AN OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL EVOLVEMENT AND HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT RELATIONSHIP IN HOLOCENE EPOCH OF THE YANGTZE DELTA

Abstract

This paper aims to summarize the past research on environmental evolvement and human-environment relationship in the Yangtze delta, and to put forward some issues for further study. Much attention has been paid to the Yangtze delta formation and evolution from academic circle for its important role in regional economic growth and ecological environment.Many researches indicate that Yangtze delta has been the continental environment suitable for human settlement since the Holocene epoch.A large numbers of Neolithic sites, relics and wells excavated were discovered. After the termination of the Last Glaciation Age, the sea-level in the Yangtze delta was on the increase, and during about 7~6.5 kaBP,the sea-level reached the greatest range, closing to the sea-level of today. Sea-level changes and flooding events played an important role in the rise and fall of human civilization in the Yangtze delta region. The study of archaeological excavation and environmental archaeology indicate that the cultural interrupt in the sections of Neolithic sites are mostly the results of frequently occurred flooding events and extreme climatic events in this research filed. During the 3 kaBP,there is a great change of human-environment relationship. There are many methods to study environmental evolvement such as ~14C, spore and pollen, Geochemistrytechnique, etc. The main content of the following research in the field will focus on multi-proxy , high-resolution, quantificational and synthetical research. Meanwhile,it is quite necessary to emphasis on study of the temporal and spatial evolution of modern environmental evolution to find the path for sustainable development for human-environment relationship.