Agriculture facilitated permanent human occupation of the Tibetan Plateau after 3600 B.P.
نویسندگان
چکیده
Our understanding of when and how humans adapted to living on the Tibetan Plateau at altitudes above 2000 to 3000 meters has been constrained by a paucity of archaeological data. Here we report data sets from the northeastern Tibetan Plateau indicating that the first villages were established only by 5200 calendar years before the present (cal yr B.P.). Using these data, we tested the hypothesis that a novel agropastoral economy facilitated year-round living at higher altitudes since 3600 cal yr B.P. This successful subsistence strategy facilitated the adaptation of farmers-herders to the challenges of global temperature decline during the late Holocene.
منابع مشابه
Asian archaeology. Comment on "Agriculture facilitated permanent human occupation of the Tibetan Plateau after 3600 B.P. ".
Chen et al. (Reports, 16 January 2015, p. 248) argued that early Tibetan agriculturalists pushed the limits of farming up to 4000 meters above sea level. We contend that this argument is incompatible with the growing requirements of barley. It is necessary to clearly define past crop niches to create better models for the complex history of the occupation of the plateau.
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ورودعنوان ژورنال:
- Science
دوره 347 6219 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2015