Illustrating the relationship between past settlement changes and human-land could help us to understand the complex interactions among climate, human activities, and the environment. Based on archeological literature and fieldworks, this paper combines dating techniques and GIS analysis to explore the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics and human diffusion of Neolithic settlements in the Western Guanzhong Basin (WGB), and to quantitatively analyzes the relationship between human activities and natural geographic factors by index model. The results show that: (1) There was a continuity of Neolithic cultures in the WGB and the absolute chronological sequence of human activities ranges from 7500 to 3900 a BP; (2) The distribution of settlements tends to be on river terraces and Loess tableland, and with the evolution of Neolithic cultures, human activities shifted from near-water to far-water distributions and expanded to areas of high gradient. The center of activity of the settlement spreads from a single nucleus (the Wei River) to multiple nuclei (the Wei River, the Qian Rivers, and the Qishui River) and back to a single nucleus on the northern bank of the Wei River in the area of present Qishan-Fufeng, laying the foundation for the development and strength of the Western Zhou Dynasty Cultures in this area; (3) The suitability level of the natural geographic environment in the WGB gradually decreased from the Wei River to the north and south, and settlements were mainly distributed in the highly and moderately suitable zones; (4) It was found that as early as the Neolithic period, mankind had already grasped certain laws of nature, and the spatial distribution of settlements reflected mankind’s awareness of disaster avoidance and “compromise and reconciliation.”
AndrewBSueCDorianF (2018) Correction for Bevan et al., holocene fluctuations in human population demonstrate repeated links to food production and climate. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America115(15): E3597–E10531.
2.
Baoji Archaeological Team (2011) Registration Form for Non-movable Cultural Relics in the Third National Cultural Relics Census. Baoji, China: Baoji Institute of Archaeology.
3.
BinfordLewisR (2002) In Pursuit of the Past: Decoding the Archaeological Record. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
4.
BiSJiHLiangJ, et al. (2013) Spatial distribution of prehistoric settlement sites in Zhengzhou-Luoyang Region based on index model. Progress in Geography32(10): 1454–1462.
5.
BiSLingDJiH, et al. (2017) Fuzzy comprehensive evaluation of the human settlement environment of the prehistoric settlement sites in the Zhengzhou-Luoyang area. Scientia Geographica Sinica37(6): 904–911.
6.
BushnellGHS (1954) Prehistoric settlement patterns in the Viru Valley, Peru. Nature173(4405): 625–625.
7.
ChengSZhuZBaiL (2015) GIS-based assessment on ecological suitability for human settlement-A case study in the central arid zone in Ningxia. Arid Zone Research32(1): 176–183.
8.
ChenRLiFWangT, et al. (2018a) The size distribution of Neolithic sites in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. Acta Geographica Sinica73(3): 474–486.
9.
ChenSFanSWangX, et al. (2018b) Neotectonic movement in the southern margin of the Ordos Block inferred from the Qianhe River terraces near the north of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. Geological Journal53(s1): 274–281.
10.
ChenYTongGCaoJ, et al. (1999) Tectonic climate response in the geomorphology of the Weihe valley around Baoji,Shaanxi province. Journal of Geomechanics04: 3–5.
11.
ChewSSarabiaD (2016) Nature–culture relations: Early globalization, climate changes, and system crisis. Sustainability8(1): 78.
12.
DongGLiuFYangY, et al. (2016) Cultural expansion and its influencing factors during Neolithic period in the Yellow River valley, northern China. Chinese Journal of Nature38(4): 248–252.
13.
DongGLuYZhangS, et al. (2022) Spatiotemporal variation in human settlements and their interaction with living environments in Neolithic and Bronze Age China. Progress in Physical Geography46(6): 949–967.
14.
DongGRenLJiaX, et al. (2016) Chronology and subsistence strategy of Nuomuhong culture in the tibetan Plateau. Quaternary International: the Journal of the International Union for Quaternary Research426: 42–49.
15.
FangJLiF (1993) Age of terrace formation and stratigraphic comparison in the Baoji section of the Weihe River. Geology of Shaanxi11(2): 33–38.
16.
FletcherR (2008) Some spatial analyses of Chalcolithic settlement in Southern Israel. Journal of Archaeological Science35(7): 2048–2058.
17.
GaoJHouGZhuomaL, et al. (2019) Spatiotemporal evolution and environmental change of ancient sites in Hexi Corridor. Journal of Earth Environment10(1): 12–26.
18.
