Ma Minmin, Dong Jiajia, Yang Yishi, Jones Martin K, Wang Jia, Chen Guoke, Li Gang, He Letian, Wei Wenyu, Xu Yongxiang, Lu Yongxiu, Ren Lele, Dong Guanghui, Chen Fahu
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Western China's Environmental System, College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Zhaotong University, Zhaotong 657000, China.
Fundam Res. 2023 Jul 4;5(2):727-733. doi: 10.1016/j.fmre.2023.06.007. eCollection 2025 Mar.
The intensification of millet agriculture facilitated the development of ancient civilization in northern China. In Inner Mongolia and the Central Plains, the intensification of millet farming was relatively continuous. However, prior evidence from the western Loess Plateau (WLP) has suggested an indistinct sequence of millet cultivation and a time lag between the initial intensification of millet agriculture and subsequent expansion of millet farming. We report on new stable isotopic data and radiocarbon dates from the Gedachuan site which challenge that interpretation. Our results indicate a gradual intensification and expansion of millet agriculture across the whole WLP. They attest to intensive broomcorn millet-based farming underpinning the emergence and development of the agrarian society in the WLP during the early-middle Yangshao period (∼6300-5500 BP), and to an intensification of the higher-yielding foxtail millet-based farming leading to the rapid growth of population in the WLP and expansion of millet cultivation after 5300 BP.
粟作农业的集约化促进了中国北方古代文明的发展。在内蒙古和中原地区，粟作农业的集约化相对持续。然而，此前来自黄土高原西部（WLP）的证据表明，粟作农业的发展序列不清晰，且粟作农业最初集约化与随后粟作种植扩张之间存在时间滞后。我们报告了来自圪垯川遗址的新的稳定同位素数据和放射性碳年代测定结果，这些结果对上述解释提出了挑战。我们的结果表明，整个黄土高原西部的粟作农业逐渐集约化并扩张。它们证明，在仰韶时代早期至中期（约公元前6300 - 5500年），以黍为主的集约化农业支撑了黄土高原西部农业社会的出现和发展；并且证明，在公元前5300年之后，以产量更高的粟为主的农业集约化导致了黄土高原西部人口的快速增长和粟作种植的扩张。
