Chronology of late Holocene sediments related to the Qicheng ruins in central China

Abstract

The Qicheng city wall is located in Puyang, Henan Province, China, and it is an important archaeological site from the Neolithic period in the North China Plain region. A trench across the northwest corner of the city wall revealed an 11 m thick sediment sequence, closely associated with human activities, which provides valuable records for the dating and environmental evolution of the site. In this study, we have applied field geological investigation, grain size analysis, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating, and radiocarbon (¹⁴C) dating to reveal the history and changes in the site. The ancient city wall was built on the sedimentary sequence (U1) of the high terrace of the Ancient Yellow River. The upper 11 m thick sedimentary sequence (U2) recorded early moat sedimentation (U2_L) and was followed by three cycles of paleosol-flooding deposits (U2_U). The quartz OSL signals of the U2 silts are extremely bright, indicating high sensitivity. Partial bleaching was observed as well. The quartz OSL single-grain SAR dating results are consistent with that of charcoal ¹⁴C dating and are closer to the ‘true’ burial ages of the sediments than those obtained with multiple grains. By using a Bayesian statistical model, a chronological framework for the U2 sedimentary sequence was established. The earliest construction date of the Qicheng city wall is dating to 2100–1300 BC, during the late Longshan period, which is consistent with archaeological evidence (Li et al., 2015). The Qicheng city was not significantly affected by paleo-flooding prior to 870–960 AD, but experiences frequent flooding thereafter.