A review on the spread of prehistoric agriculture from southern China to mainland Southeast Asia

The origins and spread of agriculture was one of the milestones in human history. When and how prehistoric agriculture spread to mainland Southeast Asia is highly concerned, which contributed to the formation of modern Austroasiatic in this region. Previous studies mainly focused on the time and route of rice agriculture's introduction into Southeast Asia while millet agriculture was not paid proper attention. Here we analyze 312 ~(14)C dating data yielded from charred seeds of rice(Oryza sativa), foxtail millet(Setaria italica) and broomcorn millet(Panicum miliaceum) from 128 archaeological sites in China and mainland Southeast Asia. The result shows that millet farming was introduced to mainland Southeast Asia in the late third millennium BC and rice farming was in the late second millennium BC. The agriculture of mainland Southeast Asia might originate from three areas, Southwest China, Guangxi-West Guangdong and coastal Fujian. The spread route of ancient agriculture in Southwest China is close to the "Southwest Silk Road" recorded in literature, which implies there was possibly a channel of cultural exchanges on the eastern margin of Tibetan Plateau already in the late Neolithic period, laying the foundation for the Southwest Silk Road later.     

Solar Activity from the Mid-Second Millennium B.C. to the First Millennium A.D. Based on Radiocarbon Data

Geomagnetism and Aeronomy - The paper reports the results of reconstruction of the heliospheric modulation potential from radiocarbon data for the time interval from the mid-second millennium B.C....     

Mount Etna eruptions of the last 2,750 years: revised chronology and location through archeomagnetic and <Superscript>226</Superscript>Ra-<Superscript>230</Superscript>Th dating

A careful re-examination of the well-known written documents pertaining to the 2,750-year-long historical period of Mount Etna was carried out and their interpretation checked through the high-accuracy archeomagnetic method (>1,200 large samples), combined with the ²²⁶Ra-²³⁰Th radiochronology. The magnetic dating is based upon secular variation of the direction of the geomagnetic field (DGF) and estimated to reach a precision of  ±40 years for the last 1,200 years, and ±100 to 200 years up to circa 150 B.C. Although less precise, the ²²⁶Ra-²³⁰Th method provides a unique tool for distinguishing between historic and prehistoric lavas, which in some cases might have similar DGFs. We show that despite the abundance of details on ancient historical eruptions, the primary sources of information are often too imprecise to identify their lava flows and eruptive systems. Most of the ages of these lavas, which are today accepted on the geological maps and catalogues, were attributed in the 1800s on the basis of their morphology and without any stratigraphical control. In fact, we found that 80% of the “historically dated” flows and cones prior to the 1700s are usually several hundreds of years older than recorded, the discrepancies sometimes exceeding a millennium. This is proper the case for volcanics presumed of the “1651 east” (actually ∼1020), “1595” (actually two distinct flows, respectively, ∼1200 and ∼1060), “1566” (∼1180), “1536” (two branches dated ∼1250 and ∼950), “1444” (a branch dated ∼1270), “1408” (lower branches dated ∼450 and ∼350), “1381” (∼1160), “1329” (∼1030), “1284” (∼1450 and ∼700), “1169 or 812” (∼1000) eruptions. Conversely, well-preserved cones and flows that are undated on the maps were produced by recent eruptions that went unnoticed in historical accounts, especially during the Middle Ages. For the few eruptions that are recorded between A.D. 252 and 750 B.C., none of their presumed lava flows shows a DGF in agreement with that existing at their respective dates of occurrence, most of these flows being in fact prehistoric. The cinder cones of Monpeloso (presumed “A.D. 252”) and Mt. Gorna (“394 B.C.”), although roughly consistent magnetically and radiochronologically with their respective epochs, remain of unspecified age because of a lack of precision of the DGF reference curve at the time. It is concluded that at the time scale of the last millennia, Mount Etna does not provide evidence of a steady-state behavior. Periods of voluminous eruptions lasting 50 to 150 years (e.g., A.D. 300–450, 950–1060, 1607–1669) are followed by centuries of less productive activity, although at any time a violent outburst may occur. Such a revised history should be taken into account for eruptive models, magma output, internal plumbing of the volcano, petrological evolution, volcano mapping and civil protection.     

Long-term solar activity as a controlling factor for global warming in the 20th century

Such high-resolution indirect data on solar activity as the ¹⁴C and ¹⁰Be cosmogenic isotopes have been considered. The long-term solar activity cyclicity during the last millennium with periods of approximately 90 and 210 years, which can be related to substantial climatic warming and cooling events in this millennium, has been established based on an analysis of these data. It has been indicated that long-term recent climate warming can result from the effect of the ∼90- and ∼210-year solar cycles on the climatic system, which is characterized by the nonlinear dynamics.     

