Inundation, sea-level rise and transition from Neolithic to Bronze Age cultures, Yangtze Delta, China

Petrological, faunal and floral information derived from a new drill core taken in the Yangtze delta, coupled with data from borings recovered earlier, record a marked transition to warmer, wetter conditions which resulted in widespread inundation of the delta about 4000 years ago. Also identified for that time on the delta plain is a major discontinuity between the Neolithic Liangzhu and Bronze age Maqiao cultures. The cultural discontinuity is indicated by: (1) absence of in situ material between the two at ∼4000 yr B.P.; (2) missing Maqiao material in strata above many Liangzhu sites; (3) less sophisticated Maqiao material than in the older Neolithic phase; and (4) notably fewer Maqiao sites in more restricted areas of the delta plain. It is of note that the change from the Liangzhu to the younger Maqiao does not show an increasingly complex cultural advancement of the type generally associated with the foundation of Chinese civilization. We propose that this cultural discontinuity was caused by the interplay of increased environmental stress and new population migrations into the delta.