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Publications (107)
The Western Liaohe River Basin, rich in prehistoric cultures, is one of the significant origins of Chinese civilization. However, what is the subsistence basis that supports the development of prehistoric cultures in this region? More importantly, which role did agriculture play in the development of various prehistoric cultures? Which factors driv...
How food globalization in the Bronze Age influenced the economies and societies of regions along the Eurasian
continent has attracted widespread attention. As an integral part of this food globalization, previous studies have
focused on the impact of the westwards spread of millet crops on the human populations of East-Central Eurasia.
However, the...
Mountain vegetation is highly sensitive to changes in climate. Currently, there is no consensus regarding the direction and magnitude of the spatial migration of mountain vegetation in response to climate change. Past studies have reported that climate change promotes upward or downward movement of plant species along an altitude gradient. Based on...
Reconstructing the Mid-Holocene climate change in arid and semiarid areas can help predict regional moisture availability and resultant lake evolution and vegetation changes due to future warming. Here, we present a sediment core (YLH15A) from Moon Lake in the Tengger Desert, arid and semiarid China. Based on robust accelerator mass spectrometry 14...
The study of the suitability of prehistoric human settlements (SPHE) can help us reproduce the process and characteristics of prehistoric human settlements, and is an important entry point for exploring the relationship between prehistoric humans and land. In this study, we discuss the definition, compositional structure, evolutionary mechanism, an...
Gaining a deep understanding of how climate change affects the carbon cycle in dryland vegetation is of utmost importance, as it plays a pivotal role in shaping the overall carbon cycle in global ecosystems. It is currently not clear how plant communities at varying elevations in arid mountainous regions will respond to climate change in terms of t...
Western diffusion and indigenized utilization of China's prehistoric millet crops have recently attracted wide attention from scholars. Previous studies revealed the economic role of millet cereals in Eurasia, especially Inner Asia. However, in the process of indigenized utilization of millet cereals, the social role of millet, for example, its rel...
The reconstruction of paleovegetation and paleoclimate requires an understanding of the relationships between surface pollen assemblages and modern vegetation and climate. Here, we analyzed the characteristics of surface pollen assemblages across different vegetation zones in the Tianshan Mountains. Using surface pollen analysis and vegetation samp...
Changes in lake area (water surface area) are often considered accurate and sensitive representations of climate change. However, the role that elevation plays in this dynamic is somewhat unclear; studies remain inconclusive as to whether lake responses are consistent across elevation gradients. Here, we used Landsat and keyhole satellite images to...
PurposeMountains have unique microclimates and rich plant diversity, resulting in different patterns and dynamics of soil organic carbon (SOC) across plant communities and elevations. Nevertheless, few studies have systematically reviewed the drivers of the dynamics of global SOC in mountainous regions.Materials and methodHere, we collected relevan...
To better understand long-term precipitation changes in arid Central Asia, reconstruction of past precipitation is critical. This paper analyzed the core sediments of Balikun lake in eastern Xinjiang. We analyzed 200 pollen samples, combined with 441 surface pollen samples and a radiocarbon chronology, using the Weighted Averaging Partial Least Seq...
Since the 1980s, a warming and wetting trend in arid Central Asia (ACA) has been widely reported. However, no consistent knowledge has been presented about whether warming and wetting trends are evenly distributed throughout ACA or whether there are noticeable topographical differences. We combined the ERA5-Land reanalysis dataset and data from Goo...
Climate change has been thought to drive the accelerated expansion of global drylands. However, many studies reveal that Arid Central Asia (ACA) has been warming and wetting in recent decades, representing an anomalous response to global climate change. Given that ACA is composed of complex ecosystems and landforms, it is not clear whether or not t...
Within the mountain altitudinal vegetation belts, the shift of forest tree lines and subalpine steppe belts to high altitudes constitutes an obvious response to global climate change. However, whether or not similar changes occur in steppe belts (low altitude) and nival belts in different areas within mountain systems remain undetermined. It is als...
Reconstructing the environmental and hydrological response to millennial‐scale fluctuations of climate‐sensitive areas of mid‐latitudes is crucial to understanding the Late Pleistocene climate in terrestrial inland regions. We use sedimentological and geochemical proxies (e.g. lithology, gain size, loss‐on‐ignition, soluble salts, X‐ray fluorescenc...
