The linguistic (pre)history on the eastern Tibetan Plateau: a multidisciplinary approach of archaeology, palaeoclimate and linguistics

The early dispersal of Sino-Tibetan language family has been proposed to be promoted by millet domestication and cultivation, and ultimately agricultural development in the Yellow River Valley. However, the spread of Sino-Tibetan onto the Tibetan Plateau was a more complex picture showing interactions between the agriculturalists from the Yellow River region and the local hunter-gatherers. This article investigates exchange and contact dynamics of different populations in prehistoric eastern Tibetan Plateau, combining data from archaeology and linguistics in the setting of climatic environment of the Holocene. We observe diversification in both archaeological and linguistic evidence following the 4.2 kya event, suggesting a potential human response to the climate change. Our results also illustrate acceptance and resistance of the populations on the Tibetan Plateau to different degrees in terms of agriculturalist economy and diversification of subsistence strategies in order to avoid risks.