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Middle Holocene coastal environment and the rise of the Liangzhu City complex on the Yangtze delta, China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Yan Liu ,
Qianli Sun ,
Ian Thomas ,
Li Zhang ,
Brian Finlayson ,
Weiguo Zhang ,
Jing Chen  and
Zhongyuan Chen
Yan Liu
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, Shanghai 200062, China State Key Laboratory of Marine Geology, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
Qianli Sun*
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, Shanghai 200062, China
Ian Thomas
Affiliation:
School of Geography, The University of Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
Li Zhang
Affiliation:
Geography Information Science Key Laboratory, Ministry of Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China
Brian Finlayson
Affiliation:
School of Geography, The University of Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia
Weiguo Zhang
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, Shanghai 200062, China
Jing Chen
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, Shanghai 200062, China
Zhongyuan Chen
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Estuarine and Coastal Research, Shanghai 200062, China
*
* Corresponding author at: State Key Laboratory for Estuarine and Coastal Research, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China. Fax: + 86 21 62546441. Email Address:qlsun@sklec.ecnu.edu.cn
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Abstract

The large prehistoric city of Liangzhu and its associated earthen dike emerged on the Yangtze delta-coast after two millennia of occupation in this area by scattered communities. Details of its development have been widely discussed in the literature. Our results reveal that the city was selectively built at the head of an embayment backed by hills, with close access to food, freshwater and timber, and with protection from coastal hazards. Radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating shows that it was built around 4.8–4.5 ka, and the earthen dike was constructed a little later at ~ 4.1 ka. During this time, saltwater wetlands were changing to freshwater in response to rapid coastal progradation as the postglacial sea-level rise stabilized. This facilitated rice farming and furthered the development of the city with elaborate city planning. The younger large-scale earthen dike and artificial ponds possibly suggest increasing demand for flood mitigation and irrigation.

Keywords

Liangzhu cultureNeolithicPrehistoric urbanRice farmingWater regulationSea levelYangtze delta
Type
Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 84 , Issue 3 , November 2015 , pp. 326 - 334
Copyright
University of Washington

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