Prehistoric population expansion in Central Asia promoted by the Altai Holocene Climatic Optimum

How climate change in the middle to late Holocene has influenced the early human migrations in Central Asian Steppe remains poorly understood. To address this issue, we reconstructed a multiproxy-based Holocene climate history from the sediments of Kanas Lake and neighboring Tiewaike Lake in the sou...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications 2023-05, Vol.14 (1), p.3102-3102, Article 3102
Main Authors: Xiang, Lixiong, Huang, Xiaozhong, Sun, Mingjie, Panizzo, Virginia N., Huang, Chong, Zheng, Min, Chen, Xuemei, Chen, Fahu
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/158/2466
704/106/413
704/286
704/844/4081
Bronze Age
Climate change
Exchanging
Holocene
Human influences
Humanities and Social Sciences
Isotope composition
Mountain regions
Mountains
multidisciplinary
Prehistoric era
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Sediments
Silica
Silicon dioxide
Silicon isotopes
Steppes
Thermal stratification
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:How climate change in the middle to late Holocene has influenced the early human migrations in Central Asian Steppe remains poorly understood. To address this issue, we reconstructed a multiproxy-based Holocene climate history from the sediments of Kanas Lake and neighboring Tiewaike Lake in the southern Altai Mountains. The results show an exceptionally warm climate during ~6.5–3.6 kyr is indicated by the silicon isotope composition of diatom silica (δ 30 Si diatom ) and the biogenic silica (BSi) content. During 4.7-4.3 kyr, a peak in δ 30 Si diatom reflects enhanced lake thermal stratification and periodic nutrient limitation as indicated by concomitant decreasing BSi content. Our geochemical results indicate a significantly warm and wet climate in the Altai Mountain region during 6.5–3.6 kyr, corresponding to the Altai Holocene Climatic Optimum (AHCO), which is critical for promoting prehistoric human population expansion and intensified cultural exchanges across the Central Asian steppe during the Bronze Age. The impact of climate change on Holocene human activity in the Altai-Sayan region of Central Asia is unclear. Here, the authors use pollen, biogenic silica, and isotope records from lake cores to show that the climate prompted human population expansion and intensified cultural exchange during the Bronze Age.
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-023-38828-4