The relationship between Holocene environmental evolution and human activities on the Chinese Loess Plateau inferred from an aeolian loess-paleosol profile in the Xitou Ruins

Abstract

Aeolian loess-paleosol profiles are useful for studying the relationship between environmental evolution, cultural development, and human activities. An aeolian loess-paleosol profile was identified in the Xitou Ruins on the Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP) during extensive field investigations. We analyzed the aeolian loess-paleosol profile using sedimentology, geochemistry, soil micromorphology, environmental archaeology, and chronology methods, and compared the results with previous research findings. The characteristics of thin loess bed (L_x) in the profile indicated a cold and dry climate event that corresponded to the 5.50 ka BP event (6.00–5.00 ka BP). The early Yangshao culture appeared in the Xitou Ruins during a warm and humid period from 8.50 to 6.00 ka BP but was succeeded by the late Yangshao culture during a cold and dry period from 6.00 to 5.00 ka BP. The Longshan culture in the ruins emerged during a relatively warm and humid period from 5.00 to 3.80 ka BP. Human activity had a minimal impact on the development and properties of the soil in the Xitou Ruins before ca. 3.80 ka BP. However, a depositional hiatus in the profile from ca. 3.80 to 0.63 ka BP indicates an intensification in human activities. The anomalies in several physicochemical indicators in the modern soil layer may be influenced by the population recovery during the Little Ice Age (LIA), and a combination of warm and humid climate condition and human activities during the Current Warm Period (CWP).