Geochronology and paleoenvironment of the Taoshan site, northeastern China, and archaeological implications

Guan Nan Zou; Gideon Shelach; Xiao Qiang Li; Chao Zhao; Xue Rui; Li Ping Zhou; Jia Fu Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2017.06.073

Geochronology and paleoenvironment of the Taoshan site, northeastern China, and archaeological implications

Guan Nan Zou, Gideon Shelach, Xiao Qiang Li, Chao Zhao, Xue Rui, Li Ping Zhou, Jia Fu Zhang^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Asian Studies

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Taoshan archaeological site located in northeastern China was found in 2011, and an area of 36 m² was excavated in 2013 and 2014. 2908 stone artifacts, 71 pottery fragments and five ornaments were excavated from three cultural layers. Similar sites with both stone artifact and pottery at least in Heilongjiang Province of China have not been reported. The dating results showed that the optically stimulated luminescence technique is of great utility for such archaeological deposits, and the three cultural layers were dated to 16.5–13.4 ka, 13.4–8.7 ka and 8.7–5.6 ka, respectively. The climate proxies (magnetic susceptibility, total organic content and pollen) indicate that the local climate was cold and dry for the period of 16.5–13.4 ka, warm and wet for the period of 13.4–8.7 ka and warm and dry for the period of 8.7–5.6 ka, respectively. The types and amount of archaeological findings from each layer (period) reflect the human response to the past climate change, implying that the human-related processes identified at Taoshan are associated with climatic and environmental changes. The investigations of the site are very important for developing a better understanding of the colonization of this region by humans, the transmission of technologies and the processes of economic and social change the local societies underwent. The presence of microblades and pottery is the most significant for our reconstructing of the archaeology of the northernmost parts of Northeast China.

Original language	American English
Pages (from-to)	6-17
Number of pages	12
Journal	Quaternary International
Volume	463
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2017.06.073
State	Published - 2 Jan 2018

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Funding for this study was provided by undergraduate student research training program of the Ministry of Education for Zou. This study was also supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41171007 and 41272033), and the Special Funds of Project for Paleontological Fossils Excavation, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2013 and 2014). Meanwhile, the excavation work at Taoshan site was sponsored by Ya-Mei HOU and her team member Shixia Yang, Yang Chang, Jianping Yue and Yue Hu from Institute of Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and other co-members like Wei Zhang and Youqian Li from Heilongjiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Huaidong Hao from Yichun Administrative Station of Cultural Relics, Xuedong Wang from Taoshan Museum and Limin Qiu from Tieli Cultural Relics Station. We thank and appreciate the four anonymous reviewers and the guest editor for their constructive comments on the earlier version of this paper, their valuable comments and suggestions significantly improved the quality of the manuscript.

Funding Information:
Funding for this study was provided by undergraduate student research training program of the Ministry of Education for Zou. This study was also supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41171007 and 41272033 ), and the Special Funds of Project for Paleontological Fossils Excavation, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2013 and 2014). Meanwhile, the excavation work at Taoshan site was sponsored by Ya-Mei HOU and her team member Shixia Yang, Yang Chang, Jianping Yue and Yue Hu from Institute of Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and other co-members like Wei Zhang and Youqian Li from Heilongjiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Huaidong Hao from Yichun Administrative Station of Cultural Relics, Xuedong Wang from Taoshan Museum and Limin Qiu from Tieli Cultural Relics Station. We thank and appreciate the four anonymous reviewers and the guest editor for their constructive comments on the earlier version of this paper, their valuable comments and suggestions significantly improved the quality of the manuscript.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA

Keywords

Climate change
Luminescence and radiocarbon dating
Neolithization
Northeastern China
Paleoenvironmental reconstruction
Stone artifacts and pottery

