Environmental and Archaeological Implications of a Late Quaternary Palynological Sequence, Poyang Lake, Southern China

Paleoecological data from Poyang Lake, southern China, indicate that significant natural and human-induced vegetational changes have occurred during the Late Quaternary in the Middle Yangtze River valley, the likely location of rice (Oryza sativa L.) domestication. During the late Pleistocene (from ca. 12,830 to ca. 10,500 yr B.P.), the climate was cooler and drier than today's. The subtropical, mixed deciduous–evergreen broad-leaved forest which constitutes the modern, potential vegetation was reduced and herbaceous vegetative cover expanded. A hiatus in sedimentation occurred in Poyang Lake, beginning sometime after ca. 10,500 yr B.P. and lasting until the middle Holocene (ca. 4000 yr B.P.). At ca. 4000 yr B.P., the regional vegetation was a diverse, broad-leaved forest dominated by many of the same arboreal elements (e.g., Quercus, Castanopsis, Liquidambar) that grow in the area today. A significant reduction of arboreal pollen and an increase of herbaceous pollen at ca. 2000 yr B.P. probably reflect human influence on the vegetation and the expansion of intensive rice agriculture into the dryland forests near the river valleys.