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Complexity of factors influencing the spatiotemporal distribution of archaeological settlements in northeast China over the past millennium

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2018

Dan Jia ,
Yikai Li  and
Xiuqi Fang
Dan Jia
Affiliation:
School of Geography, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China National Disaster Reduction Center of China, Beijing 100124, China
Yikai Li
Affiliation:
School of Geography, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Xiuqi Fang*
Affiliation:
School of Geography, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China Key Laboratory of Environment Change and Natural Disasters, Ministry of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
*
*Corresponding author at: School of Geography, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China. E-mail address: xfang@bnu.edu.cn (X. Fang).
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Abstract

Relic archeological settlement is used to indicate the development of agriculture. We extracted 8865 relic archeological settlements from the Atlas of Chinese Cultural Relics to analyze how the spatiotemporal distribution of archaeological settlements was influenced by temperature changes and social factors during the last millennium. During the Liao dynasty (AD 916–1125) and Jin dynasty (AD 1115–1234) in the Medieval Warm Period (MWP), a large number of settlements indicated the development of agriculture as far north as 47°N. The warm climate of the MWP provided sufficient heat resources to promote the implication of positive policies of the Liao and Jin dynasties to develop agriculture and settlements. By contrast, during the dynasties of Yuan (AD 1279–1368), Ming (AD 1368–1644), and Qing (AD 1644–1911) in the Little Ice Age (LIA), the number of settlements declined drastically, and the northern boundary of the settlement distribution retreated by 3–4 degrees of latitude to modern Liaoning Province. Although the southward retreat of the settlements and related agriculture occurred in the cold climate of the LIA, it could not be completely explained by the drop in temperature. Social factors including nomadic customs, ethnic policies, and postal road systems played more important roles to the northern boundaries of the settlement distributions during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties.

Keywords

Settlement relicsMWP and LIASocioeconomic factorsNortheast ChinaThe last millennium
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 89 , Issue 2 , March 2018 , pp. 413 - 424
Copyright
Copyright © University of Washington. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2018 

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