Lesson 10: Asian Ecological History – Part I: Prehistory to Early Cultivation

1. Lesson 10: Asian Ecological History – Part I: Prehistory to Early Cultivation Amy E. Duray EVPP 490 003 3 March 2010

2. Modes of Resource Use • Intended to be a complement to Marx’s Modes of Production • Includes ideological components and ecological impacts • Continuum • Potential for Overlap

3. Asian Ecological Prehistory • Climatic changes at end of Pleistocene (1.2m – 10,000 years ago) • Four glacial periods • Decrease in global sea levels (120m) • Younger Dryas (approx. 12,800 to 11,500 years ago) • Glaciation corresponds postively with aridity • Corresponds with earliest agricultural records in Southwest Asia

4. Last Glacial Maximum Northern hemisphere glaciation during the last ice ages. The accumulation of 3 to 4 km thick ice sheets caused a sea level lowering of about 120 m. Also, the Alps and the Himalayas were covered by glaciers. Winter sea ice coverage was much more limited in the south. Source: John S. Schlee (2000) Our changing continent, United States Geological Survey. Via wikipedia.org

5. Compiled by Jonathan Adams, Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Gwanak-Do, Seoul, South Korea via internet at: http://www.esd.ornl.gov/projects/qen/nerc.html on 2 March 2010

6. Eurasia during the Younger Dryas Compiled by Jonathan Adams, Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Gwanak-Do, Seoul, South Korea via internet: http://www.esd.ornl.gov/projects/qen/NEW_MAPS/eurasia3.gif on 2 March 2010

7. China Climatic History (1 of 2) Source: Winkler & Wang (1994)

8. China Climatic History (2 of 2) Source: Winkler & Wang (1994)

9. China Climatic History Summary a. Sea level & dominant tree varied with {Temperature, precipitation}. b. Since the Stone Age, it has been both colder and hotter in E. Asia than it is today. Source: Winkler & Wang (1994)

10. Big Climate Events of Recent Millennia • Younger Drayas(~11ka, dust storms in Asia) • Holocene climatic optimum (~7-3ka) • Climate changes of 535-536 (535-536 AD) • Medieval warm period (900-1300, ver. in Jp.) • Little ice age (1300-1800, verified in Japan) • Year Without a Summer (1816, volcanic?) Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleoclimatology#Planet.27s_timeline

11. Very Early Prehistory • Arrival of Modern Humans from Africa c. 50,000 yrs ago • Mesolithic Economy of Fishing, Hunting and Gathering widespread until early cultivation begins in 8000 and 6000 BCE • Remote and highland locations this economy persists for several millenia • Expansion of farming communities in Yangtze and Yellow River valleys – interactions with gathering communities

12. Transition to Agriculture – Yellow River Millet Culture • Centered in Loess Plateau and North China Plain • Domestication of indigenous plants and shrubs • Domestic animals – dogs and pigs • Supplemented with hunting, gathering and fishing • Early tools to support agriculture

13. Transition to Agriculture – Yangtze River Rice Culture • Centered in the Yangtze River and Huai River – northern limits of wild rice • Domestication of rice species previously gathered • Settlements develop to support agriculture as early as 9400-8400 BCE • Climate cooled again 7000 BCE • Resurgence of farming settlements c. 6000-5000 BCE • Technology develops to hybridize rice to withstand climatic extremes

14. Proliferation of Rice Agriculture to Northeast • Domestication of ever-more cold-resistant species • Supported by prevailing weather patterns • Dry-field rice • Soil nutrient depletion requires crop rotation • Metallurgy and irrigation advances in technology (c. 1500) allows for paddy-rice cultivation

15. Proliferation of Rice Agriculture to Southeast • Dissemination of wild rice from India and Sri Lanka • Southward migration of cultivation from Yangtze river • Mainland cultivation predates insular cultivation • Cultivation of root vegetables, rice stored for winter months

16. Ecological and Cultural Impacts of Settled Cultivation • Conversion of land into agricultural patches • Foraging as a supplemental economy • Increasing agricultural output allows for larger settlements, diversification of labor • Beginning of man manipulating his environment – Confucian mandate to control nature originates

17. Population Dynamics • Where will human settlements be located and why? • China – River valleys • Japan and Korea – Coastal Areas and tidal floodplains • Southeast Asia – Edges (coasts and rainforest periphery) • What are the effects upon total population? • Reliability of Food (technology) • Animal Husbandry

18. Dynasties of China

19. Ecological Impacts • Agricultural land use • Less and Less habitat for foraging activities • Decreasing woodland area

20. War and Conflict • Major Conflicts over the period • China North v. South • Korea ethnic conflict • Mongol invasion of 12th C. CE • Impacts to people and the environment • Displaced persons • Technological dissemination • Mongol invasion – huge intermixing of previously isolated populations

21. Ancient Chinese Hydrological Station On the Yangtze River. Baiheliang (White Crane Ridge), now submerged under Three Gorges Reservoir water, carries the earliest and lowest water hydrological inscriptions, which record 1,200 consecutive years of water level changes. It's a 1,600-meter-long and 15-meter-wide rock ridge in the Yangtze River. Source: Anon. 2003 Read the whole story at: http://www.china.org.cn/english/2003/Oct/77690.htm

22. Chinese Hydrological Records Source: Wang (1979) at http://windy.aos.wisc.edu/pao/wang-1979-bams.pdf