PROGRESS IN GEOGRAPHY ›› 2015, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (7): 883-897.doi: 10.18306/dlkxjz.2015.07.010

• Geomorphology and Quaternary • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Progress and trend of Holocene environmental archaeology in Henan Province

Kaifeng LI1,2, Chunmei MA3, Wenhua GAO1, Suyuan LI4, Zhongxuan LI5, Yanfang PAN1   

  1. 1. College of Environment and Planning, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, Henan, China
    2. Key Laboratory of Quaternary Chronology and Environment Evolution, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050061, China
    3. School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
    4. College of History and Culture, Henan University, Kaifeng 475001, Henan, China
    5. School of Urban-rural Planning and Architecture, Xuchang University, Xuchang 461000, Henan, China
  • Received:2015-01-01 Revised:2015-03-01 Online:2015-07-10 Published:2015-07-10

Abstract:

As one of the core areas of origin of the Chinese civilization, Henan Province is an ideal place for Holocene environmental archaeological research. In the past two decades, the majority of studies of environmental archaeology in Henan Province focused on the environmental background analysis of the evolution of culture. A small number of these studies was on the impact of catastrophic events and human responses to climate change. Digital environmental archaeology also began to develop. But the region still lacks relevant research on high-resolution paleoenvironment reconstruction. Although great attention was paid to the research of environmental impacts on culture development, human responses to environment change and the environmental effects of past human activities were rarely examined. With the broader application of remote sensing, GIS, and other technologies and constant attention to landscape archaeology, archaeological site location modeling and quantitative studies of prehistoric human-nature relationship have become the focus of international environmental archaeology.

Key words: Henan Province, Holocene, environmental archaeology, human responses, environmental effects, digital environmental archaeology