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.quaint.2017.06.073

Cite this

@article{241905755cce427d9ae5a0a864107ce4,

title = "Geochronology and paleoenvironment of the Taoshan site, northeastern China, and archaeological implications",

abstract = "The Taoshan archaeological site located in northeastern China was found in 2011, and an area of 36 m2 was excavated in 2013 and 2014. 2908 stone artifacts, 71 pottery fragments and five ornaments were excavated from three cultural layers. Similar sites with both stone artifact and pottery at least in Heilongjiang Province of China have not been reported. The dating results showed that the optically stimulated luminescence technique is of great utility for such archaeological deposits, and the three cultural layers were dated to 16.5–13.4 ka, 13.4–8.7 ka and 8.7–5.6 ka, respectively. The climate proxies (magnetic susceptibility, total organic content and pollen) indicate that the local climate was cold and dry for the period of 16.5–13.4 ka, warm and wet for the period of 13.4–8.7 ka and warm and dry for the period of 8.7–5.6 ka, respectively. The types and amount of archaeological findings from each layer (period) reflect the human response to the past climate change, implying that the human-related processes identified at Taoshan are associated with climatic and environmental changes. The investigations of the site are very important for developing a better understanding of the colonization of this region by humans, the transmission of technologies and the processes of economic and social change the local societies underwent. The presence of microblades and pottery is the most significant for our reconstructing of the archaeology of the northernmost parts of Northeast China.",

keywords = "Climate change, Luminescence and radiocarbon dating, Neolithization, Northeastern China, Paleoenvironmental reconstruction, Stone artifacts and pottery",

author = "Zou, {Guan Nan} and Gideon Shelach and Li, {Xiao Qiang} and Chao Zhao and Xue Rui and Zhou, {Li Ping} and Zhang, {Jia Fu}",

note = "Funding Information: Funding for this study was provided by undergraduate student research training program of the Ministry of Education for Zou. This study was also supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41171007 and 41272033), and the Special Funds of Project for Paleontological Fossils Excavation, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2013 and 2014). Meanwhile, the excavation work at Taoshan site was sponsored by Ya-Mei HOU and her team member Shixia Yang, Yang Chang, Jianping Yue and Yue Hu from Institute of Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and other co-members like Wei Zhang and Youqian Li from Heilongjiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Huaidong Hao from Yichun Administrative Station of Cultural Relics, Xuedong Wang from Taoshan Museum and Limin Qiu from Tieli Cultural Relics Station. We thank and appreciate the four anonymous reviewers and the guest editor for their constructive comments on the earlier version of this paper, their valuable comments and suggestions significantly improved the quality of the manuscript. Funding Information: Funding for this study was provided by undergraduate student research training program of the Ministry of Education for Zou. This study was also supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41171007 and 41272033 ), and the Special Funds of Project for Paleontological Fossils Excavation, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2013 and 2014). Meanwhile, the excavation work at Taoshan site was sponsored by Ya-Mei HOU and her team member Shixia Yang, Yang Chang, Jianping Yue and Yue Hu from Institute of Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and other co-members like Wei Zhang and Youqian Li from Heilongjiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Huaidong Hao from Yichun Administrative Station of Cultural Relics, Xuedong Wang from Taoshan Museum and Limin Qiu from Tieli Cultural Relics Station. We thank and appreciate the four anonymous reviewers and the guest editor for their constructive comments on the earlier version of this paper, their valuable comments and suggestions significantly improved the quality of the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA",

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doi = "10.1016/j.quaint.2017.06.073",

