Prehistoric agriculture development in the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau,southwest China: Archaeobotanical evidence

The origin, development and expansion of prehistoric agriculture in East Asia have been widely investigated over the past two decades using archaeobotanical analysis from excavated Neolithic and Bronze Age sites. Research on prehistoric agriculture has predominantly focused in the valleys of the Yellow River and the Yangtze River. Agricultural development during the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods in the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau of southwest China, an important passageway for human migration into Southeast Asia, still remains unclear. In this paper, based on macrofossil and microfossil analysis and radiocarbon dating at the Shilinggang site, we investigate plant subsistence strategies in the Nujiang River valley during the Bronze Age period. Combined with previous archaeobotanical studies in the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, we explore agricultural development processes in this area during the Neolithic and Bronze Age. Our results indicate that rice and foxtail millet were cultivated in Shilinggang around 2500 cal a BP. Three phases of prehistoric agricultural development in the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau can be identified: rice cultivation from 4800–3900 cal a BP, mixed rice and millet crop(foxtail millet and broomcorn millet) cultivation from 3900–3400 cal a BP, and mixed rice, millet crop and wheat cultivation from 3400–2300 cal a BP. The development of agriculture in the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau during the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods was primarily promoted by prehistoric agriculture expansion across Eurasia, agricultural expansion which was also affected by the topographic and hydrological characteristics of the area.     

History and possible mechanisms of prehistoric human migration to the Tibetan Plateau

Prehistoric human history on the Tibetan Plateau is a hotly debated topic. Archaeological research on the plateau during the past few decades has enormously improved our understanding of the topic and makes it possible for us to consider the processes and mechanisms of prehistoric human migration to the region. By reviewing the published archaeological research on the Tibetan Plateau, we propose that the first people on the plateau initially spread into the He-Huang region from the Chinese Loess Plateau, and then moved to the low elevation Northeastern Tibetan Plateau and perhaps subsequently to the entire plateau. This process consisted of four stages.(1) During the climatic amelioration of the Last Deglacial period(15–11.6 ka BP), Upper Paleolithic hunter-gatherers with a developed microlithic technology first spread into the Northeastern Tibetan Plateau.(2) In the early-mid Holocene(11.6–6 ka BP), Epipaleolithic microlithic hunter-gatherers were widely distributed on the northeastern plateau and spread southwards to the interior plateau, possibly with millet agriculture developed in the neighboring low elevation regions.(3) In the mid-late Holocene(6–4 ka BP), Neolithic millet farmers spread into low elevation river valleys in the northeastern and southeastern plateau areas.(4) In the late Holocene(4–2.3 ka BP), Bronze Age barley and wheat farmers further settled on the high elevation regions of the Tibetan Plateau, especially after 3.6 ka BP. Finally, we suggest that all of the reported Paleolithic sites earlier than the LGM on the Tibetan Plateau need further examination.     

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.     

The earliest archaeobiological evidence of the broad-ening agriculture in China recorded at Xishanping site in Gansu Province

The crop types and agricultural characteristic are reconstructed using the archaeobiological proxies of pollen, seed and phytolith at Xishanping site in Gansu Province between 5250 and 4300 cal a BP. The agricultural activity strengthened in Xishanping from 5100 cal a BP. It appeared the earliest cultivation of prehistoric rice in the most northwest China at 5070 cal a BP. The sudden disappearance of conifers and expansion of chestnut trees is likely to be the result of selective hewing of conifers and cultivation of chestnuts at about 4600 cal a BP. There existed 8 crop types of foxtail millet, broomcorn millet, rice, wheat, barley, oats, soybean and buckwheat at Xishanping between 4650 and 4300 cal a BP, which cover the main crop types of the two origin centers of East and West Asia. Not only has the wheat and barley been approved to spread to northwestern China, but the earliest complexity agriculture in Neo-lithic China appeared in Tianshui, Gansu Province.     

