the temporal and spatial characteristics of ancient farming in the Songshan area.
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Age. More than half of agricultural sites had both rice and millet. Additionally, the emergence of the “Five Agricultural Crops” (including foxtail millet, broomcorn millet, rice, soybean and wheat) is a notable difference in the agricultural system during the Bronze Age. Several sites have all five crops. Based on these data, the Bronze Age farming can be defined as the “Five Agricultural Crops” farming mode. During the Bronze Age, some large-scale sites like Erlitou and Zhengzhoushangcheng were distributed in the plain areas and settlements also began to concentrate in the plains and (Lu and Tian, 2013). Meanwhile, small settlements were distributed around large settlements (Lu et al., 2019), suggesting the emergence of a higher degree of social complexity (Liu et al., 2004). This may be related to the strengthening of social control associated with the “Five Agricultural Crops” farming mode in the region. During the middle to late Holocene, rivers silted up, providing a favorable hydrologic condition for rice planting and also for the “Five Agricultural Crops” farming mode While millet-based mixed farming was widely distributed in many places around Songshan Mountain, some higher elevation areas with poor hydrological conditions were the places only for growing foxtail millet and broomcorn millet.
two sites are on the plains (Fig. 2B). All 18 sites have evidence for the presence of foxtail millet. 10 of the 12 hilly sites had broomcorn millet. In addition, rice was found at three hilly sites, namely Yingyang, Maanhe, and Yuancun. Three mesa sites had broomcorn millet, and one (i.e., Caiyuangou site) of the three sites had rice. Two plain sites had foxtail millet, broomcorn millet and rice. Similar to the Peiligang periods, most millet-rice mixed agriculture sites were distributed in the plains during Yangshao period. Meanwhile, mesa and hill sites were dominated by millet. The difference is that rice remains are found in some hill and mesa sites. Therefore, the Yangshao farming mode can be summed up as millet agriculture in the hills and mesas and mixed agriculture in the plains and also in low-lying hills and mesas. The number of Yangshao settlements was much larger than that of Peiligang periods. Most Yangshao settlements are built in the new locations, away from the Peiligang periods (Lu and Tian, 2013). At that time, agriculture had become the primary subsistence strategy (Zhao, 2005). Yangshao people had a preference for planting crops near their villages. Even though there are many fault-block hills and mesas in the Songshan area, the tops of the mesas and hills are flat, being naturally suitable for developing agriculture (Lu et al., 2014). Many Yangshao settlements are found on these hills and mesas, but some settlements are also found on the plains. Their residents planted rice besides foxtail millet and broomcorn millet according to the natural conditions. The height difference between the top of some hills and the riverbed was minor (Rosen, 2008; Wang et al, 2017a,b; Zhang et al., 2018), thus creating favorable conditions for rice cultivation.
5. Discussion and conclusions Specific pattern based on the different type of landforms that are most suitable for their cultivation. We briefly discuss the relationship between the landforms and the crop distributions for each of the four periods (Peiligang, Yangshao, Longshan, Bronze Age). Based on the number of plant remains found in the area, it can be concluded that foxtail millet and broomcorn millet were always the major crops in the region. The amounts of these two crops continuously increased from the Peiligang, through Yangshao and Longshan, to the Bronze Age. Moreover, they can be found in three of four major landforms including hills, mesas and plains. In total, there were more sites found in hills and mesas and less in plains. It is noticeable, however, that large quantities of millets were found at some plain sites like the Erlitou site. No evidence of rice agriculture was found in the hill and mesa sites of Peiligang period. Meanwhile, a lot of rice remains were found in some plain sites. A similar phenomenon appeared during the Erlitou and Shang periods. Numerous rice grains were found at the Wadian Longshan site. However, archaeologists found no evidence of rice at some plain sites. There is not much evidence of soybean and wheat at Longshan, Erlitou, Shang and Zhou sites in the region. There is no obvious pattern of the distribution. These crops can be found in all landform types including hills, mesas and plains. On the whole, there were more crops in the hill and mesa sites and less in plain sites. The early farming mode can be divided into three stages. In the Peiligang period, millet-based agriculture was mainly located on the hills and mesas while mixed rice–millet farming was only practiced on the plains. During the Yangshao and Longshan periods, millet agriculture was primarily found in the hills and mesas while mixed agriculture was practiced in the plains, also in low-lying hills and mesas. During the Bronze Age, the agriculture can be defined as the “Five Agricultural Crops” farming mode. In general, landforms play a key role in shaping early agricultural strategies. Millet was cultivated in the hills and mixed agriculture was practiced in the plains. Rice remains were found from the Yangshao, through Longshan, to Bronze Age periods at some low-lying hill and mesa sites.
4.3. Longshan period There are 10 Longshan agriculture sites in our collected materials. Among 10 Longshan agriculture sites, seven sites are distributed in the hilly areas while the other three sites are in mesas (Fig. 2C). All 10 sites have evidence for the presence of foxtail millet. Six of seven hilly sites had broomcorn millet with an exception of Nianzizhuang site. In addition, rice and soybeans were found at two hilly sites, namely Wangchenggang and Xinzhai. Two of three mesa sites (i.e., Guchengzhai and Wadian) had broomcorn millet. The third mesa site (i.e., Wadian) had evidence of rice and soybeans. Although data from the plain landform are missing, we speculate that mixed agriculture was also present in the plains during the Longshan period according to data from the neighboring Xijincheng, Baligang and Haojiatai sites (Deng and Qin, 2017). The Longshan farming mode is best described as millet agriculture in hills and mesas with mixed agriculture in plains, also in low-lying hills and mesas. Longshan settlements are located on top or nearby many Yangshao settlements (Lu and Tian, 2013). Although the proportion of agriculture during the Longshan period is different from that during the Yangshao period (Zhao, 2005), the Longshan farming practices remained similar to the Yangshao farming practices. Millet agriculture was mainly distributed in the hill and mesa areas, and mixed agriculture was practiced in the plains. Low-lying hills and mesas also had mixed farming and the crops included rice, foxtail millet, broomcorn millet and soybeans. 4.4. Bronze Age Among 17 Bronze Age agriculture sites, 10 sites are on hills, three sites on mesas, and remaining four sites on the plains (Fig. 2D). Foxtail millet remains are found at all 17 sites. Rice was found at 11 of the 17 sites. All plain sites had mixed farming and the crops included foxtail millet, broomcorn millet, and rice. Some plain sites (e.g., Erlitou and Zhengzhoushangcheng) also had soybean and wheat. One of three mesa sites (i.e., Dongzhao) had rice. Wheat and soybean were also found at this site. Half of hilly sites were dominated by millet-rice mixed farming and only two of these hilly sites had wheat and soybean. On the whole, the mixed farming was prevalent during the Bronze
Conflict of interest The authors declared that they have no conflicts of interest to this work. We declare that we do not have any commercial or associative interest that represents a conflict of interest in connection with the work submitted. 88
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Acknowledgement
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