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Human sedentism and use of animal resources on the prehistoric Tibetan Plateau

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Abstract

The transition of human societies from high mobility to sedentary lifestyles had a profound impact on subsistence, technology, and the origin of civilization. Sedentism was influenced by various factors such as climate change, population growth, resource pressure, and technological innovation. The Tibetan Plateau, due to its alpine and hypoxic conditions, is an ideal region to study human adaptation to extreme environments. However, the prehistoric process of sedentism on the Tibetan Plateau is unclear and the chronological sequence and driving mechanism of sedentism on the Tibetan Plateau are still controversial. Previous studies have focused on the diffusion of agriculture from low to high elevation areas, with little attention given to the role of animal resources in sedentism. Seasonality analysis using animal remains is crucial in determining whether a site was occupied year-round. To establish the seasonal calendar of animal resource utilization, it is recommended to create a database of skeletal morphology, whole genome, and proteome of contemporary Tibetan Plateau fauna to aid in the identification of animal remains from archaeological sites. Thus, intricate web of human-animal-environment relationship and the role of animal resources in human sedentism on the Tibetan Plateau can then be evaluated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Group of Alpine Paleoecology and Human Adaptation (ALPHA), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, CAS, Bei**g, 100101, China

    Qing Wang, Ying Zhang, Shungang Chen, Yu Gao, **gkun Ran & Zhengquan Gu

  2. State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, CAS, Bei**g, 100101, China

    Qing Wang, Ying Zhang, Shungang Chen, Yu Gao, **gkun Ran & Zhengquan Gu

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Bei**g, 100049, China

    Qing Wang, Shungang Chen & **gkun Ran

  4. Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems (Ministry of Education), College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, China

    Jishuai Yang & **aoyan Yang

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  1. Qing Wang
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Correspondence to Ying Zhang.

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Foundation: National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.41930323; The Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program, No.2019QZKK0601

Author: Wang Qing (1998–), PhD Candidate, specialized in environmental archaeology.

This paper is initially published in Acta Geographica Sinica (Chinese edition), 2023, 78(1): 177–197.

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Wang, Q., Zhang, Y., Chen, S. et al. Human sedentism and use of animal resources on the prehistoric Tibetan Plateau. J. Geogr. Sci. 33, 1851–1876 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-023-2156-0

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