Chinanews.com, Beijing, March 11 (Reporter Sun Zifa) As one of the important areas where the Chinese nation has lived and thrived since ancient times, how did the ancestors of prehistoric settlements in the Jianghan Plain and surrounding areas recognize and adapt to the local complex natural environment?
And with what kind of relationship between man and earth to create and continue the brilliant prehistoric civilization?
The scientific and technological archaeological team led by Liu Jianguo, a researcher at the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, used various field archaeological and spatial information data in the Jianghan Plain, combined with technologies such as drone photography, 3D reconstruction of the site, and space simulation to continue to explore the microscopic details of prehistoric settlement sites. Geomorphic features and their formation process, the latest research reveals the way prehistoric ancestors in the Jianghan Plain region understood and transformed the natural environment and the relationship between man and land.
Digital surface model of the Chenghe site.
Photo courtesy of Liu Jianguo
What kind of natural environment is it located in?
Researcher Liu Jianguo said in an interview with a reporter from China News Agency in Beijing recently that the Jianghan Plain is located in the south-central part of Hubei Province in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. km, covering an area of about 46,000 square kilometers.
In terms of terrain, there are western Hubei mountains in the west, Dahong Mountain in the north, Dabie Mountain hills in the northeast, and Jiangnan hills in the southeast, with low-lying terrain and dense river networks.
At present, field archaeological work has discovered that since the Daxi culture (6500-5300 years ago), the prehistoric culture in the surrounding areas of the Jianghan Plain has developed steadily, and reached Qujialing (5300-4600 years ago), The Shijiahe culture (4600-4000 years ago) reached its peak.
The Jianghan Plain has abundant rainfall, fertile soil, and a suitable climate. It has been suitable for growing rice and other crops since ancient times.
Among the plant remains floated in the excavation areas of Yejiamiao, Sanfangwan, and Qujialing sites, rice occupies an absolute majority. The dating results reflect the emergence of rice farming at the Qujialing site, which can be traced back to about 5800 BP. Year.
Residents of the Jianghan Plain chose an agricultural planting system with rice as the mainstay and millet as the supplement, which is the overall agricultural economy of the Jianghan Plain in the late Neolithic period.
However, the Jianghan Plain is located in the eastern monsoon region, and is particularly affected by monsoon changes. The annual season and precipitation are not static, and often vary greatly. In addition, the special landform types of the Jianghan Plain often cause floods during the rainy season; summer and autumn When rice growth needs a lot of water in season, there will often be summer drought and autumn drought with high temperature and little rain.
Digital surface model (1km×1km) of settlements in the southwestern Dabie Mountains.
Photo courtesy of Liu Jianguo
In the prehistoric period when the level of productivity was relatively low, in order to settle down and survive, the ancestors of the Jianghan Plain had to select, control, and manage the water source first, so that they could grow crops well, and the prehistoric civilization could continue to develop and grow.
Therefore, each settlement should be an ideal place that prehistoric ancestors carefully selected and weighed, and each settlement will also adopt its own response methods in order to adapt to the surrounding environment.
He pointed out that in order to explore the characteristics of the relationship between man and land in important prehistoric settlements in the Jianghan Plain and its surrounding areas, the scientific and technological archaeological team used drones to photograph 25 settlement sites to generate 1-meter-resolution digital surface models, and a 30-meter-resolution digital surface model of the research area. Digital elevation model and other data are analyzed in an attempt to reveal and explain the formation process of important prehistoric settlements.
According to the distribution characteristics of 25 important prehistoric settlements, the distribution area of prehistoric settlements in the Jianghan Plain is divided into four small areas with an area of 75 km × 50 km, including the Huarong Uplift, the southern foot of Jingshan Mountain, the southern foot of Dahong Mountain, and the southwest of Dabie Mountain. Perform local analysis.
Digital surface models of the ruins of Zoumaling, Qinghe City and Jiming City (1km×1km).
Photo courtesy of Liu Jianguo
What are the key findings of the study?
Liu Jianguo said that among the many prehistoric settlement sites in the Jianghan Plain, the Zoumaling, Qinghe City, and Jiming City sites south of the Yangtze River are located in flat areas where floods frequently occur, and the primary function of the city walls should be flood control. There is a large difference in internal heights, and it should be both a residential area and a planting area.
The settlements of Longzui, Xiaocheng, and Menbanwan at the southern foot of Dahong Mountain are less than 30 meters above sea level. In order to survive, building flood control facilities should be a must.