New methods and progress in research on the origins and evolution of prehistoric agriculture in China

China is one of the main global centers of origin of agriculture. Foxtail millet (Setaria italica), common millet (Panicum miliaceum), and rice (Oryza sativa) were the first crops to be domesticated in China. There remain many uncertainties and controversies in our current understanding of the chronology, locations, and plant types at the origins and the process of evolution of prehistoric millet and rice farming, and their relationships with climate change and human adaptation. This review summarizes the research progress made by Chinese scientists over the last decade on the origins and evolution of prehistoric agriculture. It highlights novel techniques and methods for identifying early crop remains, including plant macrofossils (carbonized seeds, spikelets), microfossils (phytoliths, calciphytoliths, starch, pollen), and biomarkers; new evidence on the origins, development, and spread of early agriculture; and research related to climate and environmental changes. Further, we pinpoint and discuss existing challenges and potential opportunities for further in-depth investigation of the origins and evolution of agriculture and the adaption of human activities to climate change.     

Kushan Period rice in the Amu Darya Basin: Evidence for prehistoric exchange along the southern Himalaya

The origins and prehistoric spread of rice agriculture between East and West Asia are hot topics in the current archaeological community. In this study, we present the results from a preliminary archaeobotanical study at the Khalchayan site in Uzbekistan, where we recovered the oldest securely dated rice thus far identified in Central Asia. We directly dated the rice grains to 1714–1756 cal yr BP(Kushan period), and morphologically compared them with other contemporaneous cultivated rice remains from China and India. The morphological results showed that the rice remains found at Khalchayan are more similar to cultivated japonica rice from southern China and northwestern India. Integrated archeological and chronological results from the surrounding area show that the rice remains found at Khalchayan likely spread along a southern Himalayan route from southwest China to northern India and finally reached the Amu Darya. The rice remains from Khalchayan are the first directly dated and well-reported rice remains found in Central Asia. By the Islamic period, rice was an important culinary aspect of the culture in Central Asia, but the cultural affinity towards rice only developed over the past two millennia. This study provides new information on the spread of rice agriculture globally, especially in arid-semiarid inland regions.     

Early millet use in West Liaohe area during early-middle Holocene

It is generally recognized that millet agriculture originated in northern China. However, the domestication process of foxtail millet(Setaria italica) and broomcorn millet(Panicum miliaceum) is still poorly understood. Based on statistical and morphological analyses of ancient millet starch grains, a tangible hypothesis has been proposed for the long-term domestication of green foxtail millet(S. viridis). However, the hypothesis requires validation by evidence from more regions and more archaeological finds. The West Liaohe region is one of the earliest regions of millet cultivation. Here, we report ancient starch grains recovered from 12 stone grinding tools from eight sites of the Xiaohexi culture(before 8.5 ka BP), Xinglongwa culture(8.2–7.4 ka BP), Zhaobaogou culture(7.0–6.4 ka BP), and Hongshan culture(6.5–5.0 ka BP) in the West Liaohe region of China. Our results indicate that the proportion of millet starch grains with wrinkled surfaces and rough edges, which are diagnostic of wild millet grasses, decreased from 13.0% to 3.4% from the Xiaohexi culture to the Hongshan culture. Millet starch grains measuring 16.8 ?m, a size class recorded only in domesticated foxtail millet, increased from 55.0% to 62.1%. These millet data imply that the process of millet domestication in the West Liaohe region began in the Xiaohexi period and continued up to the Hongshan period.     

东亚大陆、 西亚大陆和东地中海地区地震活动性异同的初步综述

本文初步综述了东亚大陆、 西亚大陆和东地中海地震区地震活动性异同。 地震活动性的含义不仅指地震的时空强图像, 也包括地震的构造和动力学背景分析。 结果表明, 总体上东亚大陆、 西亚大陆和东地中海地区的地震活动性和变形, 都和欧亚板块与周边(北美、 太平洋、 菲律宾海、 印度、 阿拉伯和非洲等)板块等相互作用(汇聚、 碰撞、 俯冲和速度)密切相关。 宏观上, 东亚大陆、 西亚大陆和东地中海地区的地震活动性都表现为疏密相间的震中分布图像以及断裂走向的对称性等。 然而, 在这些大陆地震区相关的板块相互作用的边界上以及内部的地震活动、 构造和动力学背景等方面仍存在不少差异。     