Millennium recurrence interval of morphogenic earthquakes on the Qingchuan fault,northeastern segment of the Longmen Shan Thrust Belt,China

The 2008 M _w 7.9 Wenchuan produced a ～285–300-km-long coseismic surface rupture zone, including a 60-km-long segment along the Qingchuan fault, the northeastern segment of the Longmen Shan Thrust Belt (LSTB), Sichuan Basin, central China. Field investigations, trench excavations, and radiocarbon dating results reveal that (i) the Qingchuan fault is currently active as a seismogenic fault, along which four morphogenic earthquakes including the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake occurred in the past ca. 3500 years, suggesting an average millennium recurrence interval of morphogenic earthquakes in the late Holocene; (ii) the most recent event prior to the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake took place in the period between AD 1400 and AD 1100; (iii) the penultimate paleoseismic event occurred in the period around 2000 years BP in the Han Dynasty (206 BC–AD 220); (iv) the third paleoseismic event occurred in the period between 900 and 1800 BC; and (v) at least three seismic faulting events occurred in the early Holocene. The present results are comparable with those inferred in the central and southwestern segments of the LSTB within which the Wenchuan magnitude earthquakes occurred in a millennium recurrence interval, that are in contrast with previous estimates of 2000–10,000 years for the recurrence interval of morphogenic earthquakes within the LSTB and thereby necessitating substantial modifications to existing seismic hazard models for the densely populated region at the Sichuan region.     

Human impact on Holocene sediment dynamics in the Eastern Mediterranean – the example of the Roman harbour of Ephesus

During the past millennia, many erosion and accumulation processes have been modified by anthropogenic impact. This holds especially true for the environs of ancient settlements and their harbours along the Mediterranean coasts. Our multi‐proxy investigations in the Roman harbour and the harbour canal of Ephesus (western Turkey) reveals that humans have significantly triggered soil erosion during the last three millennia. Since the eighth century bc , and especially since the Hellenistic period, a high sedimentation rate indicates fast alluviation and delta progradation of the Küçük Menderes. Deforestation, agriculture (especially ploughing) and grazing (especially goats) were the main reasons for erosion of the river catchment area. One consequence was significant siltation of the Hellenistic/Roman harbour basin. This sediment trap archives the human impact, which was strongly enhanced from Hellenistic/Roman to Byzantine times (second/first centuries bc to the sixth/seventh centuries ad ), evidenced by high sedimentation rates, raised values of heavy metal contaminations [lead (Pb), copper (Cu)], the occurrence of fruit tree pollen and of intestinal parasites. From the middle to the end of the first millennium ad , the influence of Ephesus declined, which resulted in a decrease of human impact. Studies of several ancient settlements around the Mediterranean Sea tell a comparable story. They also confirm that during their most flourishing periods the human impact totally overprinted the climatic one. To detect the latter, geo‐bio‐archives of relatively pristine areas have to be investigated in detail. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical simulation study of temperature change over East China in the past millennium

Despite many studies on reconstructing the climate changes over the last millennium in China,the cause of the China’s climate change remains unclear.We used the UVic Earth System Climate Model(UVic Model),an Earth system model of intermediate complexity,to investigate the contributions of climate forcings(e.g.solar insolation variability,anomalous volcanic aerosols,greenhouse gas,solar orbital change,land cover changes,and anthropogenic sulfate aerosols) to surface air temperature over East China in the past millennium.The simulation of the UVic Model could reproduce the three main characteristic periods(e.g.the Medieval Warm Period(MWP),the Little Ice Age(LIA),and the 20th Century Warming Period(20CWP)) of the northern hemisphere and East China,which were consistent with the corresponding reconstructed air temperatures at century scales.The simulation result reflected that the air temperature anomalies of East China were larger than those of the global air temperature during the MWP and the first half of 20CWP and were lower than those during the LIA.The surface air temperature of East China over the past millennium has been divided into three periods in the MWP,four in the LIA,and one in the 20CWP.The MWP of East China was caused primarily by solar insolation and secondarily by volcanic aerosols.The variation of the LIA was dominated by the individual sizes of the contribution of solar insolation variability,greenhouse gas,and volcano aerosols.Greenhouse gas and volcano aerosols were the main forcings of the third and fourth periods of the LIA,respectively.We examined the nonlinear responses among the natural and anthropogenic forcings in terms of surface air temperature over East China.The nonlinear responses between the solar orbit change and anomalous volcano aerosols and those between the greenhouse gases and land cover change(or anthropogenic sulfate aerosols) all contributed approximately 0.2℃ by the end of 20th century.However,the output of the energy-moisture balance atmospheric model from UVic showed no obvious nonlinear responses between anthropogenic and natural forcings.The nonlinear responses among all the climate forcings(both anthropogenic and natural forcings) contributed to a temperature increase of approximately 0.27℃ at the end of the 20th century,accounting for approximately half of the warming during this period;the remainder was due to the climate forcings themselves.     

