An 8500-year palynological record of vegetation, climate change and human activity in the Bosten Lake region of Northwest China

Palynological dataset for the XBWu-46 sediment core extracted from Bosten Lake at the south-eastern end of the Tian Shan, Northwest China, contains a climate record divided into three major intervals: a period of increasing aridity (ca. 8540–4000 cal. yr BP), a peak arid phase (ca. 4000 to 2000/1500...

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Main Authors: Tarasov, Pavel E., Demske, Dieter, Leipe, Christian, Long, Tengwen, Müller, Stefanie, Hoelzmann, Philipp, Wagner, Mayke
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/55783/
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author Tarasov, Pavel E.
Demske, Dieter
Leipe, Christian
Long, Tengwen
Müller, Stefanie
Hoelzmann, Philipp
Wagner, Mayke
author_facet Tarasov, Pavel E.
Demske, Dieter
Leipe, Christian
Long, Tengwen
Müller, Stefanie
Hoelzmann, Philipp
Wagner, Mayke
author_sort Tarasov, Pavel E.
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description Palynological dataset for the XBWu-46 sediment core extracted from Bosten Lake at the south-eastern end of the Tian Shan, Northwest China, contains a climate record divided into three major intervals: a period of increasing aridity (ca. 8540–4000 cal. yr BP), a peak arid phase (ca. 4000 to 2000/1500 cal. yr BP), and an interval of increasing humidity towards the core top (ca. 60 cal. yr BP). Correlation with other climate proxies from different regions implies that hydrological conditions in Northwest China were governed by Asian summer monsoon precipitation during the early and middle Holocene and that the increase in humidity over the last two millennia was controlled by westerly-derived precipitation. Regional evidence for early human activities in the lake sediments starts to accumulate from the onset of the driest interval comprising records of enhanced charred grass fragment concentrations (since ca. 4350 cal. yr BP), and pollen of Cerealia type (since ca. 4000 cal. yr BP), Xanthium (since ca. 3700 cal. yr BP), and Cannabis type (since ca. 2500 cal. yr BP). These signals are likely related to early agro-pastoral populations of regional Andronovo Culture that, according to archaeological data, appeared in the south-eastern Tian Shan around 4000 cal. yr BP. In addition, increased Xanthium pollen and charred grass fragment abundances point to enhanced human impact linked to intensified Silk Road activities during the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE).
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spelling nottingham-557832020-12-04T04:30:13Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/55783/ An 8500-year palynological record of vegetation, climate change and human activity in the Bosten Lake region of Northwest China Tarasov, Pavel E. Demske, Dieter Leipe, Christian Long, Tengwen Müller, Stefanie Hoelzmann, Philipp Wagner, Mayke Palynological dataset for the XBWu-46 sediment core extracted from Bosten Lake at the south-eastern end of the Tian Shan, Northwest China, contains a climate record divided into three major intervals: a period of increasing aridity (ca. 8540–4000 cal. yr BP), a peak arid phase (ca. 4000 to 2000/1500 cal. yr BP), and an interval of increasing humidity towards the core top (ca. 60 cal. yr BP). Correlation with other climate proxies from different regions implies that hydrological conditions in Northwest China were governed by Asian summer monsoon precipitation during the early and middle Holocene and that the increase in humidity over the last two millennia was controlled by westerly-derived precipitation. Regional evidence for early human activities in the lake sediments starts to accumulate from the onset of the driest interval comprising records of enhanced charred grass fragment concentrations (since ca. 4350 cal. yr BP), and pollen of Cerealia type (since ca. 4000 cal. yr BP), Xanthium (since ca. 3700 cal. yr BP), and Cannabis type (since ca. 2500 cal. yr BP). These signals are likely related to early agro-pastoral populations of regional Andronovo Culture that, according to archaeological data, appeared in the south-eastern Tian Shan around 4000 cal. yr BP. In addition, increased Xanthium pollen and charred grass fragment abundances point to enhanced human impact linked to intensified Silk Road activities during the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE). Elsevier 2019-02-15 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en cc_by_nc_nd https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/55783/1/TL%20-%20Palaeo3.pdf Tarasov, Pavel E., Demske, Dieter, Leipe, Christian, Long, Tengwen, Müller, Stefanie, Hoelzmann, Philipp and Wagner, Mayke (2019) An 8500-year palynological record of vegetation, climate change and human activity in the Bosten Lake region of Northwest China. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 516 . pp. 166-178. ISSN 0031-0182 Pollen; Non-pollen palynomorphs; Vegetation; Moisture conditions; Archaeological record; Arid Central Asia http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.11.038 doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.11.038 doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.11.038
spellingShingle Pollen; Non-pollen palynomorphs; Vegetation; Moisture conditions; Archaeological record; Arid Central Asia
Tarasov, Pavel E.
Demske, Dieter
Leipe, Christian
Long, Tengwen
Müller, Stefanie
Hoelzmann, Philipp
Wagner, Mayke
An 8500-year palynological record of vegetation, climate change and human activity in the Bosten Lake region of Northwest China
title An 8500-year palynological record of vegetation, climate change and human activity in the Bosten Lake region of Northwest China
title_full An 8500-year palynological record of vegetation, climate change and human activity in the Bosten Lake region of Northwest China
title_fullStr An 8500-year palynological record of vegetation, climate change and human activity in the Bosten Lake region of Northwest China
title_full_unstemmed An 8500-year palynological record of vegetation, climate change and human activity in the Bosten Lake region of Northwest China
title_short An 8500-year palynological record of vegetation, climate change and human activity in the Bosten Lake region of Northwest China
title_sort 8500-year palynological record of vegetation, climate change and human activity in the bosten lake region of northwest china
topic Pollen; Non-pollen palynomorphs; Vegetation; Moisture conditions; Archaeological record; Arid Central Asia
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/55783/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/55783/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/55783/