Spatiotemporal evolution of prehistoric Neolithic-Bronze Age settlements and influencing factors in the Guanting Basin,northeast Tibetan Plateau

For almost two decades, the relationship between prehistoric natural disasters that struck the Guanting Basin in northeast Tibetan Plateau and the destruction of Lajia, an archeological site, has attracted scholarly attention and been widely discussed. Whereas most studies have focused on the impacts of disasters on a single site within the Guanting Basin, few have examined patterns of spatiotemporal evolution of human settlements from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. Consequently, there is a lack of clarity on the processes and mechanisms underlying the evolution of prehistoric human-land relationships in the Guanting Basin. We therefore examined spatiotemporal variations in settlements in the Guanting Basin during the period, based on the locations, altitudes, and areas of archaeological sites. We found that four sites were located on the third terrace of the Yellow River during the late Yangshao period(5500–5000 cal yr BP) and distributed within a small area. During the period between the Majiayao and Qijia cultures(5300–3600 cal yr BP), the number of sites evidently increased and the scale and distribution of settlements expanded, with settlements generally shifting toward the lower elevation areas of the Guanting Basin.During the Xindian period(3400–2700 cal yr BP), the number and scale of sites showed a downward trend and the distribution of settlements contracted. The Xindian settlement underwent altitude-based spatial differentiation, with some groups moving to areas at higher altitudes and others remained in lower altitude areas. Moreover, we found that the number, scale, and distribution range of Neolithic and Bronze Age sites in the Guanting Basin were closely related to the evolution and distribution patterns of prehistoric cultures in the regions of Gansu and Qinghai, which were further affected by climate change and agricultural development. Furthermore, there is no evidence that the altitudinal distribution pattern of Neolithic and Bronze Age settlements in the Guanting Basin was influenced by paleofloods rather it was primarily influenced by changes in subsistence strategies.     

C and N stable isotope analysis of human and animal bones at the Beiqian site

The Beiqian site, located in Jimo city, Qingdao, went through three archaeological excavations, and a large number of human and animal bones in the Dawenkou culture and the Zhou Dynasty period were unearthed. By carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis, the diet of ancestors is expected to be recovered, and the domesticated plants and animals will be discussed. The investigated results showed that the food structure of ancestors in both periods included food crops, mainly C4 foods, and meat, mainly marine shellfish and livestock. For domestic pigs, they mainly eat C3 plants, and were affected by the lifestyle of ancestors. This study also showed that the diet of ancestors is the shellfish rather than marine fish despite the Beiqian site is located near the shoreline. We can conclude that the diet of ancestors in Dawenkou culture period included millet crops (C4 plants), shellfish, marine food, and livestock, representing the lifestyle of farming, domestication, and fishing, supplemented by hunting. In the Zhou dynasty period the meat resource was enriched by domesticated animals and marine fisheries, and the living conditions were significantly improved.     

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.     

Human activity during the late Pleistocene in the Lop Nur region,northwest China: Evidence from a buried stone artifact

The Lop Nur region, in the east part of Tarim Basin, was an important transportation junction between west and east, north and south Eurasia. However, previous studies on prehistoric human activity have concentrated mostly on the Bronze Age, whereas that during the Stone Age remains largely unresearched. Here, we present a new direct evidence of human activity in the late Pleistocene, recorded on a grinding stone buried in a lacustrine sediment section of the Lop Nur region. The grain size distribution of the sediment section indicates that the site was probably in the center of a lake with weak hydrodynamic environment. Therefore, the stone artifact can only be carried to here by people instead of river and it was never move as soon as left here. Results of radiocarbon dating, the evident stratigraphic relations between the stone artifact and the sedimentary formation, indicate that the human activity could extend to approximately 13 ka BP. Furthermore, the results of starch-grain and use-wear analyses suggest that ancient humans gathered seeds of Triticeae, roots, and tubers and used the grinding stone to simply process selected plant as plant foodstuffs during this period. It implies that the environmental conditions in the river delta of the Lop Nur were inhabitable during the late Pleistocene.     

