The alluvial geoarchaeology of neihuang county, Henan Province

Alluvial geoarchaeology is the study of the stratigraphic relationships between rivers and archaeological sites. Recent alluvial geoarchaeological research in Neihuang County, has revealed the Yellow River's complex alluvial history that contains evidence of human interactions with their environment. In this paper, we present field work results from 2010~2016 at three sites, Anshang(35°52'24"N, 114°44'18"E), Sanyangzhuang(35°43'51"N, 114°45'43"E) and Dazhanglongcun(35°59'46"N, 114°52'7"E), that span the Holocene. The stratigraphy at each of these sites indicates that many archaeological sites are likely buried deep underground and that these archaeological sites may have influenced alluvial sedimentary processes, starting ca. 3000 a B.P. At Anshang, we found four canals dating to the Bronze Age. After these canals were abandoned, their infilling influenced the later depositional processes, creating micro-topographic changes around the site. At Sanyangzhuang, our deep excavations revealed human affected paleosols dating to the late Neolithic, the Warring States, Han Dynasty and Tang Dynasty. At Dazhanglongcun, we found evidence of Yellow River flooding that dates to the Northern Song Dynasty, the deposition of these deposits was influenced by the archaeological stratigraphy of a small walled village. Using our radiocarbon dates from each site and the depth of each of these stratigraphic sequences, we calculated the rate of sediment accumulation at each site and compared it to the sediment accumulation rates estimated for the Yellow River and the North China Plain. Our results indicate that sediment accumulation rates at each site starts to increase ca.3000 a B.P. This trend matches estimated increases in the sediment load of the Yellow River channel during the early dynastic period, showing that archaeological sites can contain significant amounts of information on human-environmental relations. More alluvial geoarchaeological work needs to be done at archaeological sites themselves to examine the interaction between natural sedimentary processes and the evolution of civilization in the North China Plain.