Chao Lake Chao Lake (), also known by its Chinese name Chao Hu, is a lake wholly situated in Hefei, the capital of Anhui Province. It is the largest lake in Anhui and one of the five major freshwater lakes in China. Mythology According to legend, t ...

basin (31°31′47.1″N, 117°22′29.8″E) includes the geographical area around Chao Lake (Chinese: 巢湖 Chao Hu), 15km from

Hefei City Hefei is the capital of Anhui, China. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, and cultural center of Anhui. Its population was 9,369,881 as of the 2020 census. Its built-up (or ''metro'') area is made up of four urban district ...

, China. It is the largest lake in

Anhui province Anhui is an inland province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiangxi to the south, Hub ...

, and one of the five major freshwater lakes in China. The lake has formed for about 10 thousand years, with currently 5 million residents in the surrounding communities. Located in the

monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate subtype that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ' ...

zone, the weather has given rise to agriculture and economy as well as ruined settlements. China Anhui

Chao Lake is used as source of drinking water, irrigation, and fisheries, while its surrounding deciduous forests and fertile soil were foundation of agricultural development. There are ten rivers ( Hangbu, Fengle, Pai, Nanfei, Dianbu, Zhegao, Niutun, Yuxi, Xi and Zhao) and five mountains (Yinpingshan, Fenghuangshan, Yefushan, Dabieshan and Fanghushan) surrounding the lake, allowing settlement and activity areas of ancient communities. Hundreds of archaeological sites of ancient settlements are discovered in the Chao Lake basin. In the Chao Lake basin, there are 52 sites from the

Neolithic Age The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wid ...

, 114 sites from

Shang The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty that ruled in the Yellow River valley during the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Western Zhou dyn ...

- Zhou Dynasties, and 60 sites from

Han Dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

Agriculture thrived since the Holocene when human activities influenced natural vegetation and fire use. Paddy rice originated in the basin during the Neolithic Age and spread to East Asia. The basin is also constantly occupied by wars between

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

due to its geographical structure with waterways and mountains in the middle of Eastern China.

Holocene environment

Sediment from Chao lake show three stages of evolvement of

Holocene The Holocene () is the current geologic time scale, geological epoch, beginning approximately 11,700 years ago. It follows the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene to ...

climate. The first stage was warm and dry weather with low-water levels following the late-glacial period from 9870 to 6040 calibrated years BP. The relative dry climate induced natural fire, but also increased human fire activity with charcoal usage. The second stage was humid climate with flourishing vegetation from 6040 to 4960 cal. a BP. The third stage was the Holocene Optimum, characterized by optimal water and heat conditions, from 5840 to 5500 cal. a. BP. Nanling Village is about 2km southwest to Chao Lake. Archaeologists study Holocene vegetation in relation to human activity. Human influence on vegetation increased over time from 10,500 cal B.P. to after 3,750 cal B.P. based on transition from an evergreen forest to terrestrial herbs. Increased farming and population pressure during the time period reduced natural vegetation by turning forests into cultivated land. Local Agriculture included rice, wheat, cotton, tobacco.

Neolithic age

The Linjiatan Culture (5.6-5.3 ka BP) was the earliest known Neolithic culture in Chao Lake Basin. The Wu and

Chu Chu or CHU may refer to: Chinese history * Chu (state) (c. 1030 BC–223 BC), a state during the Zhou dynasty * Western Chu (206 BC–202 BC), a state founded and ruled by Xiang Yu * Chu Kingdom (Han dynasty) (201 BC–70 AD), a kingdom of the H ...

kingdoms, representing North and South China, engaged in warfare for the jade production technology developed by the Linjiatan Culture. Three prehistoric culture followed: the

Majiabang The Majiabang culture, formerly also written Ma-chia-pang, was a Neolithic culture that occupied the Yangtze River Delta, primarily around Lake Tai west of modern Shanghai and north of Hangzhou Bay. The culture spread throughout southern Jiang ...

(7.0–5.8 ka B.P.),

Songze The Songze Culture was a Neolithic culture that existed between 3800 and 3300 BCE in the Lake Tai area near Shanghai. Dates Three radiocarbon dates were taken from Songze culture layers at Jiangli near Lake Tai. Two of the dates were obtained f ...

(ca. 5.8–5.2 ka B.P.) and Liangzhu (5.2–4.0 ka B.P.). Chao Lake basin and the larger area at the lower reaches of the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

is suggested as one of the origin sites of paddy rice from reconstruction of diet and recovery of paddy fields.

Shang-Zhou dynasties

The Shang-Zhou Dynasties (3.55-2.72 ka BP) was the most culturally flourished era for the Chao Lake basin, with around 120 archaeological sites. The increase in population also caused clearance of surrounding forests to transform land for agricultural and residential use. Settlement across time and space due to factors in climate change, river flow, geological distribution, productive force, and economic structure. Settlement areas were closer to rivers during the Neolithic Age, and then moved to warmer and more humid areas during the Shang-Zhou dynasties. Microclimates near rivers and foothills supplied agriculture. Economic growth also boosted settlement in high-altitude area with more fertile soil.

Han dynasty

The Han Dynasty (2.15-1.73 ka BP) thrived after the Shang-Zhou Dynasties. Chao Lake’s culture declined during this period due to climate change. Between East Han Dynasty and West Han Dynasty was the age of the Three Kingdoms. Cao Cao, the emperor of the Wei Kingdom, dug the Chao-Fei channel to connect Chao Lake to the Yangtze River. The channel connected multiple water ways in the area but decayed after the Han Dynasty as economic center shifted. Bronze and jade artifacts, potteries, and silverware evolved with designs of Square pattern, Hongwen pattern, and Shenwen pattern. Towards the end of the Han Dynasty, natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes destroyed agriculture and economy, inciting relocation. Chinese economic and cultural development shifted south, where the climate is warmer and more stable. The division of South and North caused political struggles, which also stimulated migrations. Tangzui Site, a flourished city, was flooded by water in ~2090 BP. A sharp decrease in population occurred as communities move to areas with more moderate weather conditions and economic stability. After Han, Chao Lake Basin remained a critical point for warfare between the South and North with its crucial geographical and climate conditions.

References

{{reflist Wikipedia Student Program Paleoanthropological sites History of Anhui Archaeological sites in China