SCIENTIA GEOGRAPHICA SINICA ›› 2022, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (10): 1807-1817.doi: 10.13249/j.cnki.sgs.2022.10.013

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Formation of Agriculture and Its Influencing Factors in the Songze Culture Period in the Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River

Li Haiming1,2,3(), Zheng Duo4, Liu Zhen5,6, Jia Xin5,6()   

  1. 1. College of Humanities & Social Development, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, Jiangsu, China
    2. Institution of Chinese Agricultural Civilization, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, Jiangsu, China
    3. Agricultural Archaeology Research Center, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, Jiangsu, China
    4. Changzhou Institute of Archaeology, Changzhou 213001, Jiangsu, China
    5. School of Geography, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, Jiangsu, China
    6. Institute of Environmental Archaeology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, Jiangsu, China
  • Received:2021-09-07 Revised:2021-10-29 Online:2022-10-30 Published:2022-10-20
  • Contact: Jia Xin E-mail:lihaiming@njau.edu.cn;jiaxin@njnu.edu.cn
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China)(42101152);Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province(BK20221027);Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(KYQN2022026);Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(SKYC2021011);Shandong Key Laboratory of Cultural Heritage Conservation and Archaeological Sciences(JolnRLESA202201)

Abstract:

The Songze culture period (6 000-5 300 a B. P.) in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River is a key stage of the origin civilization. However, whether the economic society of rice farming had been formed in this period and its influencing mechanism behind it remain unclear. Through systematic archaeobotanical analysis at Qingchengdun site in Changzhou, 131 carbonized rice seeds and 2 262 rice spikelet base were found in 22 of 24 flotation samples. The results indicated that the agricultural economy of the ancestors of Qingchengdun site during the Songze culture period was mainly based on rice planting. Combined with previous archaeobotanical work, it is found that the main subsistence economy of human beings during the Songze culture period in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River was a rice farming agricultural economy based on planting rice, supplemented by a gathering economy based on collecting wild plant resources such as gourd (Lagenaria siceraria), Semen Euryales (Euryale ferox), peach (Prunus persica) and muskmelon (Cucumis melo). After 7 000 a B. P., the slow rise of sea level and the eastward withdrawal of coastline provided a large number of living environments for ancient humans carrying out rice agricultural production. The suitable relatively warm and humid climate conditions in this period also provided suitable habitat conditions for rice agricultural production. The pressure of population growth after 6 000 a B. P. is the reason why ancient humans in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River chose stable and high-yield rice agriculture as the main subsistence strategy.

Key words: the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, Songze culture, subsistence economy, rice farming

CLC Number: 

  • K903