Agriculture

Longshan Famines,China

From ca 2200-1900/1800 BCE cold,dry conditions of variable duration and intensity impacted on numerous regions of the world.Where the climate conditions were exceptionally severe for a prolonged period of time,some urban communities collapsed.Subsequently,as the weather moderated,new cultures emerged.Glacial cores from two areas in Peru and sediments cores from the Lake Titicaca region indicate cold,dry conditions from ca 2200-1900 BCE [M Mosley,2001].The residents of Caral,Peru, abandoned their homes during this era and the communities were not reoccupied [S Solis,2001].Deep sea cores from the North Atlantic Ocean recovered volcanic ash,that might have fallen from icebergs,further south than usual ca 2000 BCE.If the ash was not transported by aeolian activity,an appreciable decline in temperature is inferred.There was intense,coeval movement of sand along  the shorelines of Jutlan, Denmark,and Northumberland England.Dune development ca 2000 BCE implies large storms [A Blackmore,2005] S Oppenheimer [2006] reported a gene flow from NW Europe and Scandinavia to the east coast of Britain and the Channel Islands ca 2050? BCE,which contributed about 3.0% to the British gene pool.These people might have moved south to warmer regions,when food became scarce in their homelands.Not all countries suffered from these unfavourable weather conditions.The High Arctic Small Tool Traditon prospered along the northern coast of Greenland during this period.Analysis of cave stalagmites in Romania indicated a cold event ca 2000 BCE.

Nile flood waters usually flowed into Lake Birk Qarum,SW of the Gaza Plateau,Egypt.A low density of lacustrine bottom sediment cores recorded a depositional hiatus  ca 2200 BCE,which correlates with an absence of water in the lake over  a considerable time frame.Dust deposits at the Kajemarum Oasis  ca 2150 BCE lend support a long term shift in the weather pattern.The ratio of heavy to light oxygen in stalagmites and staclacitities in an Israel cave exhibited an appreciable increase ca 2200 BCE,which equates to about a 20% reduction in precipitation.The era of chaos in Egypt from ca 2200 -1900 BCE,which witnessed the demise of the Old Kingdom can probably be attributed to in part to the inclement weather.The tomb of a Satrap,who died soon after the collapse of the Old Kingdom,contains information about  extensive famine and the disintegration of society over a portion of northern Egypt,when people took extreme measures to survive.Excavations in this region yielded the skeleton remains of nearly 9000 individuals in a mass grave.This is an uncharacteristic deviation from normal burial practices,which venerated the dead [SBS documentary].

There is evidence of cold temperatures and drought in eastern Anatolia  at the head waters of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers during this period [J Birman,1968] and Beydarin in NE syria was abandoned.Sea floor dust deposits indicated,that the Akkadian empire  was subjected to 300 years of drought.Excavations at a number of Syria urban centres revealed a long,cold era from ca 2200-2000 BCE,which disrupted life styles and  created severe famines.There was a critical drop in Dead Sea water levels and there was a dramatic change in the Asian monsoon system.The large north Syria and north Arabia semi-arid steppe lands could support semi-nomadic  sheep and goat herders, when average rainfalls were normal.In the latter part of the third millennium BCE Amorite herders moved into the irrigated farmlands to the SE,where there was greater opportunity to obtain sustenance. These fierce warriors crushed all resistance in their path.The cold,dry ca 2200-1900/1800 BCE contributed to the fall of many city states.It is difficult to determine the degree to which this inclement weather  impacted on the Harappian civilization,because tectonic activity in the uplands  changed the courses of rivers and  deprived the Thor Desert region of its vital water supply.

China was not immune to the change in climatic conditions.However its large areal extent provided a wide spectrum of environmental options for the inhabitants,which were not available to some of the smaller countries,that were affected by the changes in climatic conditions.People in China frequently had the opportunity to move to a region,which had adequate resources to sustain a larger population.

Central and Inner Mongolian pollen profiles from ca 3700-2200 BCE recorded distinct increases in drought resistant herbs and shrubs,which infers colder,dryer weather.This could have motivated some of the residents to move southward.Ca 2600 BCE the Yellow River shifted to its lower course and the central plains to the north became a massive landscape,with no significant natural barriers between northern Henan and NW Shandong. From ca 3000-2000 BCE the cooler temperatures caused a contraction of lakes and marshes,which expanded the available arable land on the central plains.Subsequently there was a considerable population expansion.Human migration often resulted in cultural and technological exchange,which could benefit communities [L Lui,2004].

From ca 2500-2000 BCE it gradually became cooler and dryer in the Wei River Valley.Pollen samples revealed an increase in drought resistant flora.Longshan cultural [ca 2600-2000 BCE] settlements were generally located near rivers,with proximal lithic resources,arable land and pasture.The Kangjia community [ca 2500-2000 BCE] was in the Wei River Valley about 20km north of the Li Mountains  and 4.5km east of the Shichuan River.The inhabitant’s subsistence economy depended on agricultural produce,animal husbandry,gathering and hunting.Pigs were the primary domestic animal,with sheep/goats the second most common taxa.Sika deer dominated the feral fauna remains.The progressive decline in pig bones from 23% to 6% and the dramatic increase in Sika deer remains during the final phases of occupation,emphasises the temporal shift to wild game procurement.This trend contrasts with the Neolithic sites at Shandong and Henan,where pig populations increased.The Kangjia herders were forced to relocate,because the land could no longer sustain them [ibid].

Taosi [ca2600-2000 BCE] was the largest [300ha] known Neolithic urban centre in the Yellow River Valley.It was defended by a rammed earth enclosure,with a 5ha palatial area,elite residences and a large granary.There seems to have been turmoil during the final phases at Taosi.The enclosure was destroyed,the phase one palatial area became a production centre,40 human skeletons in a ditch within the palatial area had suffered violent deaths and some of the opulent rich interments were defiled [ibid].The abandonment of Taiso has features in common with a number of urban centres in Syria,Peru  and Mesopotamia.It is usually more difficult for an integrated, socially stratified urban trade centre to relocate,than it is for a small village,where the populace can readily move their herds to a more favourable location [eg:Kangjai],without resorting to violence.Many rural  people in China were in a better position to cope with the cold,dry ca 2200-1900/1800 period than the residents of the Nile Valley.

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