Articles | Volume 16, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2483-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2483-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Data description paper
| 
24 May 2024
Data description paper |
| 24 May 2024
| 24 May 2024
Seeing the wood for the trees: active human–environmental interactions in arid northwestern China
Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, China
College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
Robert N. Spengler
Domestication and Anthropogenic Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, 07745 Jena, Germany
Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, 07745 Jena, Germany
Xinying Zhou
Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, China
College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
Alison Betts
Department of Archaeology, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Peter Weiming Jia
Department of Archaeology, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Keliang Zhao
Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, China
College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
Xiaoqiang Li
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, China
College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
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Short summary
Understanding how early farmers adapted to their environments is important regarding how we respond to the changing climate. Here, we present wood charcoal records from northwestern China to explore human–environmental interactions. Our data suggest that people started managing chestnut trees around 4600 BP and cultivating fruit trees and transporting conifers from 3500 BP. From 2500 BP, people established horticultural systems, showing that they actively adapted to the environment.
Understanding how early farmers adapted to their environments is important regarding how we...
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