Research On Botanical Resource Use And Human-Land Relationship From Neolithic To Bronze Age In Southwest China

Southwest China is famous for its diverse landform and ecology.There are mountains,valleys,inter-mountain basins and complex water systems in this area,which provide the natural routes for cultural communication and lead to a complicated cultural features Since the Neolithic.At present,the archaeological sequence in this region has been preliminarily understood.But the utilization of botanical resource mainly focused on the small area.In this paper,We integrate all the plant-related materials in archaeological sites from Neolithic to Bronze age in southwest China,and combine the research achievements on the environmental archaeology and animal archaeology to observe the process of plant resource utilization and the change of subsistence.The accumulation of archaeobotanical data makes it possible to draw a big picture in this area that how the agricultural pattern changed and the composition of crop structures altered in different periods.In addition,Weed resources are also important materials,it could provide some invisible information about the ecology and cropping regimes.This paper systematically sorts out the weeds unearthed in this region and reveals information about the husbandry regimes and wild plant utilization.The research shows that there are different plant use strategies in mountainous areas and plain areas.Mountainous areas show distinct vertical characters,the farming is small-scale and the sources of the plant are diverse,which reflects a broad-spectrum resource acquisition method.In the plain area,the plant resources are mainly from crops,but the resource catchment is wide,some wild plant resources are also obtained from the surrounding mountainous areas.Besides,we applied GIS method to observe the synchronic distribution and diachronic changes in the distribution of sites.By using the approach,we found that the distribution of settlements from the Neolithic to Bronze age in southwestern China is closely related to natural factors,especially the elevation,slope,soils.There are large spatial and temporal differences in the spatial distribution patterns of settlements.The distribution of sites in plain areas is more concentrated,and the scale is expanded over time along with the enlargement of control scope.While the distribution of settlements in mountainous areas is more dispersed,consist of small settlements.The scale of settlements has gradually expanded until bronze age,which reflects the delay of settlements evolution and relatively equal settlement relationship.