An archaeological site at Anshan in the coastal area of Fujian province, southern China, was excavated in 2007, 2009 and 2015. Abundant artefacts including adzes, cores, bronze fishhook, pottery and bone arrowheads are found in the aeolian sediments. The aim of this article is to understand the geomorphological backdrop and process of Anshan site, and the coupling relationship between human activity and environmental evolution. In this study, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) technique was employed to establish the chronological framework of the site. Samples from the top and bottom of cultural layer yield OSL ages ranging from 1.4 to 6.1 ka, providing a systematic geochronological evidence for the development of ‘Anshan culture’ in coastal area of southern Fujian province and eastern Guangdong province. In the meantime, there is a clear link between the varying regional sea levels, the chronology of regional wind-sand deposition and the period of Anshan culture since the mid-Holocene.
AitkenMJ (1998) An Introduction to Optical Dating. New York: Oxford University Press.
3.
AthanassasCDWagnerGA (2016) Geochronology beyond radiocarbon: Optically stimulated luminescence dating of palaeoenvironments and archaeological sites. Elements12(1): 27–32.
4.
BondGBroeckerWJohnsenS, et al. (1993) Correlations between climate records from North Atlantic sediments and Greenland ice. Nature365(6442): 143–147.
5.
Bøtter-JensenLAndersenCEDullerGAT, et al. (2003) Developments in radiation, stimulation and observation facilities in luminescence measurements. Radiation Measurements37(4): 535–541.
6.
BriffaKRBartholinTSEcksteinD, et al. (1990) A 1,400-year tree-ring record of summer temperatures in Fennoscandia. Nature346: 434–439.
7.
ChurchJAWhiteNJAarupT, et al. (2008) Understanding global sea levels: Past, present and future. Sustainability Science3(1): 9–22.
8.
CunninghamACWallingaJ (2009) Optically stimulated luminescence dating of young quartz using the fast component. Radiation Measurements44(5): 423–428.
9.
DansgaardWJohnsenSJClausenHB, et al. (1993) Evidence for general instability of past climate from a 250-kyr ice-core record. Nature364(6434): 218–220.
10.
DullerGAT (2003) Distinguishing quartz and feldspar in single grain luminescence measurements. Radiation Measurements37(2): 161–165.
11.
FanXCChengLLiuGJ, et al. (2014) The Anshan sand dunes archaeological sites of Bronze Age in Jinjiang, Fujian. Cultural Relic (2): 4–16 (in Chinese).
12.
FangKChenDGouX, et al. (2015) Influence of non-climatic factors on the relationships between tree growth and climate over the Chinese Loess Plateau. Global and Planetary Change132: 54–63.
13.
FitzsimmonsKERhodesEJBarrowsTT (2010) OSL dating of southeast Australian quartz: A preliminary assessment of luminescence characteristics and behaviour. Quaternary Geochronology5(2): 91–95.
14.
Fujian Museum (2008) Archaeological evacuations of the Anshan sand dunes sites in Jinjiang, Fujian. Fujian Wenbo (3): 1–12.
15.
GalbraithRFRobertsRGLaslettGM, et al. (1999) Optical dating of single and multiple grains of quartz from jinmium rock shelter, northern Australia: Part I, experimental design and statistical models. Archaeometry41(2): 339–364.
16.
GeQ (2011) Climate Change of Different Dynasties in China. Beijing: Science Press (in Chinese).
17.
GeQZhengJFangX, et al. (2003) Winter half-year temperature reconstruction for the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and Yangtze River, China, during the past 2000 years. The Holocene13(6): 933–940.
18.
GuérinGMercierNAdamiecG (2011) Dose-rate conversion factors: Update. Ancient TL29(1): 5–8.
19.
HaugGHGüntherDPetersonLC, et al. (2003) Climate and the collapse of Maya civilization. Science299(5613): 1731–1735.
20.
HeinrichH (1988) Origin and consequences of cyclic ice rafting in the northeast Atlantic Ocean during the past 130,000 years. Quaternary Research29(2): 142–152.
21.
HilgersAMurrayASSchlaakN, et al. (2001) Comparison of quartz OSL protocols using Lateglacial and Holocene dune sands from Brandenburg, Germany. Quaternary Science Reviews20(5): 731–736.
22.
HuFGLiZZJinJH, et al. (2013) Coastal environment evolution record from Anshan coastal aeolian sand of Jinjiang, Fujian Province, based on the OSL dating. Acta Geographica Sinica68(3): 343–356.
23.
JacobsZ (2008) Luminescence chronologies for coastal and marine sediments. Boreas37(4): 508–535.
24.
JainMMurrayASBøtter-JensenL (2003) Characterisation of blue-light stimulated luminescence components in different quartz samples: Implications for dose measurement. Radiation Measurements37(4): 441–449.
25.
