Hostname: page-component-54dcc4c588-gwv8j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-04T08:16:16.981Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Prehistoric water control works in the Loess Plateau: an ancient ditch system at Shuanghuaishu, China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 October 2025

Peng Lu ,
Xin Du ,
Panpan Chen ,
Qingbin Liu ,
Yijie Zhuang ,
Yan Tian ,
Yayi Hu ,
Jiqin Zhang ,
Zhen Wang  and
Duowen Mo
Peng Lu*
Affiliation:
Institute of Geographical Sciences, Henan Academy of Sciences, Zhengzhou, P.R. China
Xin Du
Affiliation:
Zhengzhou Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Zhengzhou, P.R. China
Panpan Chen
Affiliation:
Institute of Geographical Sciences, Henan Academy of Sciences, Zhengzhou, P.R. China
Qingbin Liu
Affiliation:
Zhengzhou Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Zhengzhou, P.R. China
Yijie Zhuang
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, University College London, UK
Yan Tian
Affiliation:
Institute of Geographical Sciences, Henan Academy of Sciences, Zhengzhou, P.R. China
Yayi Hu
Affiliation:
Zhengzhou Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Zhengzhou, P.R. China
Jiqin Zhang
Affiliation:
Zhengzhou Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Zhengzhou, P.R. China
Zhen Wang
Affiliation:
Institute of Geographical Sciences, Henan Academy of Sciences, Zhengzhou, P.R. China
Duowen Mo
Affiliation:
College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, P.R. China
*
Author for correspondence: Peng Lu bulate_0@163.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The emergence, on the Loess Plateau of Central China, of settlements enclosed by circular ditches has engendered lively debate about the function of these (often extensive) ditch systems. Here, the authors report on a suite of new dates and sedimentological analyses from the late Yangshao (5300–4800 BP) triple-ditch system at the Shuanghuaishu site, Henan Province. Exploitation of natural topographic variations, and evidence for ditch maintenance and varied water flows, suggests a key function in hydrological management, while temporal overlap in the use of these three ditches reveals the large scale of this endeavour to adapt to the pressures of the natural environment.

Keywords

Central AsiaNeolithicradiocarbon datingOSLdepositional environmentwater management

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Antiquity , First View , pp. 1 - 20
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Antiquity Publications Ltd

