Lesson 10: Asian Ecological History – Part I: Prehistory to Early Cultivation

Amy E. DurayEVPP 490 0033 March 2010

Modes of Resource Use

• Intended to be a complement to Marx’s Modes of Production

• Includes ideological components and ecological impacts

• Continuum• Potential for Overlap

Asian Ecological Prehistory

• Climatic changes at end of Pleistocene (1.2m – 10,000 years ago)– Four glacial periods– Decrease in global sea levels (120m)– Younger Dryas (approx. 12,800 to 11,500 years

ago)– Glaciation corresponds postively with aridity– Corresponds with earliest agricultural records in

Southwest Asia

Last Glacial Maximum

Northern hemisphere glaciation during the last ice ages. The accumulation of 3 to 4 km thick ice sheets caused a sea level lowering of about 120 m. Also, the Alps and the Himalayas were covered by glaciers. Winter sea ice coverage was much more limited in the south. Source: John S. Schlee (2000) Our changing continent, United States Geological Survey. Via wikipedia.org

Compiled by Jonathan Adams, Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Gwanak-Do, Seoul, South Korea via internet at: http://www.esd.ornl.gov/projects/qen/nerc.html on 2 March 2010

Eurasia during the Younger Dryas

Compiled by Jonathan Adams, Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Gwanak-Do, Seoul, South Korea via internet: http://www.esd.ornl.gov/projects/qen/NEW_MAPS/eurasia3.gif on 2 March 2010

China Climatic History (1 of 2)

Source: Winkler & Wang (1994)

China Climatic History (2 of 2)

Source: Winkler & Wang (1994)

China Climatic History Summary

a. Sea level &dominant treevaried with{Temperature,precipitation}.

b. Since the StoneAge, it has beenboth colder andhotter in E. Asiathan it is today.Source: Winkler & Wang (1994)

Big Climate Events of Recent Millennia

• Younger Drayas(~11ka, dust storms in Asia)• Holocene climatic optimum (~7-3ka)• Climate changes of 535-536 (535-536 AD)• Medieval warm period (900-1300, ver. in Jp.)• Little ice age (1300-1800, verified in Japan)• Year Without a Summer (1816, volcanic?)Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleoclimatology#Planet.27s_timeline

Very Early Prehistory

• Arrival of Modern Humans from Africa c. 50,000 yrs ago

• Mesolithic Economy of Fishing, Hunting and Gathering widespread until early cultivation begins in 8000 and 6000 BCE

• Remote and highland locations this economy persists for several millenia

• Expansion of farming communities in Yangtze and Yellow River valleys – interactions with gathering communities

Transition to Agriculture – Yellow River Millet Culture

• Centered in Loess Plateau and North China Plain

• Domestication of indigenous plants and shrubs

• Domestic animals – dogs and pigs• Supplemented with hunting, gathering and

fishing• Early tools to support agriculture

Transition to Agriculture – Yangtze River Rice Culture

• Centered in the Yangtze River and Huai River – northern limits of wild rice

• Domestication of rice species previously gathered• Settlements develop to support agriculture as

early as 9400-8400 BCE• Climate cooled again 7000 BCE• Resurgence of farming settlements c. 6000-5000

BCE• Technology develops to hybridize rice to

withstand climatic extremes

Proliferation of Rice Agriculture to Northeast

• Domestication of ever-more cold-resistant species

• Supported by prevailing weather patterns• Dry-field rice• Soil nutrient depletion requires crop rotation• Metallurgy and irrigation advances in

technology (c. 1500) allows for paddy-rice cultivation

Proliferation of Rice Agriculture to Southeast

• Dissemination of wild rice from India and Sri Lanka

• Southward migration of cultivation from Yangtze river

• Mainland cultivation predates insular cultivation

• Cultivation of root vegetables, rice stored for winter months

Ecological and Cultural Impacts of Settled Cultivation

• Conversion of land into agricultural patches• Foraging as a supplemental economy• Increasing agricultural output allows for larger

settlements, diversification of labor• Beginning of man manipulating his

environment – Confucian mandate to control nature originates

Population Dynamics

• Where will human settlements be located and why?– China – River valleys– Japan and Korea – Coastal Areas and tidal

floodplains– Southeast Asia – Edges (coasts and rainforest

periphery)• What are the effects upon total population?– Reliability of Food (technology)– Animal Husbandry

Dynasties of China

Ecological Impacts

• Agricultural land use• Less and Less habitat for foraging activities• Decreasing woodland area

War and Conflict

• Major Conflicts over the period– China North v. South– Korea ethnic conflict– Mongol invasion of 12th C. CE

• Impacts to people and the environment– Displaced persons– Technological dissemination– Mongol invasion – huge intermixing of previously

isolated populations

Ancient Chinese Hydrological StationOn the Yangtze River. Baiheliang(White Crane Ridge), nowsubmerged under Three GorgesReservoir water, carries the earliestand lowest water hydrologicalinscriptions, which record 1,200consecutive years of water levelchanges. It's a 1,600-meter-long and 15-meter-wide rock ridge in the Yangtze River.

Source: Anon. 2003 Read the whole story at: http://www.china.org.cn/english/2003/Oct/77690.htm

Chinese Hydrological Records

Source: Wang (1979) athttp://windy.aos.wisc.edu/pao/wang-1979-bams.pdf