The Campanian Ignimbrite and Codola tephra layers: Two temporal/stratigraphic markers for the Early Upper Palaeolithic in southern Italy and eastern Europe

Tephra layers from archaeological sites in southern Italy and eastern Europe stratigraphically associated with cultural levels containing Early Upper Palaeolithic industry were analysed. The results confirm the occurrence of the Campanian Ignimbrite tephra (CI; ca. 40 cal ka BP) at Castelcivita Cave (southern Italy), Temnata Cave (Bulgaria) and in the Kostenki–Borshchevo area of the Russian Plain. This tephra, originated from the largest eruption of the Phlegrean Field caldera, represents the widest volcanic deposit and one of the most important temporal/stratigraphic markers of western Eurasia. At Paglicci Cave and lesser sites in the Apulia region we recognise a chemically and texturally different tephra, which lithologically, chronologically and chemically matches the physical and chemical characteristics of the Plinian eruption of Codola; a poorly known Late Pleistocene explosive event from the Neapolitan volcanoes, likely Somma–Vesuvius. For this latter, we propose a preliminary age estimate of ca. 33 cal ka BP and a correlation to the widespread C-10 marine tephra of the central Mediterranean. The stratigraphic position of both CI and Codola tephra layers at Castelcivita and Paglicci help date the first and the last documented appearance of Early Upper Palaeolithic industries of southern Italy to ca. 41–40 and 33 cal ka BP, respectively, or between two interstadial oscillations of the Monticchio pollen record – to which the CI and Codola tephras are physically correlated – corresponding to the Greenland interstadials 10–9 and 5. In eastern Europe, the stratigraphic and chronometric data seem to indicate an earlier appearance of the Early Upper Palaeolithic industries, which would predate of two millennia at least the overlying CI tephra. The tephrostratigraphic correlation indicates that in both regions the innovations connected with the so-called Early Upper Palaeolithic – encompassing subsistence strategy and stone tool technology – appeared and evolved during one of the most unstable climatic phases of the Last Glacial period. On this basis, the marked environmental unpredictability characterising this time-span is seen as a potential ecological factor involved in the cultural changes observed.     

安徽固镇垓下遗址自然变形遗迹的发现及特征初探

古遗址、墓地发掘过程中自然变形的识别研究是反演或充实历史或史前地震变形资料的重要工作。地震部门与文物考古部门合作,对安徽固镇垓下遗址考古现场进行了专题发掘研究,发现了断层和裂缝,初步研究显示为同期2次层位变动事件的遗迹,发生时代约相当于大汶口文化晚期,该工作有助于推动中国东部人类文化层中地震遗迹的识别     

Luminescence and radiocarbon chronologies for the Xindian Culture site of Lamafeng in the Guanting Basin on the NE edge of the Tibetan Plateau

The archaeological Lajia and Lamafeng sites were situated in the Guanting Basin in the northeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau, and were in the second terrace of the Yellow River. The Lamafeng site is only 1500 m away from Lajia site. The Lajia site belongs to typical Qijia culture (4100–3600 cal a BP). Many human skeletons were found in the Lajia site. These remains presented a state of unnatural deaths. They were all buried in-situ. The Lajia site recorded a prehistoric natural disaster, and the cause of which was probably a combination of earthquake and flooding due to the outburst of a lake that had been dammed by a landslide on the Yellow River. The Lajia site was abandoned by the prehistoric people after the disaster, but follow-up cultural relics were not found. Lamafeng site is a representative of Xindian Culture (3400–2600 cal a BP). The investigation of the Xindian Culture is intensive. However, the chronological data is still very limited, and no luminescence data has been reported so far. In the current study, both optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) (three samples) and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) (five charcoal samples) dating are applied to samples from Lamafeng archaeological site. The results showed that: (1) For the sample from the cultural layer, within error margins OSL and ¹⁴C ages are in good agreement. The ¹⁴C ages show that the cultural layer has an age range of ∼2400–2300 cal a BP. (2) The Lamafeng site was inhabited by the people of Xindian Culture, which indicated that the natural disaster occurred in the Qijia culture period did not completely destroy the prehistoric culture in the basin. (3) There was an enhanced extreme flood activity during Qijia and Xindian Culture periods, and the extreme flood period was ended at 2.6 ± 0.2 ka.     