HoelzmannPKedingBBerkeH, et al. (2001) Environmental change and archaeology: Lake evolution and human occupation in the eastern Sahara during the holocene. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology169(3–4): 193–217.
19.
HouGXuCLuC, et al. (2019) The environmental background of Yangshao culture expansion in the mid-Holoc. Geographical Research38(2): 437–444.
20.
HuangC (2002) Holocene climatic events on the loess tableland in the western Guanzhong Basin, China. Arid Land Geography25(1): 10–15.
21.
HuangCPangJZhaX, et al. (2011) Prehistorical floods in the Guanzhong Basin in the Yellow River drainage area: A case study along the Qishuihe River Valley over the Zhouyuan Loess Tableland (in Chinese). Scientia Sinica Terrae 41(11): 1658–1669.
22.
JessenCAPedersenKBChristensenC, et al. (2015) Early Maglemosian culture in the preboreal landscape: Archaeology and vegetation from the earliest Mesolithic site in Denmark at Lundby Mose, Sjælland. Quaternary International: the Journal of the International Union for Quaternary Research378: 73–87.
23.
LiFWuLZhuC, et al. (2013) Spatial–temporal distribution and geographic context of Neolithic cultural sites in the Hanjiang River basin, southern Shaanxi, China. Journal of Archaeological Science40(8): 3141–3152.
24.
LiLZhuCQinZ, et al. (2018) Relative sea level rise, site distributions, and Neolithic settlement in the early to middle holocene, Jiangsu Province, China. The Holocene28(3): 354–362.
25.
LiS (2018) Development characteristics of the Qianhe River terrace and its tectonic significance. Master’s Thesis, Chang’an University, Xi’an, China.
26.
LiXAnZZhouJ, et al. (2003) Characteristics of vegetation in the Loess Plateau area since Holocene. Marine Geology & Quaternary Geology23(1): 109–114.
27.
LiZZhuCWuG, et al. (2015) Spatial pattern and temporal trend of prehistoric human sites and its driving factors in Henan Province, Central China. Journal of Geographical Sciences25(9): 1109–1121.
28.
LiZQWuYLiuSM, et al. (2016) An 800-year record of terrestrial organic matter from the East China Sea shelf break: Links to climate change and human activity in the Changjiang Basin. Deep Sea Research Part II Topical Studies in Oceanography124: 64–73.
29.
LuP (2016) Environmental archaeology-settlement archaeology-prehistoric settlement geography. Geographical research and development35(2): 175–180.
30.
LuPMoDWangH, et al. (2017) On the relationship between holocene geomorphic evolution of rivers and prehistoric settlements distribution in the Songshan Mountain region of China. Sustainability9(1): 114.
31.
LuPTianYChenP, et al. (2014) The relationship between settlements distribution and regional tectonics around the Songshan Mountain during 9000-3000 aBP. Acta Geographica Sinica69(6): 738–746.
32.
LvHZhangJ (2008) Neolithic cultural evolution and holocene climate change in The Ganzhong Basin, Shaanxi, China. Quaternary Sciences28(6): 1050–1060.
33.
MaMDongGChenF, et al. (2014) Process of paleofloods in Guanting basin, Qinghai Province, China and possible relation to monsoon strength during the mid-holocene. Quaternary International: the Journal of the International Union for Quaternary Research321: 88–96.
34.
MaMLuYDongG, et al. (2023) Understanding the transport networks complex between South Asia, Southeast Asia and China during the late Neolithic and Bronze Age. The Holocene33(2): 147–158.
35.
QiaoWBiSWangQ, et al. (2013) Predictive model of archaeological sites of Longshan Culture in Zhengzhou-Luoyang area. Science of Surveying and Mapping38(6): 172–174.
36.
ShangNYvLNieY (2015) Study of distribution characteristics of archaeological sites in Fenhe River basin on logistic regression. Science of Surveying and Mapping40(8): 47–52.
37.
TangYWangJLiuL, et al. (2024) Local adaptation and subsistence strategy of Yangshao migrants in northwestern Sichuan in China during the Middle Neolithic (5300–4700 cal. BP). The Holocene34(1): 14–24.
38.
WangCLuHGuW, et al. (2017) The spatial pattern of farming and factors influencing it during the Peiligang culture period in the middle Yellow River valley, China. Scientific Bulletin62(23): 1565–1568.
39.
WangHHuangCZhouY, et al. (2012) OSL dating of the Holocene paleoflood events on the Qianhe River in the Guanzhong Basin, China (in Chinese). Scientia Sinica Terrae42(5): 390–401.