JiangXYHeYQShenCC, et al. (2012) Stalagmite-inferred Holocene precipitation in northern Guizhou Province, China, and asynchronous termination of the Climatic Optimum in the Asian monsoon territory. Chinese Science Bulletin57(7): 795–801.
26.
JinJHLiZZHuFG, et al. (2015) Mid-Holocene coastal environment and human activities recorded by a coastal dune in Fujian Province, China. Acta Geographica Sinica70(5): 751–765.
27.
JinJHLiZZJiangF, et al. (2016) Coastal environment of the past millennium recorded by a coastal dune in Fujian, China. Journal of Arid Land8(5): 707–721.
28.
LambeckKEsatTMPotterEK (2002) Links between climate and sea levels for the past three million years. Nature419(6903): 199–206.
29.
LiBRobertsRGJacobsZ, et al. (2015) Construction of a ‘global standardised growth curve’(gSGC) for infrared stimulated luminescence dating of K-feldspar. Quaternary Geochronology27: 119–130.
30.
LiCXChenGLuCB (1988) Problems on eustasy in coastal zones of China during Late Quaternary. Tropic Oceanology2: 54–62.
31.
MadsenATMurrayAS (2009) Optically stimulated luminescence dating of young sediments: A review. Geomorphology109(1): 3–16.
MurrayASFunderS (2003) Optically stimulated luminescence dating of a Danish Eemian coastal marine deposit: A test of accuracy. Quaternary Science Reviews22(10): 1177–1183.
34.
MurrayASOlleyJM (2002) Precision and accuracy in the optically stimulated luminescence dating of sedimentary quartz: A status review. Geochronometria21(1): 1–16.
35.
MurrayASWintleAG (2000) Luminescence dating of quartz using an improved single-aliquot regenerative-dose protocol. Radiation Measurements32(1): 57–73.
36.
PengJDongZHanF (2016) Optically stimulated luminescence dating of sandy deposits from Gulang county at the southern margin of the Tengger Desert, China. Journal of Arid Land8(1): 1–12.
37.
PietschTJOlleyJMNansonGC (2008) Fluvial transport as a natural luminescence sensitiser of quartz. Quaternary Geochronology3(4): 365–376.
38.
PrescottJRHuttonJT (1994) Cosmic ray contributions to dose rates for luminescence and ESR dating: Large depths and long-term time variations. Radiation Measurements23(2): 497–500.
39.
PrescottJRStephanLG (1982) The contribution of cosmic radiation to the environmental dose for thermoluminescence dating. Latitude, altitude and depth dependences. Pact6: 17–25.
40.
Rees-JonesJTiteMS (1997) Optical dating results for British archaeological sediments. Archaeometry39(1): 177–187.
41.
ReimannTLindhorstSThomsenKJ, et al. (2012) OSL dating of mixed coastal sediment (Sylt, German Bight, North Sea). Quaternary Geochronology11: 52–67.
42.
RobertsHM (2006) Optical dating of coarse-silt sized quartz from loess: Evaluation of equivalent dose determinations and SAR procedural checks. Radiation Measurements41(7): 923–929.
43.
TamburiniFAdatteTFöllmiK, et al. (2003) Investigating the history of East Asian monsoon and climate during the last glacial–interglacial period (0–140 000 years): Mineralogy and geochemistry of ODP Sites 1143 and 1144, South China Sea. Marine Geology201(1): 147–168.
44.
TamuraTKodamaYBatemanMD, et al. (2011) Coastal barrier dune construction during sea-level highstands in MIS 3 and 5a on Tottori coast-line, Japan. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology308(3): 492–501.
45.
WangYChengHEdwardsRL, et al. (2008) Millennial-and orbital-scale changes in the East Asian monsoon over the past 224,000 years. Nature451(7182): 1090–1093.
46.
WintleAGMurrayAS (2006) A review of quartz optically stimulated luminescence characteristics and their relevance in single-aliquot regeneration dating protocols. Radiation Measurements41(4): 369–391.
47.
WuXP (2004) The decline of shell mound in Fujian. Agricultural Archaeology1: 27–28.
48.
YanchevaGNowaczykNRMingramJ, et al. (2007) Influence of the intertropical convergence zone on the East Asian monsoon. Nature445(7123): 74–77.
49.
ZengCS (1991) Sea level variation along Fujian coast in Holocene. Journal of Oceanography in Taiwan Strait10(1): 77–84.
50.
ZhangJNottebaumVTsukamotoS, et al. (2015) Late Pleistocene and Holocene loess sedimentation in central and western Qilian Shan (China) revealed by OSL dating. Quaternary International372: 120–129.
51.
ZhangJFYuanBYZhouLP (2008) Luminescence chronology of ‘Old Red Sand’ in Jinjiang and its implications for optical dating of sediments in South China. Chinese Science Bulletin53(4): 591–601.