Tsunami Generated by the Late Bronze Age Eruption of Thera (Santorini), Greece

—Tsunami were generated during the Late Bronze Age (LBA) eruption of the island of Thera, in the southern Aegean Sea, by both caldera collapse, and by the entry of pyroclastic surges/flows and lahars/debris flows into the sea. Tsunami generated by caldera collapse propagated to the west producing deep-sea sedimentary deposits in the eastern Mediterranean Sea known as homogenites; open-ocean wave heights of about 1.9–17 m are estimated. Tsunami generated by the entry of pyroclastic flows/surges and lahars/debris flows into the sea propagated in all directions around the island; wave heights along coastal areas were about 7–12 m as estimated from newly identified tsunami deposits on eastern Thera as well as from pumice deposits found at archaeological sites on northern and eastern Crete.     

The influence of agriculture in the process of population integration and cultural interaction during the Eastern Zhou Period in central-south,Inner Mongolia: Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis of human bones from the Dabaoshan cemetery,Helingeer County

Central-south Inner Mongolia, China, is highly sensitive to the cultural interactions between sedentary agriculturalists and nomadic pastoralists during the Eastern Zhou Period (770–256 BC). The previous pattern of multiple cultures and diverse ethnic groups has been transformed to the increasingly dominated cultural system of Central Plain since the middle and late Warring States Period, when the states of Zhao and Qin have conquered the most parts of central-south Inner Mongolia. However, the variation of subsistence strategies during this historical process has never been evaluated. Particularly, as the typical representative of Central Plain cultures, the effect of intensive millet agriculture is still unknown in the process of population integration and culture interaction. Thus, to explore the shift of subsistence pattern, carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis of bone collagen from Dabaoshan site (410–180 BC) have been performed. The isotopic result indicates a large amount of C4-based animal protein consumed by Dabaoshan humans. According to the archaeological backgrounds, we propose the Dabaoshan persons intensively relied on the millet agriculture and developed the agro-pastoral economy, which hinted the comprehensive influences from Central plain civilizations in late Warring States Period. Further compared with other published isotopic data in the same region during different periods, we suggest the millet agriculture has played the positive role in the process of population integration and culture fusion in central-south Inner Mongolia during the Eastern Zhou Period.     

东亚及西太平洋边缘海高分辨率面波层析成像

根据欧亚大陆及西太平洋地区58个数字地震台站约12000个长周期波形记录,挑选出4100条面波大圆传播路径,采用面波频散及波形拟合反演方法,对东亚及西太平洋边缘海地区(60°E-160°E,20°S-60°N)的地壳上地幔进行了高分辨率三维S波速度成像. 结果表明,从上地壳到70km深,在东亚东部及西太平洋边缘海地区为高速分布,西部以青藏高原为中心呈极低速分布. 自地中海经土耳其、伊朗、喜马拉雅山到缅甸、印尼群岛的特提斯汇聚碰撞带,显示为低速异常链. 从85km至250km深,在东亚东部及西太平洋边缘海,自北向南显示出一条巨型低速异常带,西部地区为高速异常分布.以东经110°E为界,东西两部分岩石圈、软流圈的结构与深部动力过程有着巨大的差异. 此界线以西主要是印度板块与欧亚板块碰撞引起的岩石圈汇聚增厚区,东部则主要是由于软流圈上涌(地幔热物质上升)引起的岩石圈拉张减薄区.     