40.
WangJYaoSLiuT (2020) Evolutionary pattern and attribution of precipitation use efficiency since the implementation of the project of returning ploughland to forests (grass)-A case study of Baoji area. Arid Zone Research37(5): 1233–1245.
41.
WangLZhangHZhangDD, et al. (2023) New evidence of prehistoric human activity on the central tibetan plateau during the early to middle holocene. The Holocene33(10): 1196–1206.
42.
WangZCaoHXiaoY, et al. (2021) Prehistoric human activity and changes in living environment at Shalongka site, northeast Tibetan Plateau. Quaternary Sciences41(1): 201–213.
43.
WeiJ (2012) Study on the Early Yangshao Culture Remains at Beishouling Site. Archaelogy12(12): 59–69+51.
44.
WuLLiJWangX (2017) Thiessen polygon analysis of prehistoric cultural sites in the Huaibei plain of Anhui province. Areal Research and Development36(5): 140–145.
45.
WuLSunXSunW, et al. (2020) Evolution of Neolithic site distribution (9.0–4.0 ka BP) in Anhui, East China. Journal of Geographical Sciences30(9): 1451–1466.
46.
WuWZhengHHouM, et al. (2018) The 5.5 cal ka BP climate event, population growth, circumscription and the emergence of the earliest complex societies in China. Science China Earth Sciences61(2): 134–148.
47.
XuRWangX (2022) GIS-based rural settlement suitability and optimization strategies analysis in Ganjiang River Basin. Chinese and Overseas Architecture 28(11): 90–95.
48.
YangQLiXZhouX, et al. (2016) Quantitative reconstruction of summer precipitation using a mid-holocene δ13C common millet record from Guanzhong Basin, northern China. Climate of the Past12(12): 2229–2240.
49.
YangXScuderiLAWangX, et al. (2015) Groundwater sapping as the cause of irreversible desertification of Hunshandake Sandy lands, Inner Mongolia, northern China. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America112(3): 702–706.
50.
YangYZhangSChrisO, et al. (2019) Refinement of prehistoric cultural dating in the Hexi Corridor and its implications for reassessing human-environment relationships. Scientia Sinica Terrae49(12): 2037–2050.
51.
YanLZhangYLuP, et al. (2020) Research on scale and grade of early settlement based on K-means clustering method. Areal Research and Development39(2): 176–180.
52.
YuanY (2018) Characteristics and Genesis of spatial distribution of settlements in the West Liaohe River Basin during the Mid-Holocene. Scientia Geographica Sinica38(5): 773–779.
53.
YuanY (2019) Cultural evolution and spatial-temporal distribution of archaeological sites from 9.5–2.3 ka BP in the Yan-Liao region, China. Journal of Geographical Sciences29(3): 449–464.
54.
ZhangHFanJHeR, et al. (2019) Spatio-temporal evolution of settlements and its driving mechanisms in Tibetan Plateau Pastoral Area: Taking Nagqu county in the Northern Tibet as an example. Scientia Geographica Sinica39(10): 1642–1653.
55.
ZhangJLiDWangY, et al. (2023) Magnetic and grain-size properties of the Weihe River sediments reveal runoff changes in the holocene. Journal of Water and Climate Change14(5): 1620–1637.
56.
ZhangYVazeJChiewFHS, et al. (2014) Predicting hydrological signatures in ungauged catchments using spatial interpolation, index model, and rainfall–runoff modelling. Journal of Hydrology517: 936–948.
57.
ZhangZ (1998) Atlas of Chinese Cultural Eelics-Shaanxi. Shannxi, China: Xi'an Map Publishing Company (in Chinese).
58.
ZhaoJHouYDuJ, et al. (2003) Holocene environmental changes in the Guanzhong Plain. Arid Land Geography1(4): 17–22.
59.
ZhaoQYaoTLuD, et al. (2019) Spatial and temporal distribution characteristics and natural environmental background of the Middle Holocene settlements in the Northeastern Liaoning Province. Scientia Geographica Sinica39(9): 1516–1524.
60.
ZhengHZhouYYangQ, et al. (2018) Spatial and temporal distribution of Neolithic sites in coastal China: Sea level changes, geomorphic evolution and human adaption. Science China Earth Sciences61(2): 123–133.
61.
ZouCHZhaoQLiXM, et al. (2019) Temporal-spatial distribution characteristics and environmental background of Middle holocene settlements on the south coast of Laizhou Bay, northern Shandong, China. Applied Ecology and Environmental Research17(1): 253–270.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
