A New Hypothetical Framework of Understanding the Evolution of Agriculture in the Lower Yangzi Region

Summary

Although a number of studies in recent years have contributed fresh knowledge to our understanding of the origins and development of agriculture in the Lower Yangzi, updated data have made this issue even more complicated. The empirical evidence shows very little information about any hunter-gatherers who might have lived in this area and indicates that, 10,000 years ago, humans first appeared here as successful resource managers or niche constructors. The human ecosystem characterized by wetland management had already become quite stable by 8,000 BP. How did such a system form? And where did it come from? Is the Kuahuqiao Culture truly the descendant of Shangshan or an independent culture that had come from the continental shelf that is submerged by the ocean now? Are the similarities in the subsistence patterns of Kuahuqiao and Hemudu caused by direct heritance or coincidental cultural choice? Here I intend to propose a new hypothetical framework that differs from the Chinese traditional cultural evolutionary view to explore these issues in light of cultural niche construction theory.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22537