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10.3390/land10070712
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Article

Spatial Expansion of Human Settlement during the Longshan Period (~4.5–~3.9 ka BP) and Its Hydroclimatic Contexts in the Lower Yellow River Floodplain, Eastern China

by
Kaifeng Li
1,2,
Wenhua Gao
1,*,
Li Wu
3,
Hainan Hu
1,
Panpan Gong
1,
Suyuan Li
4,
Rui Jin
4 and
Yi Si
4
1
Key Laboratory of Geospatial Technology for the Middle and Lower Yellow River Regions (Ministry of Education), College of Environment and Planning, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China
2
Cultural Heritage Laboratory of the Yellow River, Henan University, Kaifeng 475001, China
3
Provincial Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Regional Response in the Yangtze-Huaihe River Basin, School of Geography and Tourism, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu 241002, China
4
School of History and Culture, Henan University, Kaifeng 475001, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Land 2021, 10(7), 712; https://doi.org/10.3390/land10070712
Submission received: 6 June 2021 / Revised: 3 July 2021 / Accepted: 4 July 2021 / Published: 6 July 2021
(This article belongs to the Special Issue 100 Years of Archaeological Research in China (1921-2021): A Space-Based Perspective)
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Abstract

Obvious spatial expansion of human settlement occurred in the lower Yellow River floodplain during the Longshan period, but the external factors driving this expansion remain unclear. In this study, we first delineated the hydroclimatic changes at both regional and local scales within and around the lower Yellow River floodplain and then examined the relationships of human settlements with hydroclimatic settings between the pre-Longshan and Longshan periods. The results indicate that the site distribution, site density and hydroclimatic conditions exhibited significant shifts during the pre-Longshan and Longshan periods. In the pre-Longshan period, the intense East Asian summer monsoon and abundant monsoon-related precipitation caused widespread development of lakes and marshes in the lower Yellow River floodplain. As a result, the circumjacent highlands of the lower Yellow River floodplain contained concentrated human settlements. However, the persistent weakening of the East Asian summer monsoon and consequent precipitation decline, in conjunction with accelerated soil erosion due to decreasing forest vegetation and strengthening of human activities on the upstream Loess Plateau in the Longshan period, are likely to have jointly caused both shrinking and faster filling of preexisting lakes and marshes. Subsequently, a large area of arable land had been created in the lower Yellow River floodplain and thus was occupied by locally rapid increasing population, resulting in the notable spatial expansion of human settlements during the Longshan period.
Keywords: human settlement; spatial expansion; hydroclimatic contexts; population growth; the Longshan period; the lower Yellow River floodplain human settlement; spatial expansion; hydroclimatic contexts; population growth; the Longshan period; the lower Yellow River floodplain

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MDPI and ACS Style

Li, K.; Gao, W.; Wu, L.; Hu, H.; Gong, P.; Li, S.; Jin, R.; Si, Y. Spatial Expansion of Human Settlement during the Longshan Period (~4.5–~3.9 ka BP) and Its Hydroclimatic Contexts in the Lower Yellow River Floodplain, Eastern China. Land 2021, 10, 712. https://doi.org/10.3390/land10070712

AMA Style

Li K, Gao W, Wu L, Hu H, Gong P, Li S, Jin R, Si Y. Spatial Expansion of Human Settlement during the Longshan Period (~4.5–~3.9 ka BP) and Its Hydroclimatic Contexts in the Lower Yellow River Floodplain, Eastern China. Land. 2021; 10(7):712. https://doi.org/10.3390/land10070712

Chicago/Turabian Style

Li, Kaifeng, Wenhua Gao, Li Wu, Hainan Hu, Panpan Gong, Suyuan Li, Rui Jin, and Yi Si. 2021. "Spatial Expansion of Human Settlement during the Longshan Period (~4.5–~3.9 ka BP) and Its Hydroclimatic Contexts in the Lower Yellow River Floodplain, Eastern China" Land 10, no. 7: 712. https://doi.org/10.3390/land10070712

APA Style

Li, K., Gao, W., Wu, L., Hu, H., Gong, P., Li, S., Jin, R., & Si, Y. (2021). Spatial Expansion of Human Settlement during the Longshan Period (~4.5–~3.9 ka BP) and Its Hydroclimatic Contexts in the Lower Yellow River Floodplain, Eastern China. Land, 10(7), 712. https://doi.org/10.3390/land10070712

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