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Beneš, J., Kaštovský, J., Kočárová, R., Kočár, P., Kubečková, K., Pokorný, P. & Starec, P.. 2002. Archaeobotany of the Old Prague town defense system, Czech Republic: archaeology, macro-remains, pollen, and diatoms. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 11: 107–20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s003340200012 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boyd, W. & McGrath, R.. 2001. The geoarchaeology of Iron Age ‘moated’ sites of the Upper Mae Nam Mun Valley, N.E. Thailand. 3: Late Holocene vegetation history. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 171: 307–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-0182(01)00251-6 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, A. & Pluskowski, A.. 2011. Detecting the environmental impact of the Baltic Crusades on a late-medieval (13th–15th century) frontier landscape: palynological analysis from Malbork Castle and hinterland, Northern Poland. Journal of Archaeological Science 38: 1957–66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2011.04.010 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cai, Y.J. et al. 2021. Holocene variability of East Asian summer monsoon as viewed from the speleothem δ18O records in central China. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 558. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2021.116758 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, F.H. et al. 2015. East Asian summer monsoon precipitation variability since the last deglaciation. Scientific Reports 5. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep11186 Google ScholarPubMed
Chen, G.L. et al. 2022. How can we understand the past from now on? Three-dimensional modelling and landscape reconstruction of the Shuanghuaishu site in the Central Plains of China. Remote Sensing 14. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14051233 Google Scholar
Chen, K. & Qin, C.C.. 2024. Study on the function of ring moat settlement in Peiligang period. Cultural Relics Quarterly 1: 72–81 (in Chinese).Google Scholar
Fletcher, R. et al. 2008. The water management network of Angkor, Cambodia. Antiquity 82: 658–70. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00097295 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gu, W.F. 2016. The light of civilization – exploring and studying the ancient capital Zhengzhou. Beijing: Science (in Chinese).Google Scholar
Gu, W.F. 2023. Preliminary research on the important archaeological discoveries and relevant problems concerning Yangshao culture in its middle and late period in Zhengzhou area. Journal of Huanghe S&T College 6: 4–19 (in Chinese).Google Scholar
Guo, Z.W., Li, X.W., Yang, H.Q. & Hou, Y.F.. 2016. Excavation of south trench at Xipo Site, Lingbao City, Henan Province. Archaeology 5: 9–23 (in Chinese).Google Scholar
He, N. 2017. Taosi: an archaeological example of urbanization as a political center in prehistoric China. Archaeological Research in Asia 14: 20–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ara.2017.03.001 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HICRA (Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology) & SAPU (School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University). 2018. Archaeological harvest of moat settlement in Wadian site of Yuzhou City. Huaxia Archaeology 1: 3–29 (in Chinese).Google Scholar
Hu, X. et al. 2023. Prehistoric damaging earthquake promoted the decline of “Heluo Ancient State” in Early China. Science China Earth Sciences 66: 1120–32. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-022-1027-1 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kielhofer, J.R., Fox, M.L., Ye, W. & Yang, L.P.. 2021. Human–environment interactions at Yangguanzhai, a Middle Neolithic site in the Wei River Valley, northern China: a comprehensive soil-stratigraphic analysis. Geoarchaeology 36: 943–63. https://doi.org/10.1002/gea.21878 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kittel, P. et al. 2018. The palaeoecological development of the late medieval moat–multiproxy research at Rozprza, central Poland. Quaternary International 482: 131–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2018.03.026 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, B.Q. 2021. From ancient state to kingdom: an essay on the course of early Chinese civilization. Shanghai: Shanghai Ancient Books (in Chinese).Google Scholar
Liu, Y., Liu, X. & Sun, Y.. 2021. QGrain: an open-source and easy-to-use software for the comprehensive analysis of grain size distributions. Sedimentary Geology 423. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sedgeo.2021.105980 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lu, P. et al. 2019. Reconstructing settlement evolution from Neolithic to Shang Dynasty in Songshan Mountain area of central China based on self-organizing feature map. Journal of Cultural Heritage 36: 23–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.culher.2018.08.006 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lu, P. 2021. Evolution of Holocene alluvial landscapes in the northeastern Songshan Region, Central China: chronology, models and socio-economic impact. Catena 197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2020.104956 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lu, P. 2022. Prolonged landscape stability sustained the continuous development of ancient civilizations in the Shuangji River valley of China’s Central Plains. Geomorphology 413. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2022.108359 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marcott, S.A., Shakun, J.D., Clark, P.U. & Mix, A.C.. 2013. A reconstruction of regional and global temperature for the past 11,300 years. Science 339: 1198–201. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1228026 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O’Reilly, D., Evans, D. & Shewan, R.. 2017. Airborne LiDAR prospection at Lovea, an Iron Age moated settlement in central Cambodia. Antiquity 91: 947–65. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2017.69 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pei, A.P. 2004. The moat of prehistoric settlement in China. Southeast Culture 6: 21–30 (in Chinese).Google Scholar
Peña-Monné, J.L. et al. 2014. Geoarchaeology of defensive moats: its importance for site localization, evolution and formation process reconstruction of archaeological sites in NE Spain. Journal of Archaeological Science 50: 383–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2014.07.026 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Penny, D., Pottier, C., Fletcher, R., Barbetti, M., Fink, M. & Hua, Q.. 2006. Vegetation and land-use at Angkor, Cambodia: a dated pollen sequence from the Bakong temple moat. Antiquity 80: 599–614. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00094060 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Qi, A.Q. 2021. Heluo ancient state. Zhengzhou: Elephant (in Chinese).Google Scholar
Qian, Y.P. 2002. Some questions about the moat settlement. Cultural Relics 8: 57–65 (in Chinese).Google Scholar
Renfrew, C. & Bahn, P.G.. 2007. Archaeology essentials: theories, methods, and practice. London: Thames & Hudson.Google Scholar
Scott, G. & O’Reilly, D.. 2015. Rainfall and circular moated sites in north-east Thailand. Antiquity 89: 1125–38. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2015.130 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shi, Z.M. 1983. Natural conditions and natural resources of Henan. Zhengzhou: Henan Science and Technology Press (in Chinese).Google Scholar
SIA (Shaanxi Institute of Archaeology). 2011. Excavation of Yangguanzhai Site in Gaoling, Shaanxi Province. Archaeology and Cultural Relics 6: 16–32 (in Chinese).Google Scholar
Sun, Z.Y. et al. 2017. The first Neolithic urban center on China’s north Loess Plateau: the rise and fall of Shimao. Archaeological Research in Asia 14: 33–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ara.2017.02.004 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xia, Z.K. 2012. Environmental archaeology: principles and practice. Beijing: Peking University Press (in Chinese).Google Scholar
Xu, H. 2017. Archaeology of pre-Qin cities. Beijing: Xiyuan (in Chinese).Google Scholar
You, L.Y. & Yang, J.C.. 2013. Chinese landform. Beijing: Science (in Chinese).Google Scholar
Zhao, H. 2020. Ancient state era. Huaxia Archaeology 6: 109–17 (in Chinese).Google Scholar
Zhao, H., Yang, Y.Y. & Zhang, Q.Y.. 2023. Ring moat settlement of Baliping Site in Qinshui, Shanxi Province. Cultural Relics Quarterly 3: 3–25 (in Chinese).Google Scholar
Zhong, H. & Zhao, Z.J.. 2023. A preliminary study on agricultural production mode in Central Plains in late Yangshao Culture. Agricultural History of China 2: 52–61 (in Chinese).Google Scholar
Zhuang, Y.J., Zhang, H., Fang, Y.M. & Wang, H.. 2017. Life cycle of a moat: a detailed micromorphological examination and broader geoarchaeological survey at the Late Neolithic Wadian site, Central China. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 12: 699–711. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.03.034 Google Scholar
Zhuang, Y.J., Zhang, X.H. & Xu, J.J.. 2023. Aquatic landscape and the emergence of walled sites in Late Neolithic Central Plains of China: integrating archaeological and geoarchaeological evidence from the Guchengzhai site. Archaeological Research in Asia 33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ara.2022.100428 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ZICRA (Zhengzhou Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology). 2021. Neolithic Shuanghuaishu site in Gongyi City, Henan Province. Archaeology 7: 747–68 (in Chinese).Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Lu et al. supplementary material

Lu et al. supplementary material
Download Lu et al. supplementary material(File)
File 2.5 MB