In addition, Yinxiang City is close to Juzhang River, Menban Bay is close to Fushui River, Zhangxi Bay is close to Shishui River, and Yejiawan is located on the bank of Lishui River. Among them, the elevations of Yinxiang City and Zhangxi Bay are slightly higher, but the rainy season is relatively low. The flood peaks of large rivers are also very destructive, forcing settlements near these rivers to build city walls to prevent flooding.
Although the settlements of Chenghe, Taojiahu, and Majiayuan are relatively high in altitude, they are all located in river valleys. In particular, the ruins of Chenghe and Taojiahu intercepted rivers with a small drainage area and completely transformed the surrounding environment. Reasonable regulation of water conservancy resources and creation of the best conditions for residents' survival and agricultural planting can be called the two "model projects" of prehistoric water control civilization.
Shijiahe, Wangguliu and other settlements flexibly built water conservancy facilities according to specific conditions to improve the adaptability of the settlement itself.
He said that in terms of settlements around moats, Yejiawan is located on a relatively high large platform and will not be threatened by floods; settlements such as Qujialing, Jingjiacheng, and Yujiagang are at higher altitudes and are all located on relatively high platforms. On the ground, the small environment itself has a good flood control function, so there is no need to build embankments, weirs and other facilities.
The Yangshutai, Bianfan, etc. are located on relatively high terrain, with a small drainage area and surrounded by natural river meanders (it may also be processed on the basis of natural river meanders), so the threat of flooding is not great.
Digital surface model (1km×1km) of settlements at the southern foot of Jingshan Mountain.
Photo courtesy of Liu Jianguo
What is more special is that the two settlements of Guanghua and Yangjiazui are both located on the banks of relatively large rivers, and no suitable facilities have been found to deal with flood disasters.
Yangjiazui should be a subsidiary settlement of Yejiamiao, and it may have a distinction in use and function. When floods occur, residents can go to Yejiamiao to escape.
Recent field archaeological work has found that the Guanghua site has a complete city wall structure.
Through the analysis and comparison of the digital surface models of the various settlements in the Jianghan Plain, the scientific and technological archaeological team found that the settlements such as Zoumaling, Majiayuan, Jimingcheng, Chenghe, and Taojiahu seemed to have a double ring moat structure, which may have a date of early or late. The difference reflects the changing process of the settlement's continuous development and expansion, but it may also be the result of different functional divisions within the settlement.
The low-lying areas inside the settlement should be used for planting, breeding, etc., and people live in higher areas.
The digital surface model of the settlements at the southern foot of Dahong Mountain (upper part 3 site 1km×1km).
Photo courtesy of Liu Jianguo
What kind of human-land relationship should be constructed?
Liu Jianguo pointed out that the Jianghan Plain, which is located in the subtropical monsoon climate zone, has fertile land and abundant precipitation, but the special geographical environment often causes heavy rainstorms in early summer, resulting in frequent floods, summer and autumn droughts and autumn droughts, which are harmful to human beings. Subsistence and agricultural cultivation pose a great threat.
For this reason, in order to be able to thrive in the Jianghan Plain, prehistoric humans basically mastered many characteristics of the local climate, water source, environment, etc., carefully selected suitable living and farming areas, and carried out reasonable regulation, management, and allocation of water resources in the natural environment. , making settled life possible.
Then, the ancestors cultivated and planted around their residences, raised livestock, and achieved harmony between humans and the natural environment. With a stable residence and farming area, people have enough food and clothing, and only then will there be a complex social division of labor, and human civilization can continue. develop.
Among them, as the two representative prehistoric settlement groups in the Jianghan Plain, the Qujialing settlement group has a complete and closed piedmont alluvial plain, with an overall drainage area of nearly 60 square kilometers, abundant water sources, and eroded residual platforms suitable for living. To avoid flooding, the alluvial plains of the valleys are used for farming crops.
After building water retaining dams and rationally allocating water sources, it can basically achieve drought and flood protection, thus becoming an extremely ideal birthplace of prehistoric civilization.
Shijiahe settlements are located in the confluence of hillocks, wetlands, and lakes. From the early Longzui and Tanjialing to super-large-scale settlements, the concepts and methods of prehistoric residents to transform the environment and manage water sources are constantly changing. The splendid Shijiahe culture has been created on the hilly land in front of the kilometer.
Liu Jianguo concluded that there are many prehistoric settlements on the Jianghan Plain, and the natural environment of each settlement is different. The ancients also had different understandings and understandings of the terrain and water resources in the environment, which led to the pattern of prehistoric ancestors using and governing the surrounding environment. Different people have different opinions, and each has its own merits. It reflects the extraordinary wisdom, advanced concepts and strong creativity of the prehistoric residents of Jianghan Plain. Created a splendid prehistoric civilization.
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