Several studies have revealed the subsistence strategies of Bronze Age people along Eastern Tianshan Mountains. However, all the previously revolved sites were permanent settlements. How people survived in arid harsh mountainous environment facing source scarcity during Bronze Age in the inner Asia is far beyond clear. This study focuses on bone ca...
The early presence of crops from East Asia and Southwest Asia in the Inner Asian Mountain Corridor (IAMC) has drawn attention to the Bronze Age mountain archaeology of Central Asia. Namely, the Bronze Age diffusion and utilization of grains in this region remains unknown as contrasts and extremes characterize the territory in environmental terms, e...
The study of crop utilization strategy and subsistence pattern of the Han Dynasty garrison in Western Regions are of great significance for understanding the reclaimed-field policy of the Central Plains dynasty and the Western Regions garrison environmental adaptation strategy during the Han Dynasty deeply. At present, research of reclaiming land a...
通过分析新疆及毗邻区域全新世环境变化的时空分异, 结合区域人类活动的特征, 阐释了新疆全新世环境变化与人类活动的关系. 结果表明, 新疆天山地区的气候环境变化和欧亚草原带等地不同, 欧亚草原带早中全新世湿润, 晚全新世干旱; 天山等地早全新世干旱, 中晚全新世湿润. 在畜牧渔猎经济的条件下, 湿润的欧亚草原带比新疆的大多数地区更适合人类生活, 文化发展更为迅速. 进入晚全新世, 天山等地气候湿润程度增加, 绿洲农业中形成了稳定的粟黍-大麦/小麦-畜牧业的稳定的产业结构, 人口迅速增长, 文化繁荣. 在距今4000年以前, 欧亚草
原带的青铜文化因素对新疆影响最大, 来自甘青地区和中亚的文化要素相对较少. 此时, 新疆诸文化的经济特征以采集狩猎加畜牧为主, 文化交流的主流是沿着阿尔泰山的南北向...
基于环境变化记录和考古发现, 以及稳定同位素资料, 我们对新疆地理环境的特征及其对新疆农牧业格局形成的影响和时间过程进行了探讨. 结果表明, 新疆的自然环境特征和气候变化过程导致新疆人口的主体分布在山麓绿洲地带. 天山地带晚全新世的湿润程度增加, 草原和绿洲面积扩展, 为文化的发展奠定了环境基础. 距今3000年左右, 新疆的农牧业格局基本形成, 在南疆是以粟黍-小麦/大麦-畜牧为特征的混合经济, 在北疆以游牧经济为主. 新疆人口分布的空间聚集现象肇始于距今4000年, 距今3000年已经非常明显, 小麦/大麦-粟黍-畜牧为特
征的混合经济是形成这一特征的直接动力. 地理环境的差异, 在历史上形成了新疆南重北轻的局面, 主要的经济政治中心大都在南疆. 到清末以来, 随着近代技术和交通的发展,...
In an attempt to quantify Holocene anthropogenic land-cover change in temperate China, we 1) applied the REVEALS model to estimate plant-cover change using 94 pollen records and relative pollen productivity for 27 plant taxa, 2) reviewed earlier interpretation of pollen studies in terms of climate- and human-induced vegetation change, and 3) review...
Late Quaternary loess deposits from the Tianshan Mountains are potentially valuable archives for the study of environmental change. However, the reported chronologies of the loess deposits in this area are still controversial. Previous studies have shown that there remain discrepancies between the optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages and ac...
Reconstructing climate change of the last millennium is important to understand the current relationship between human-social activities and natural environmental changes. Pollen assemblages, loss-on-ignition (LOIorg at 550°C), and grain size data collected from sediment core AGE15A from the center of Anggertu lake (eastern Tengger Desert, Inner Mo...
Numerous studies have demonstrated that there are major differences in the timing of maximum Holocene precipitation between the monsoonal East Asia and westerly dominated Central Asia, but it is unclear if the moisture differences are also associated with corresponding temperature contrasts. Here we present the first alkenone-based paleotemperature...
Human diet and subsistence strategies from the Late Bronze Age to historic times (1600 BC–AD 900) are explored for the Goukou site, Xinjiang, using human and other animal stable isotope analyses alongside radiocarbon dating and preliminary archaeobotanical studies. Our results show that during the Late Bronze Age, human bones have mean δ¹³C and δ¹⁵...
