Understanding the Collapse of the Longshan Culture (4400-3800 BP) and the 4.2 ka Event in the Haidai Region of China – from an Agricultural Perspective

ABSTRACT

The Haidai region was important for early Chinese cultures that reached their prehistoric peak during the Longshan period (4400–3800 BP). However, the continuous development of Longshan societies was interrupted from the Yueshi period (3800–3600 BP) in West-Haidai but in the Late Longshan phase (4100/4000–3800 BP) in East-Haidai. As archaeobotanical data has accumulated, a comprehensive study on agriculture over this time has become feasible, one which is quite sensitive to climate change and also crucial to human society. Therefore, we conducted a synthetic analysis of macro-botanical remains from 25 Longshan sites using Representativeness Index (RI) and Correspondence Analysis (CA). We identified sub-regional differences in crop structures and cultivation regimes between West- and East-Haidai that offer new insights into social changes that arose after the 4.2 ka BP event. While facing abrupt cooling and drought, societies engaged in millet farming in West-Haidai exhibited stronger resilience than those in East-Haidai that were occupied primarily with rice farming. Moreover, to cope with environmental deterioration, West-Haidai inhabitants may have attempted to change cropping practices by exploiting previously uncultivated lands whereas those in East-Haidai were preoccupied with intensive rice farming throughout the entire Longshan period and probably mitigated food shortages by population migration.

KEYWORDS:

• Haidai region
• Longshan period
• cultural collapse
• 4.2 ka BP event
• crop structures
• cultivation regimes

Acknowledgements

This research is financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41771230) to GY Jin and the China Scholarship Council (CSC) for gaining a Ph.D. degree (Fund No.201706220058) to JP An. Research facilities are provided by the Young Academy of the Cluster of Excellence ROOTS (EXC 2150) at Kiel University. We are grateful for intensive and stimulating discussions within the Collaborative Research Centre 1266 ‘Scales of Transformation’, which is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation; Projektnummer 2901391021 – SFB 1266). For the support of this paper, the authors want to thank Dr. Jutta Kneisel for leading JP An into the CA method, Dr. Helmut Kroll for inspiration on understanding weed ecology, Dr. Anna E. Reuter for useful introduction on the RI analysis, Robert Hoffman for Oxcal software instruction, and PD Dr. Mara Weinelt, Anna M. Wierzgoń, and Dr. Songtao Chen for adding constructive comments on some of the issues considered in this paper. Thanks to the primary language polishing by Roisin O’Droma, Andreas Mecke, and expert linguistic services by EditSprings. Finally, this paper has been greatly improved by anonymous peer reviewers.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Zhuanglixi, as another central settlement, was also dominated by rice (89%), although it is not included in the CA plot due to its low RI value (RI = 9).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Chinese Government Scholarship [grant number 201706220058]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 41771230].

Notes on contributors

Jingping An

Jingping An finished her bachelor’s study of archaeology in 2014 and her master’s study of archaeobotany in 2017. Her main research interest during PhD study is about ancient agriculture and its potential connection with social transformations. Her dissertation reveals related stories along the middle and lower Yellow river in northern China from the Late Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age (ca. 2400-1046 cal. BC). After completing her PhD degree in 2021, she now works as a post-doc at Kiel University and is a member of the CRC 1266 ‘Scales of Transformation-Human-Environmental Interaction in Prehistoric and Archaic Societies’.

Wiebke Kirleis

Wiebke Kirleis is a professor of archaeobotany and environmental archaeology at Kiel University, Germany. She is a co-speaker for the CRC 1266 ‘Scales of Transformation-Human-Environmental Interaction in Prehistoric and Archaic Societies’ funded by the German Research Council (DFG) (https://www.sfb1266.uni-kiel.de/de). She is interested in the plant economy in prehistoric and historic times, all kinds of human and plant interactions, plant utilization, as well as cultivation and domestication in Europe. Her research also goes further into how human activities have contributed to shaping natural and cultural landscapes.

Guiyun Jin

Guiyun Jin is a professor of archaeobotany, paleoecology, and environmental archaeology at Shandong University, China. Her research focuses on the prehistoric subsistence strategy and social development in China. So far, she and her academic team have obtained results for many topics including climate change and its effect on cultural development on the Early-Middle Neolithic Age in northern China.