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Yellow River, alluvial geoarchaeology, Henan Province, climate change, floods
Abstract:
Alluvial geoarchaeology is the study of the stratigraphic relationships between rivers and archaeological sites. Recent alluvial geoarchaeological research in Neihuang County, has revealed the Yellow River's complex alluvial history that contains evidence of human interactions with their environment. In this paper, we present field work results from 2010~2016 at three sites, Anshang(35°52'24"N, 114°44'18"E), Sanyangzhuang(35°43'51"N, 114°45'43"E) and Dazhanglongcun(35°59'46"N, 114°52'7"E), that span the Holocene. The stratigraphy at each of these sites indicates that many archaeological sites are likely buried deep underground and that these archaeological sites may have influenced alluvial sedimentary processes, starting ca. 3000 a B.P. At Anshang, we found four canals dating to the Bronze Age. After these canals were abandoned, their infilling influenced the later depositional processes, creating micro-topographic changes around the site. At Sanyangzhuang, our deep excavations revealed human affected paleosols dating to the late Neolithic, the Warring States, Han Dynasty and Tang Dynasty. At Dazhanglongcun, we found evidence of Yellow River flooding that dates to the Northern Song Dynasty, the deposition of these deposits was influenced by the archaeological stratigraphy of a small walled village. Using our radiocarbon dates from each site and the depth of each of these stratigraphic sequences, we calculated the rate of sediment accumulation at each site and compared it to the sediment accumulation rates estimated for the Yellow River and the North China Plain. Our results indicate that sediment accumulation rates at each site starts to increase ca.3000 a B.P. This trend matches estimated increases in the sediment load of the Yellow River channel during the early dynastic period, showing that archaeological sites can contain significant amounts of information on human-environmental relations. More alluvial geoarchaeological work needs to be done at archaeological sites themselves to examine the interaction between natural sedimentary processes and the evolution of civilization in the North China Plain.
Abstract:
河流地质考古学是基于地层研究河流和考古遗址之间关系的学科。近年来我们在河南省内黄县开展的河流地质考古研究揭示了黄河复杂的演化历史，在此基础上进一步探讨了古代人类活动与周围环境的相互作用。本文主要介绍了2010~2016年我们在河南省内黄县3个全新世遗址（岸上、三杨庄和大张龙村）的地质考古工作中所取得的成果。研究区域内遗址的地层记录表明，许多考古遗址被深埋于地下，并可能影响了3000 a B.P.以来的河流沉积过程。我们在岸上遗址发掘了A、B、C、D共4处青铜时代的沟渠遗迹，这些沟渠的堆筑可能影响了后期的沉积过程并导致了遗址周边微地貌的改变；在三杨庄遗址识别出了多层不同时期的人为古土壤，包括新石器晚期、战国时期、汉代和唐代；在大张龙村发现了北宋时期黄河泛滥沉积物，其沉积过程可能受周边村落遗址的影响。根据测得的14C年代和沉积层厚度，本研究进一步对这3处遗址的沉积速率进行了估算，并与前人对华北平原沉积速率的相关研究进行了对比。结果表明，这3处遗址所显示的沉积速率自3000 a B.P.开始显著增加，与对早期历史时期黄河河道沉积速率的估算结果相吻合。因此，基于遗址的地质考古研究能够为探索人与环境的互动关系提供大量信息。未来的工作中，我们需要开展更多基于考古遗址的河流地质考古研究，以深入探讨华北平原的自然沉积过程与文明演进过程之间的关系。