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AU - Shelach, Gideon

AU - Li, Xiao Qiang

AU - Zhao, Chao

AU - Rui, Xue

AU - Zhou, Li Ping

AU - Zhang, Jia Fu

N1 - Funding Information: Funding for this study was provided by undergraduate student research training program of the Ministry of Education for Zou. This study was also supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41171007 and 41272033), and the Special Funds of Project for Paleontological Fossils Excavation, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2013 and 2014). Meanwhile, the excavation work at Taoshan site was sponsored by Ya-Mei HOU and her team member Shixia Yang, Yang Chang, Jianping Yue and Yue Hu from Institute of Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and other co-members like Wei Zhang and Youqian Li from Heilongjiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Huaidong Hao from Yichun Administrative Station of Cultural Relics, Xuedong Wang from Taoshan Museum and Limin Qiu from Tieli Cultural Relics Station. We thank and appreciate the four anonymous reviewers and the guest editor for their constructive comments on the earlier version of this paper, their valuable comments and suggestions significantly improved the quality of the manuscript. Funding Information: Funding for this study was provided by undergraduate student research training program of the Ministry of Education for Zou. This study was also supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41171007 and 41272033 ), and the Special Funds of Project for Paleontological Fossils Excavation, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2013 and 2014). Meanwhile, the excavation work at Taoshan site was sponsored by Ya-Mei HOU and her team member Shixia Yang, Yang Chang, Jianping Yue and Yue Hu from Institute of Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and other co-members like Wei Zhang and Youqian Li from Heilongjiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Huaidong Hao from Yichun Administrative Station of Cultural Relics, Xuedong Wang from Taoshan Museum and Limin Qiu from Tieli Cultural Relics Station. We thank and appreciate the four anonymous reviewers and the guest editor for their constructive comments on the earlier version of this paper, their valuable comments and suggestions significantly improved the quality of the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: © 2017 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA

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N2 - The Taoshan archaeological site located in northeastern China was found in 2011, and an area of 36 m2 was excavated in 2013 and 2014. 2908 stone artifacts, 71 pottery fragments and five ornaments were excavated from three cultural layers. Similar sites with both stone artifact and pottery at least in Heilongjiang Province of China have not been reported. The dating results showed that the optically stimulated luminescence technique is of great utility for such archaeological deposits, and the three cultural layers were dated to 16.5–13.4 ka, 13.4–8.7 ka and 8.7–5.6 ka, respectively. The climate proxies (magnetic susceptibility, total organic content and pollen) indicate that the local climate was cold and dry for the period of 16.5–13.4 ka, warm and wet for the period of 13.4–8.7 ka and warm and dry for the period of 8.7–5.6 ka, respectively. The types and amount of archaeological findings from each layer (period) reflect the human response to the past climate change, implying that the human-related processes identified at Taoshan are associated with climatic and environmental changes. The investigations of the site are very important for developing a better understanding of the colonization of this region by humans, the transmission of technologies and the processes of economic and social change the local societies underwent. The presence of microblades and pottery is the most significant for our reconstructing of the archaeology of the northernmost parts of Northeast China.

AB - The Taoshan archaeological site located in northeastern China was found in 2011, and an area of 36 m2 was excavated in 2013 and 2014. 2908 stone artifacts, 71 pottery fragments and five ornaments were excavated from three cultural layers. Similar sites with both stone artifact and pottery at least in Heilongjiang Province of China have not been reported. The dating results showed that the optically stimulated luminescence technique is of great utility for such archaeological deposits, and the three cultural layers were dated to 16.5–13.4 ka, 13.4–8.7 ka and 8.7–5.6 ka, respectively. The climate proxies (magnetic susceptibility, total organic content and pollen) indicate that the local climate was cold and dry for the period of 16.5–13.4 ka, warm and wet for the period of 13.4–8.7 ka and warm and dry for the period of 8.7–5.6 ka, respectively. The types and amount of archaeological findings from each layer (period) reflect the human response to the past climate change, implying that the human-related processes identified at Taoshan are associated with climatic and environmental changes. The investigations of the site are very important for developing a better understanding of the colonization of this region by humans, the transmission of technologies and the processes of economic and social change the local societies underwent. The presence of microblades and pottery is the most significant for our reconstructing of the archaeology of the northernmost parts of Northeast China.

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KW - Luminescence and radiocarbon dating

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KW - Northeastern China

KW - Paleoenvironmental reconstruction

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JO - Quaternary International

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ER -

Geochronology and paleoenvironment of the Taoshan site, northeastern China, and archaeological implications

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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