The earliest well-dated archeological site in the hyper-arid Tarim Basin and its implications for prehistoric human migration and climatic change |
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| Authors: | WenXia Han LuPeng Yu ZhongPing Lai David Madsen Shengli Yang |
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| Institution: | 1. Key Laboratory of Salt Lake Resources and Chemistry, Qinghai Institute of Salt Lakes, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining 810008, China;2. State Key Laboratory of Cryospheric Sciences, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China;3. Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources of Northern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, Qinghai Geological Survey Institute, Xining 810012, China;4. State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi''an 710075, China;5. Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, University of Texas, Austin, TX 78712, USA;6. College of Geographical Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210046, China |
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| Abstract: | The routes and timing of human occupation of the Tibetan Plateau (TP) are crucial for understanding the evolution of Tibetan populations and associated paleoclimatic conditions. Many archeological sites have been found in/around the Tarim Basin, on the northern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. Unfortunately, most of these sites are surface sites and cannot be directly dated. Their ages can only be estimated based on imprecise artifact comparisons. We recently found and dated an archeological site on a terrace along the Keriya River. Our ages indicate that the site was occupied at ~ 7.0–7.6 ka, making it the earliest well-dated archeological site yet identified in the Tarim Basin. This suggests that early human foragers migrated into this region prior to ~ 7.0–7.6 ka during the early to mid-Holocene climatic optimum, which may have provided the impetus for populating the region. We hypothesize that the Keriya River, together with the other rivers originating from the TP, may have served as access routes onto the TP for early human foragers. These rivers may also have served as stepping stones for migration further west into the now hyper-arid regions of the Tarim Basin, leading ultimately to the development of the Silk Road. |
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| Keywords: | OSL and 14C dating Archeological site Tarim Basin Tibetan Plateau Prehistoric human migration Silk Road through the Taklimakan Desert |
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