Rationale:
Carbon isotope (δ(13) C values) data from arthropod cuticles provide invaluable information on past and present biogeochemical processes. However, such analyses typically require large sample sizes that may mask important variation in δ(13) C values within or among species.
Methods:
We have evaluated a spooling-wire microcombustion (S...
Based on environmental records, archaeological findings, and isotopic data, the environmental changes and cultural exchange between East and West along the Silk Road in arid Central Asia during the Holocene have been studied. The results show that the cultural exchange is definitely influenced by geographic setting and environmental changes. Hexi C...
基于环境记录、考古发现,以及同位素资料,对亚洲中部干旱区丝绸之路沿线的全新世
以来的环境变化和东西方文化交流进行了梳理。结果表明,研究区独特的地理环境和环境变化过程,深刻地影响着文化的发展和传播。河西走廊受季风影响,表现出季风—西风过渡带干湿变化的模式,晚全新世气候趋向干旱;从新疆到中亚的丝绸之路沿线的环境变化比较一致:在早全新世(BC 6000 以前)主要为干旱环境,植被以荒漠类型占优势;中晚全新世,湿润程度增加,草原植被扩展。新疆和中亚全新世中晚期较为湿润的环境为东西文化交流提供了较适宜的环境基础。得益于环境条件的改善,东西方文化交流融合的进程在BC 2000 以后明显加速。在BC 2500-2000 期间,东西方农业文化在丝绸之路沿线接触融合,是史前丝绸之路的首次贯通;在BC 2000...
Pollen data are useful palaeoecological archives for understanding vegetation and associated climatic changes. In this paper we present new pollen data and other proxies (lithology, grain size, loss-on-ignition (LOIorg at 550 °C)) obtained from a sediment core (BLK11A) from Balikun Lake, north-west China, to explore the vegetation and climate histo...
Charcoal analysis is a useful tool to gather information about the diversity of vegetation as well as human behaviour towards the environment and the diversified management of natural plant resources. Here we present the taxonomic identification of charcoal and calculate the percentage of each diameter class of the pieces excavated from the Shannas...
Detailed records of climate change during the Last Glaciation in arid central Asia are scarce. Here we present a sedimentological and geochemical record from Wulungu Lake in north-western China, providing the first high-resolution, continuous sedimentary records in this region covering Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 (51 600–25 300 cal a BP). High lak...
Faunal remains from Shannashuzha in Minxian County, Gansu Province, China were isotopically analyzed to understand animal husbandry, and thus human subsistence strategy, during the Majiayao culture (5200–4800 cal yr BP) period. Stable carbon isotopic results reveal that only two pig samples clearly show a C
4
-dominated diet with a mean δ
13
C valu...
Based on compilation of a large number of archaeological and palaeosol 14C-ages, the Summed Probability Method is used to reconstruct population history and climatic patterns on the Chinese Loess Plateau during the period 8.5-3.5 cal. ka BP. During this period, the population experienced two major expansion periods and several climatic fluctuations...
The lack of a precisely-dated, unequivocal climate proxy from northern China, where precipitation variability is traditionally considered as an East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) indicator, impedes our understanding of the behaviour and dynamics of the EASM. Here we present a well-dated, pollen-based, ~20-yr-resolution quantitative precipitation reco...
Stable isotopic analysis of carbon and nitrogen in human and faunal remains has been widely used to reconstruct prehistoric diets and environmental changes. Isotopic analysis of plant remains allows for a more extensive consideration of paleodiets and can potentially provide information about the environment in which the crops were grown. This pape...
Mechanism of arid central Asia climate dynamics is still an open question even it has been studied for a long time. Interpreting climatic proxy data properly is crucial for better understanding the paleoclimate in such a sensitive area and its role in the earth system. According to the analysis of water stable isotope (δ18O and δD), Lake Barkol cat...
Our understanding of when and how humans adapted to living on the Tibetan Plateau at altitudes above 2000 to 3000 meters has been constrained by a paucity of archaeological data. Here we report data sets from the northeastern Tibetan Plateau indicating that the first villages were established only by 5200 calendar years before the present (cal yr B...
Our understanding of when and how humans adapted to living on the Tibetan Plateau at
altitudes above 2000 to 3000 meters has been constrained by a paucity of archaeological
data. Here we report data sets from the northeastern Tibetan Plateau indicating that the first
villages were established only by 5200 calendar years before the present (cal yr B...
Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2 is mostly a cold period encompassing the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), but
the regional expression of MIS2 in arid areas of China is not well known. In this paper, we use highresolution
lacustrine pollen and grain-size records from Balikun Lake to infer vegetation, lake evolution,
and climate in arid western China during...
The chain length of long chain alkenones (LCAs) in ocean and lake sediments commonly ranges from C37 to C39. Alkenones > C40 are extremely rare: C41 and C42 alkenones have only been reported in a Cretaceous black shale (Cenomanian, ca. 95 Ma) from the Blake Bahama Basin, western North Atlantic (DSDP Leg 76, site 534). The significance of these exce...
Recent emphasis on the recovery of plant remains from archaeological sites in East Asia permits an analysis of prehistoric cultural contact between East and West. Here we evaluate three prominent hypotheses for the introduction of wheat, a Near Eastern domesticate, to East Asia, specifically northern China. Existing evidence points to a nearly sync...
Fossilized charcoals can document how prehistoric humans used wood resources. Here, we present a quantitative result of charcoal fossil records, compiled with archaeobotanical data of Qijia Culture (4.3-3.8 cal. kyr BP) in the western Chinese Loess Plateau, to study how prehistoric people used plant resources and adapted to their environment. The c...
We studied the mid-Holocene climate change in eastern Qinghai Province, China and its impact on the evolution of Majiayao (3980–2050 BC) and Qijia (2183–1635 BC) cultures, near the important Neolithic site of Changning. The investigation focused on analyses of grain size, magnetic susceptibility, ratios of elemental contents, and pollen assemblage...
We report an investigation of forty-two prehistoric sites in the upper Yellow River valley located in
Guide, Jianzha, Hualong, Xunha and Minhe, Qinghai Province, China, including forty-four new radiocarbon
dates from twenty-four sites, review published archaeological surveys and radiocarbon dates,
analyze landform features and discuss the reasons f...
Surface and fossil pollen samples were collected to reconstruct the vegetation and environment since 30.7 cal ka BP in the Lake Balikun Basin, northwest China. This record demonstrates that the region was occupied by four vegetation communities during the interval 30.7–9.0 cal ka BP, including desert steppe (30.7–25.1 cal ka BP), Amaranthaceae-Aste...
Based on radiocarbon dating and our analysis of plant and animal remains from Buziping, a Majiayao (5300–4300 BP) and Qijia (4200–3800 BP) period site located in Dingxi, Gansu Province, China, and our review of archaeobotanical studies in the Western Loess Plateau and adjacent areas, we discuss
subsistence strategies during the Majiayao and Qijia p...
Grain-size distributions and detrital minerals were investigated for modern dust and for lacustrine sediment in Lake Barkol
region, northwest China. Characteristics of the modern dust and lacustrine sediments, principle component analysis, and changes
of quartz contents all suggest grain size 45–138μm in the core sediment is the dust sensitive comp...
A sediment core from Lake Barkol located in the eastern Xinjiang autonomous region, northwest China, provided a high-resolution record of environmental change covering the last ~8.6 cal ka BP. Three major climate stages, 8.6–7.1, 7.1–2.0 and from 2.0 cal ka BP to the present, were divided by grain size and the authigenic carbonate stable isotope of...
A high-resolution record of Holocene environmental and climatic change in the Balikun area was reconstructed from a sediment core from the Lake Balikun. Multiproxy data show that the climate was extremely arid during the early Holocene (before 8.6 cal. ka BP). Moisture began to increase after 8.6 cal. ka BP and the climate was humid between 7.9 and...
A long dust history established using geological archives from dust provenance areas is necessary to understand the role of atmospheric dust in the global climate system better. Core sediments from a closed-basin groundwater-recharged lake in arid Central Asia were investigated using a multi-proxy approach (e.g. 14C AMS dating, pollen, and grain si...
A high-resolution fossil pollen record from the sedimentary cores of Balikun Lake, northwestern China, combined with modern
surface pollen data, is used to reconstruct the history of vegetation and climatic change since 16.7 cal. ka BP. Fossil pollen
assemblages and lithology indicate that the study area was dominated by desert. The desert had extr...
Tianchi Lake, Liupan Mountain in Loess Plateau sediment, fossil pollen assemblages, magnetic susceptibility (MS) and color
scale were measured based on reliable Abies leaf macrofossils radiocarbon chronology. We recovered a very good high-resolution mid-late Holocene climate change achieve
for the transition area of the East Asia monsoon region and...