Agriculture facilitated permanent human occupation of the Tibetan Plateau after 3600 B.P.
Fahu Chen(Lanzhou University), Guanghui Dong(Lanzhou University), Dingyun Zhang(Lanzhou University), X. Y. Liu(Washington University in St. Louis), Xin Jia(Lanzhou University), C. B. An(Lanzhou University), M. M.(Lanzhou University), Yaowen Xie(Lanzhou University), Loukas Barton(University of Pittsburgh), Xiaojun Ren(Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Heritage and Archaeology), Zhijun Zhao(Chinese Academy of Social Sciences), Xiaohong Wu(Peking University), Martin K. Jones(University of Cambridge)
Cited by 708Open Access
Abstract
Our understanding of when and how humans adapted to living on the Tibetan Plateau at altitudes above 2000 to 3000 meters has been constrained by a paucity of archaeological data. Here we report data sets from the northeastern Tibetan Plateau indicating that the first villages were established only by 5200 calendar years before the present (cal yr B.P.). Using these data, we tested the hypothesis that a novel agropastoral economy facilitated year-round living at higher altitudes since 3600 cal yr B.P. This successful subsistence strategy facilitated the adaptation of farmers-herders to the challenges of global temperature decline during the late Holocene.
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