Les Éruptions Historiques de L’Etna: Chronologie et Localisation

A careful examination of historical documents pertaining to the long (over three thousand years) history of Mount Etna has been carried out. Despite the abundance of details on eruptions, sometimes very ancient (e.g. that of 479/8 B.C. described by PINDAR), it is shown that the reports are often too imprecise for identifying with certainty the type of eruptive activity and the spatial extension of lava flows — or even the lava flows and eruptive centres themselves —, many of these having been buried by subsequent volcanic activity. Conversely, it can be shown that well preserved cones and flows were apparently produced by eruptions that went unoticed by historians. These considerations are supported by previous paleomagnetic work : lava flows and eruptive systems taken as belonging to eruptions of the years 1651 (Scorciavacca), 1595 (Gallo Bianco), 1566 (Linguaglossa), 1536 (Mt Pomiciaro NW, and a small flow W of Mt Vetore), 1494 (Mt Frumento Supino), 1408 (Trecastagni), 1381 (N of Catania), 1329 (Linera, Mt Ilice), 1284 (N of Zafferana), 1169 or 812 (Mt Sona) ..., have paleomagnetic directions inconsistent with that of the geomagnetic field at these respective dates. The reinterpretation of ancient documents by recent authors is often misleading, and some major errors have been corrected. Obviously, many gaps or uncertainties remain in the summary of eruptive sequences, except perhaps for the last two or three centuries. Eruptive models that are based on the use of historical documents should be examined in the view of these uncertainties with great care.     

The late Holocene mollusc fauna of the Aral Sea and its biogeographical and ecological interpretation

The Aral Sea, in 1960 the fourth largest lake on Earth, has since experienced a catastrophic environmental change, which appears to be mainly a result of human impact. Here, we attempt to add to a better understanding of environmental changes during the last millennium by using fossil mollusc assemblages obtained from 10 sediment cores, which were taken by gravity coring in 1991. The biogeographical analysis demonstrates that no endemic molluscs have existed in the Aral Sea during the last 1000 years. The investigated taxa are of Caspian and Palaearctic origin. The molluscan biodiversity is much lower than previously assumed and particularly low for such a large lake, indicating unstable ecological conditions during the period investigated. Using comparative ecological analyses of thanatocoenoses and stable isotope ratios in gastropod shells, we conclude that the main lake level changes of the last millennium were strong and abrupt, showing relative high stands at about 1300 AD and 1650 AD.     

Archaeomagnetic investigations in Bulgaria: Field-intensity determinations

Geomagnetic paleointensity determination have been made by the Thellier method using samples from 27 sites in Bulgaria. The samples include bricks, specimens taken from historic kilns, from prehistoric hearths and the sites of ancient fires. The ages of the samples, which range from about 4500 B.C. to the 19th century A.D., have been determined partly by the ¹⁴C method and partly from archaeological evidence. The (residual NMR)-(induced TRM) diagrams tend to be less linear for the prehistoric samples either due to weathering or because the NRM is not a total TRM.     

Volcanology,history and myths of the Lake Albano maar (Colli Albani volcano,Italy)

The polygenetic Albano maar is the most recent centre of the Colli Albani volcano, located just few kilometres to the south-east of Roma. Presently the maar hosts a 167.5 m deep crater lake, the deepest in Europe. The maar is to be considered quiescent, as phreatic activity is documented throughout the Holocene. This paper illustrates the close relationships between the activity of the maar and the history of settlement in the Roman region as recorded in the geology, archaeology, history and legends of the area. Severe fluctuations of the groundwater table and catastrophic overflows of the Lake Albano from the maar rim had occurred prior to and after the early prehistoric settlements dated in the maar area at the Eneolithic times (ca. III millennium B.C.). Repeated lahars occurred along the northwestern slope of the maar filling in the paleodrainage network and forming a vast plain. Paleohydraulic analyses on fluvial and lahar deposits originated from the Holocene phreatic activity of the Albano maar indicate sediment–water flows in excess of hundreds of cubic metres per second. Absolute age determinations of the paleosoil underlying one of the most recent deposits of the lahar succession at 5800 ± 100 yr B.P. (¹⁴C CAL) are in perfect agreement with the age of the overlying Eneolithic age settlements. The last catastrophic overflow is described in the Roman literature as a consequence of the anger of Poseidon against the Romans in 398 B.C. for their war against the Etruscans. In 394 B.C. the Romans decided to prevent the repetition of such events by the excavation through the maar crater wall of a 1.5 km long drain tunnel, which is still operational, keeping the lake 70 m below the lowest point of the maar rim. This tunnel drain may be regarded as the first prevention device for volcanic hazard in history and shows an unprecedented development of the engineering technology under the pressure of hazard perception. The surprising and still largely unknown results of this study are very important to redefine the hazard of the Roman region.     

