长江流域全新世环境考古研究进展

长江流域是我国重要的经济区和人类文明孕育、诞生和发展区,也是水旱等自然灾害频繁发生的地区,在该区开展全新世环境考古研究,对弄清全新世10.0~3.0 ka BP无文字记载期的环境演变和人地关系互动影响有着重要的科学意义。近年来,长江流域全新世环境考古主要以古洪水和海面变化事件地层学为依据和线索,从遗址时空分布学研究、典型遗址考古地层学研究,以及区域内自然沉积地层记录的环境演变背景特征研究这三个方面入手,在长江流域的上、中、下游地区均获得了有重要意义的进展,表明长江流域全新世环境考古正在向更深更广的领域发展。同时,国际环境考古研究也在不断深入发展,新出版的PAGES Magazine杂志就特别关注了分辨率高达一年至数月的过去沉积记录;遥感、GIS等技术和DNA等分子生物学技术正不断在环境考古领域得到应用。

Research progress on Holocene environmental archaeology in the Yangtze River Valley,China

The Yangtze River Valley is an important economic zone in China with a long history of human civilization. However, natural disasters, such as floods and droughts, also frequently occur in this area. The study of Holocene environmental archaeology has important scientific significance for clarifying the interactive effects between environmental evolution and human activities during 10.0-3.0 ka BP with no written records. In recent years, Holocene environmental archaeology was mainly based on the event stratigraphy of palaeoflood and sea-level change in the Yangtze River Valley. From the aspects of temporal-spatial distribution of archaeological sites, archaeological stratigraphy of typical sites, and regional environmental evolution archived from typical natural sedimentary strata, there have been significant progresses of Holocene environmental archaeology in the upper, middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, which indicate deeper and wider development of this research field. Also, the development of international research on environmental archaeology is deepening continuously, such as the new progress on annual recorders of the past in PAGES Magazine. New technologies, such as RS, GIS and DNA analysis, are also applied in the field of environmental archaeology. China has a long history, therefore many archaeological sites and well preserved natural sedimentary records are of great value in environmental archaeology research. In the future, we should keep pace with the international frontier, and take full advantage of above richly endowed conditions, which will further promote the progress on the Holocene environmental archaeology of the Yangtze River Valley.