Agricultural Economic Transformations and Their Impacting Factors around 4000 BP in the Hexi Corridor, Northwest China
Haiming Li,
Nathaniel James,
Junwei Chen,
Shanjia Zhang,
Linyao Du,
Yishi Yang,
Guoke Chen,
Minmin Ma,
Xin Jia
Affiliations
Haiming Li
College of Humanities & Social Development, Institute of Chinese Agricultural Civilization, Agricultural Archaeology Research Center, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
Nathaniel James
Department of Anthropology, University of California, San Diego, CA 92093, USA
Junwei Chen
School of Geography, Institute of Environmental Archaeology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China
Shanjia Zhang
Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730013, China
Linyao Du
Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730013, China
Yishi Yang
Gansu Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Lanzhou 730015, China
Guoke Chen
Gansu Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Lanzhou 730015, China
Minmin Ma
Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730013, China
Xin Jia
School of Geography, Institute of Environmental Archaeology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China
By 4000 BP, trans-Eurasian agricultural exchanges increased across the Hexi Corridor. However, the nature and timing of many early prehistoric agricultural exchanges remain unclear. We present systematically collected archaeobotanical data from the ancient Haizang site (3899–3601 cal a BP) within the Hexi Corridor. Adding to previous archaeobotanical studies of the Hexi Corridor, we find that agricultural production transformed from purely millet-based agriculture during the Machang Period (4300–4000) to predominantly millet-based agriculture increasingly supplemented with wheat and barley during the Xichengyi and Qijia periods (4000–3600 BP). These transformations are likely due to adaption to a cooler and drier climate through cultural exchange. A warm and humid climate during 4300–4000 BP likely promoted millet agriculture, Machang cultural expansion westward, and occupation across the Hexi corridor. However, after the “4.2 ka BP cold event” people adopted wheat and barley from the West to make up for declining millet agricultural productivity. This adoption began first with the Xichengyi culture, and soon spread further eastward within the Hexi Corridor to the Qijia culture.
