Research on the disappearance causes of the Tenghu

Authors: Lan Li Cheng Zhu FengQing Jiang QuanHong Zhao IiuGeng Lin

Publish Date: 2008/05/29

Volume: 53, Issue: 1, Pages: 161-176

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Abstract

With brilliant civilization during the transitional period from a original clan society to a state society in prehistory the Neolithic Tenghualuo Site in Lianyungang was discovered by archaeological survey in 1989 which was titled as ‘one of the nation’s ten great archeological discoveries in 2000’ However the transgression and the anthropogenic environment deterioration have ever been employed to explain the abandonment of the site Based on a dynasty framework established by the 14C dating and using the experimental methods such as micropaleontology identification in foraminifera and charophytes the content test of Rb and Sr susceptibility analysis as well as granularity and sedimentary facies analysis some researches on the sediments from the two exploration layers at Tenghualuo Site were conducted and the following new findings have been gained Firstly foraminifera which are relevant to the marine environment were not found in the sediment layer however 25 charales which usually live in the freshwater environment in 07LTT1 exploration samples were found Among them 3 charales were found in the samples from the forth sediment layer below the late Longshan Cultural Layer and 22 charates were from the second sediment layer above the late Longshan Cultural layer Furthermore 5 plant seeds and 41 fungal spores together with many carbonation holes plant seed shells as well as their roots and stems were also found in the second sediment layer above the late Longshan Cultural layer Secondly the cumulative probability curves of the sediments’ granularity in both the last and its overlying culture intermittent layers have characteristics of threephase river sediment curve and the ratios between Rb and Sr are both quite high in samples from two layers sedimented during the disappearing time of the site All abovementioned evidences indicate that disappearance of the Tenghualuo Site was not related to the transgression The late Longshan Culture of the site could be completely abandoned after a relatively longterm inland water floodSupported by National Science and Technology Support Project Grant No 2006BAK21B02 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” Program of China and the Test Foundation of Modern Analyses Center of Nanjing University Grant No 0209001309

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