Relationship between the temporalspatial distribu

Authors: ChaoGui Zheng Cheng Zhu YiShun Zhong PengLian Yin JiuJiang Bai ZhiBin Sun

Publish Date: 2008/05/29

Volume: 53, Issue: 1, Pages: 107-128

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Abstract

The temporalspatial distribution features including time distribution horizontal and vertical spatial distribution of archaeological sites from the Paleolithic Age to the Tang and Song Dynasties in the Three Gorges Reservoir of Chongqing area are analyzed based on GIS spatial analysis The successive pollen record of deposited peat stratum since the Paleolithic Age in the Dajiuhu Basin of Shennongjia is used in combination with the research of the historical environmental evolution to reconstruct the Paleoenvironment in the Three Gorges Reservoir of Chongqing area Through the comparison of the temporalspatial distribution of the archaeological sites and the natural environment the relation between the distribution of the archaeological sites and the natural environment evolution and disaster changes from the Neolithic Age to the Tang and Song Dynasties has been discussed Study shows that 677 archaeological sites from the Paleolithic Age to the Tang and Song Dynasties in the Three Gorges Reservoir of Chongqing area increase gradually from west to east and from high land to low land Most of the sites are distributed along the river and aggregated at the confluence Obviously the altitudes of archaeological sites in the Paleolithic Age and the Neolithic Age are much higher than those of historical sites The analysis suggests 1 the human beings of every times would like to choose the first or the second river terrace as living sites which are nearer to the water source and are easier to withstand flood The prehistorical sites of earlier ages are often located at the higher altitude place because of the tectonic uplift and downcutting of rivers since Holocene 2 Due to the rugged terrain in Chongqing area most of the sites are located along the river sides for example the wide river valley and terrace which could provide wider living space caused by the lateral erosion and deposition of the river course 3 The early residents mainly relied on fishing hunting and agriculture and the rugged terrain of the mountainous area restricted the development of farming However in the confluence region the fertilized plain provided an ideal location for farming and fishing 4 The temporalspatial distribution of archeological sites in this area is significantly affected by the climate conditionSupported by the Key Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China Grant No 90411015 the University Doctoral Foundation Grant No 20050284011 Foundation of Important Basic Research at Nanjing University Grant No 0209005206 Open Foundation of the State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology from the Institute of Earth Environment CAS Grant No SKLLQG0503 the Physical Geography of “985” Items and the Test Foundation of Modern Analyses Center of Nanjing University Grant No 0209001309

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