Magnetic signature of hydrocarbon-contaminated soils and sediments at the former oil field H?nigsen, Germany

Magnetic properties of hydrocarbon (HC) containing soils and sediments from two sites (Site A and B) of the former oil-field H?nigsen were analyzed in order to determine whether magnetic methods can be employed to delineate HC contamination of soils and sediments. Magnetic parameters such as magnetic susceptibility and induced isothermal remanent magnetizations, as well as soil and sediment properties such as pH, iron content and water content, HC content and most probable number counts of iron-metabolizing microorganisms were determined. The magnetic concentration-dependent parameters for HC contaminated samples were 25 times higher in soils from Site A than in sediment samples from Site B. However, at Site B the magnetic susceptibility was still four times higher in comparison to lithologically similar non-contaminated sediment samples from a third Site C. Newly formed magnetite containing mainly single domain particles was responsible for the magnetic enhancement, whereas superparamagnetic grains represented only a minor component. Site A had an acidic pH compared to neutral pH at Site B, and a higher crystalline and bioavailable total iron content. Nevertheless, Site B samples contained significant numbers of both iron(II)-oxidizing and iron(III)-reducing microorganisms indicating that microbial iron cycling might have taken place at this site and potentially played a role for iron mineral transformation, including magnetite (trans)formation. The content of total non-polar hydrocarbons (TNPH) at Site A was one order of magnitude higher than at Site B. Only at Site A magnetic susceptibility correlated well with TNPH. Our results demonstrate that HC contaminated samples had an enhanced magnetite content compared to non-contaminated soils and sediments. Therefore, magnetic methods may provide a quick and cost-effective way to assess HC contamination in soils and sediments. However, more field sites and laboratory investigations are needed to reveal the complex nature of the processes involved.     

Characteristics of tracks of ions of 14⩽Z⩽36 in common rock silicates

This paper concerns the identification of heavy ion tracks in minerals by measurements of track-etch rates and total etchable track lengths. With beams of Si, Cl, Ti, Fe, Zn and Kr at energies up to 10.35 MeV/nucleon we have irradiated nine minerals commonly used to study fossil cosmic ray tracks in meteorites and lunar samples. From our measurements of etched track length as a function of residual range, we have determined response curves for various minerals as a function of ionization rate, using the expression previously derived by Price, Fleischer and Moak. These curves increase smoothly with ionization rate instead of rising abruptly at some critical value as was previously thought. We have shown that the track etch rate concept accounts qualitatively for total etchable track length distributions, but that the positions of the peaks of different elements in these histograms occur at shorter lengths for fossil tracks than for fresh tracks. Our annealing data indicate that, at maximum lunar surface temperatures, tracks in olivine, orthopyroxenes and feldspars may be significantly shortened whereas tracks in clinopyroxenes will not be affected. We cite additional evidence that gradual rearrangement of radiation damage at ambient temperature makes the properties of fresh tracks and of ancient tracks different. It is thus not surprising that the histograms of fresh and fossil tracks do not match perfectly.     

Geomagnetic field intensity in the first millennium BC from data on ceramics of the Los Villares archaeological monument (Spain)

The geomagnetic field variation pattern in the second and third quarters of the first millennium BC is obtained from data on ceramic material sampled in the Los Villares multilayer archaeological monument (Spain). The analysis of available data on the geomagnetic field variation in Spain over the last seven millennia shows that it is similar to the geomagnetic variation pattern observed in other Eurasian regions. The amplitude of the “fundamental” (8000-yr) oscillation (≈20 μT) estimated from the Spain data exceeds significantly its amplitudes in other regions, which supports the previously noted tendency to a westward increase in the amplitude of the fundamental oscillation.     

