The Spatiotemporal Patterns of Human Settlement during the Longshan and Erlitou Periods in Relation to Extreme Floods and Subsistence Strategy in the Upper and Middle Qin River Reaches, Central China

Wenhua Gao, Hainan Hu, Weidong Hou, Pengjia Zhang, Panpan Gong, Wenyan Jia, Xiaoli Liu and Kaifeng Li
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Wenhua Gao: College of Geography and Environmental Science, National Demonstration Center for Environment and Planning, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
Hainan Hu: College of Geography and Environmental Science, National Demonstration Center for Environment and Planning, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
Weidong Hou: Laboratory of the Yellow River Cultural Heritage, Collaborative Innovation Center on Yellow River Civilization Jointly Built by Henan Province and Ministry of Education, Henan University, Kaifeng 475001, China
Pengjia Zhang: College of Geography and Environmental Science, National Demonstration Center for Environment and Planning, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
Panpan Gong: College of Geography and Environmental Science, National Demonstration Center for Environment and Planning, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
Wenyan Jia: College of Geography and Environmental Science, National Demonstration Center for Environment and Planning, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
Xiaoli Liu: College of Geography and Environmental Science, National Demonstration Center for Environment and Planning, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
Kaifeng Li: College of Geography and Environmental Science, National Demonstration Center for Environment and Planning, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 7, 1-15

Abstract: Human settlement numbers have significantly changed before and after ~4000 cal. y BP in the upper and middle Qin River reaches, but the external and internal factors driving this change remain unclear. In this study, we examine changing spatial and temporal patterns of the Longshan and Erlitou settlements in relation to extreme flooding at ~4000 cal. y BP and a variety of subsistence strategies during the Longshan and Erlitou periods. The results indicate that settlement number, settlement distribution, and subsistence strategies exhibited obvious shifts between the Longshan and Erlitou periods, and the episode at ~4000 cal. y BP was an extreme-flood-rich interval within and around the Qin River Basin. During the Longshan and Erlitou periods, millet-based agriculture dominated local subsistence strategy, and ancient people would prefer to reside in the areas suitable for farming, causing the valley plains in the upper and middle Qin River reaches to contain most Longshan and Erlitou settlements. However, the frequent occurrence of extreme floods at ~4000 cal. y BP, in conjunction with intergroup conflicts due to a large amount of population immigration during the late Longshan period, is likely to have jointly decreased the settlement number and shrunk the spatial range of human settlement distribution. Subsequently, with the end of the extreme-flood-rich episode and the increasing proportion of higher-water-requirement foxtail millet in cropping structures of human subsistence strategy, more Erlitou settlements were distributed in the wetter valley plains of the middle Qin River reaches.

Keywords: human settlement; spatiotemporal pattern; Longshan period; Erlitou period; extreme floods; subsistence strategy; Qin River Basin (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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