The emergence,development and regional differences of mixed farming of rice and millet in the upper and middle Huai River Valley,China

Mixed farming of rice and millet is one of the basic agricultural modes in the upper and middle Huai River Valley(HRV). According to the latest data, this agricultural mode appeared during the middle and late Peiligang Culture(7.8–7.0 ka BP) in the upper HRV, and then became a common subsistence economy in the end of the Neolithic(5.0–4.0 ka BP) in both the upper and middle HRV. However, it is still not clear how this mixed farming developed in the upper HRV after its occurrence, nor are the regional differences in the development of mixed farming between the upper and middle HRV during the Neolithic completely understood. In this paper, flotation and starch analyses were conducted on samples from eight archaeological sites in the upper and middle HRV. The results indicate that the mixed farming of rice and millet first appeared in the later phase of the middle Neolithic in the regions of the Peiligang Culture, then developed quite rapidly in the late Neolithic(6.8–5.0 ka BP), finally becoming the main subsistence economy at the end of the Neolithic in the upper HRV. However, there are obvious differences in the emergence and development of agriculture between the middle and upper HRV. Rice farming was the only agricultural system during the middle Neolithic, lasting until the end of the Neolithic, when mixed farming appeared in the middle HRV. Furthermore, although mixed farming appeared in both the upper and middle HRV during the end of the Neolithic, the roles of rice, foxtail millet and broomcorn millet in the subsistence economy were not the same. In general, millet was more widely cultivated than rice in the upper HRV, but rice occupied the same or a slightly more prominent position in the middle HRV at the end of the Neolithic. These results are significant for understanding the process of agricultural development and transformation, as well as human adaptation to climatic and cultural variability duringthe Neolithic.     

Paleomagnetic constraints on the tectonic history of the major blocks of China duing the Phanerozoic

Paleomagnetic study of China and its constraints on Asia tectonics has been a hot spot. Some new paleomagnetic data from three major blocks of China. North China Block (NCB), Yangtze Block (YZB) and Tarim Block (TRM) are first reported, and then available published Phanerozoic paleomagnetic poles from these blocks with the goal of placing constraints on the drift history and paleocontinental reconstruction are critically reviewed. It was found that all three major blocks were located at the mid-low latitude in the Southern Hemisphere during the Early Paleozoic. The NCB was probably independent in terms of dynamics. its drift history was dominant by latitudinal placement accompanying rotation in the Early Paleozoic. The YZB was close to Gondwanaland in Cambrian, and separated from Gondwanaland during the Late-Middle Ordovician. The TRM was part of Gondwanaland, and might be close to the YZB and Australia in the Early Paleozoic. Paleomagnetic data show that the TRM was separated from Gondwanaland during the Late-Middle Ordovician, and then drifted northward. The TRM was sutured to Siberia and Kazakstan blocks during the Permian, however, the composite Mongolia-NCB block did not collide with Siberia till Late Jurassic. During Late Permian to Late Triassic, the NCB and YZB were characterized by northern latitudinal placement and rotation on the pivot in the Dabie area. The NCB and YZB collided first in the eastern part where they were located at northern latitude of about 6°—8°, and a triangular oceanic basin remained in the Late Permian. The suturing zone was located at northern latitude of 25° where the two blocks collided at the western part in the Late Triassic. The collision between the two blocks propagated westward after the YZB rotated about 70° relative to the NCB during the Late Permian to Middle Jurassic. Then two blocks were northward drifting (about 5°) together with relative rotating and crust shortening. It was such scissors-like collision procedure that produced intensive compression in the eastern part of suturing zone between the NCB and YZB, in which continental crust subducted into the upper mantle in the Late Permian, and then the ultrahigh-pressure rocks extruded in the Late Triassic. Paleomagnetic data also indicate that three major blocks have been together clockwise rotating about 20° relative to present-day rotation axis since the Late Jurassic. It was proposed that Lahsa Block and India subcontinent successively northward subducted and collided with Eurasia or collision between Pacific/Philippines plates and Eurasia might be responsible for this clockwise rotating of Chinese continent.