禹荥泽——古黄河的一块天然滞洪区

荥泽是我国古代的一个著名湖泊,是我国经典地理著作《禹贡》记载的湖泊之一,其产生年代、形成环境及地理位置一直存在着不同的认识.本文以文献记载为线索,通过野外实地调查,从地质构造、地层分布和古地理环境诸方面,对荥阳地区槽状洼地内的湖相地层进行了较为系统的研究,并根据该地层的14C测年数据,认为这一湖相地层是由《禹贡》济水"入于河,溢为荥"的古湖泊所形成,因此将这个古湖泊称作禹荥泽.这个古湖泊实际上相当于当时黄河的一块天然滞洪区.     

Biotic evolution and its relation with geological events in the Proterozoic Yanshan Basin,North China

The Yanshan Basin,located in northern North China,underwent three primary stages in the Mesoproterozoic,and corresponding biotas have been summarized for each stage in the present study.The three stages are stage A(the lower part of the Changcheng Group which dominated by clastic sediments),stage B(the upper part of the Changcheng Group to the Jixian Group which characterized by carbonate sediments),and stage C(the upper part of the Jixian Group which dominated by clastic sediments).This paper will focus on the evolution of biota during stage B.Microbiota of the stage B exhibits a high level of diversity and abundance.Planktonic microfossils have various forms and complex decorations.Most microfossils are small.In stage B,there was great variation in the biotic abundance and diversity,the average diameter of spherical benthic microfossils,and the maximum diameter of the spherical microfossils.We analyzed these parameters and identified two typical biotic events,and both biotic events were corresponded with geological events.The first event occurred in the third member of the Dahongyu Formation.In this era,the maximum diameter of the silicified microfossils significantly increased,and large,spherical planktonic specimens are abundant.The flourishing of large organisms in the strata is presumably related to volcanic activity.The second event occurred in the third member of the Gaoyuzhuang Formation.During this era,the microfossil assemblage changed significantly.The changes correspond with a decline in stromatolites as well as the transformations of the carbon isotope ratios and the elemental geochemistry.     

太湖沉积物-水界面生源要素迁移机制及定量化—2.磷释放的热力学机制及源-汇转换

通过对云贵高原西北部鹤庆钻孔古湖相沉积岩芯的粒度、碳酸盐含量和烧失量等指标的综合分析、研究,重建了鹤庆盆地2．78 Ma以来的古环境演化过程．岩芯磁性地层表明,鹤庆湖盆形成于约2．78 Ma．环境代用指标的综合分析显示:鹤庆盆地2．78 Ma以来有过三次大的环境转变,即2．65 Ma鹤庆湖盆积水成湖,1．55 Ma、0．99 Ma左右山盆高差两次加大,这分别与青藏运动B幕、C幕和昆黄运动耦合．     

Organic structure and possible origin of ancient charred paddies at Chuodun Site in southern China

A number of ancient charred paddies with a ¹⁴C dating of about 5900 a BP were recovered in the sixth excavation at Chuodun Site and are assigned to the Majiabang culture (7–6 ka BP). To understand their formation mechanism, the ancient charred paddies were compared to modern paddies using FT-IR spectrum and thermaogravimetric analysis. At the same time, modern charred paddies were made in helium by the laboratory method, and the structural characteristics of them and the ancient ones were revealed using CP/MAS-¹³C-NMR. Our results show there are more aromatic moieties in ancient charred paddies compared to modern paddies. The aliphatic components of modern charred paddies decrease continuously, accompanied by the accumulation of aromatic components, when the duration and temperature of oxidation increase, and the structure buildings of modern charred paddies are more similar to ancient ones. Given the planting manner of paddies during Majiabang culture period, these ancient charred paddies might be a result of the original farming mode involving fire. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 40571088)     

Carbon isotopic variations of Proterozoic carbonates in Jixian,Tianjin, China

Along the Proterozoic stratigraphic sections of Jixian, Tianjin, the δ13C values of carbonates are mostly negative in the Changchengian (Changcheng System), varying approximately within a range of (0±1 )‰in the Jixianian (Jixian System), and have commonly positive values of (2±2)‰ in the Qingbaikouan (Qingbaikou System). From Chuanlinggou Formation to Dahongyu Formation, i.e. from ca. 1700 Ma to 1600 Ma, the δ13C values of carbonates increase from about -3‰ to 0‰, but oscillate with large excursion in Dahongyu Formation. Two large excursions occur in the Jixianian, one in Yangzhuang Formation and the other in the third sub-member of Wumishan Formation overlaying. These integrated and continuous records of carbon isotope reflect secular variations of δ13C value in ancient seawater from ca. 1700 Ma to ca. 800 Ma. The increase and subsequent oscillation of seawater δ13C value occurring from the ages of ca. 1700 to ca. 1600 Ma and <1300 Ma may signify two correlative global tectonic events.     

The anomalous reactions of the geomagnetic horizontal field transfer functions before Tangshan earthquake

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