Vegetation History and Survival Patterns of the Earliest Village on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

The upper Yellow River valley in the northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) is an important corridor for prehistoric migration to the hinterland plateau. However, most studies have focused on the Neolithic Age, with limited evidence for earlier periods. The Shalongka (SLK) site on the northeastern QTP spans the Epipaleolithic to Bronze Age and contains cultural deposits, so provides a good basis for unraveling the evolutionary history of the human-land relationship. In this study, we sampled the 420-cm-thick section T1406E at the SLK site and undertook lithologic stratigraphic description and analysis of grain size, redness, magnetic susceptibility, geochemical elements, pollen and charcoal. Dating control was provided by accelerated mass spectrometry 14C and optically stimulated luminescence methods. Results show that SLK site was affected by the local fluvial sedimentary environment. The absolute dating results of the SLK site have revealed that humans occupied the site during the Epipaleolithic (8.5-7.3 cal ka BP), Yangshao culture (5.9-5.1 ka) and Qijia Culture (4.1-3.9 cal ka BP). Pollen analysis showed that the humans lived in a landscape that was predominated by forest-steppe. Consolidating with multidisciplinary evidence, we learned that Epipaleolithic sites were occupied by microlithic hunter-gatherers and comprised by relatively fixed seasonal central campsites, and their mobility was significantly decreased from the early to late period. Subsequently, farmers of the Yangshao culture migrated from the low elevation (Chinese Loess Plateau) to the upper Yellow River valleys on the QTP and founded the earliest settlement villages (~5.9 ka) on the QTP. People of the Qijia culture adopted diversified survival strategies under the settled lifestyle. In all, we infered that SLK site may play an important role in the communication and integration between different people and cultures.

Author Correction: Winter-to-summer seasonal migration of microlithic human activities on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Winter-to-summer seasonal migration of microlithic human activities on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) has become a valuable site for investigation of adaptive regimes of prehistoric humans to extreme environments. At present most studies have focused solely on a single site. Using a more integrated approach that covers the complete scope of the plateau is needed to better understand the expansion logic of prehistoric humans moving towards the plateau. Here, we conducted accelerator mass spectrometry 14C dating of two microlithic sites. Canxiongashuo (CXGS) and Shalongka (SLK), which are located at the inner and marginal areas of the QTP, respectively. By using geographic information system, literature, and natural environmental factors, we constructed a model for the relationship between traveling distance and time, and we also used these factors to construct a plateau environmental index. The results indicated that the ages of the CXGS and SLK sites are 8.4-7.5 cal. ka BP and 8.4-6.2 cal. ka BP, respectively. Combining the archaeological evidence and literature, hunter-gatherers may have seasonal migration activities at low altitude in winter and high altitude in summer in order to make full use of natural resources. Our model of relationship between traveling distance and time shows that hunter-gatherers in CXGS site was active on the plateau all year-round at approximately 8.3 cal. ka BP. According to EI and archaeological remains, we propose that SLK site was a winter camp of prehistoric hunter-gatherers. Taken together, we determined 8.4-6.0 cal. ka BP as a transitional period from the Paleolithic to Neolithic Ages, and winter camps of hunter-gatherers evolved into settlements in the Neolithic Age.