Houyuan Lu
Biographic Data
| ID | 3644635 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Houyuan Lu |
| GIVEN NAMES | Houyuan |
| FAMILY NAME | Lu |
| SIGNATURE | LU H |
| AFFILIATIONS | Chinese Academy of Sciences |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5721-6679 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 50 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 256 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 50 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2002 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 9 |
Holocene 500‐Year Periodic Demographic Fluctuations Linked to Climate Change in Southwest China Mountains
Prehistoric demographic dynamics were likely influenced by multi‐centennial‐scale climate oscillations during the Holocene. However, the relationship between cyclic climate change, human demography and subsistence strategies in Southwest China remains unclear owing to the lack of high‐resolution proxies for population reconstruction. This study compiles 885 archaeological radiocarbon dates from Southwest China to reconstruct long‐term population …
Evolution of the paddy field under hydrological and social changes since 6700 cal BP in the Lower Yangzi River
Paddy fields are central to the origin and spread of rice agriculture and their development ultimately underpinned the formation of complex societies in Asia. Here, the authors report on the stratigraphy, radiocarbon dating and archaeobotanical record from Shiao, including one of the earliest and largest paddy fields yet identified ( c . 6700 cal BP). As at nearby sites, paddy fields were successively overlaid with peat and marine sediments as se…
Sea level changes and human activities along the eastern coastal zone of China over the past 20,000 years – with a short comment by ZHAO Xitao
末次冰消期以来,随着温度回升和冰盖融化,造成全球中-低纬度海岸带发生大规模海侵,对海岸带人类活动产生深刻影响。本文基于中国东部沿海大陆架钻探和考古发掘最新成果,从人群迁移和生业模式这两个方面,阐释海平面变化对人类活动的影响和人类的适应过程。一方面,2万年以来在海平面上升速度减缓的间歇期,在大陆架和低海拔海岸带地区可能存在人类活动,例如井头山遗址,就是海岸带上人类活动的原生沉积;伴随着海平面跃升事件淹没沿海地区,人类可能向高海拔内陆地区迁移。另一方面,西太平洋海岸全新世海洋适应加强开始于~8000 BP,与水稻利用曾经长期共存;长江下游水稻驯化可能呈现出多支线、多中心的地理镶嵌现象,受全新世海水入侵造成文化和农业间断影响,沿海地区水稻驯化推迟完成
Early Holocene rice cultivation integrated into marine adaptation in eastern China
Geographic mosaics of rice domestication in the lower Yangtze River indicated by morphological characteristics of rice bulliform phytoliths
Earliest Neolithic occupation and maritime adaptation on the West Pacific coast
Intensification of rice farming and its environmental consequences recorded in a Liangzhu reservoir, China
New evidence supports the continuous development of rice cultivation and early formation of mixed farming in the Middle Han River Valley, China
Located in the transitional region between northern and southern China, the middle Han River valley is of pivotal significance for current debates on rice domestication and the formation of mixed farming in early China. Based on phytoliths and macro-plant remains from 10 sites, along with radiocarbon dating, this study has narrowed the 2000-year gap in early rice utilization by 700 years in the middle Han River valley, and demonstrated the contin…
Phytoliths in spikelets of selected Oryzoideae species
Spatial and temporal pattern of rice domestication during the early Holocene in the lower Yangtze region, China
Rice is among the world’s most important and ancient domesticated crops. However, the spatial and temporal pattern of the early rice domestication process remains unclear due to the lack of systematic study of wild/domesticated rice remains and corresponding dates during the early Holocene. Here, we collected 248 samples from five typical Shangshan cultural sites in the lower Yangtze region where is the most likely origin place of rice for phytol…
Phytolith records of flourishing early Holocene Pooideae linked to an 8.2 ka cold event in subtropical China
The grass subfamily Pooideae originated in a temperate niche during the late Cretaceous; it is the largest Poaceae subfamily, consisting of almost 4,000 species, which are distributed worldwide. Pooideae responses to climate changes at different time scales, and different ecological zones are thus important in understanding Poaceae evolutionary processes and their relationship with climate change. In the study described in this article, we recons…
Influence of different extraction methods on prehistoric phytolith radiocarbon dating
Assessing the occurrence and status of wheat in late Neolithic central China
The introduction of wheat into central China is thought to have been one of the significant contributions of interactions between China and Central Asia which began in the 3rd millennium bc. However, only a limited number of Neolithic wheat grains have been found in central China and even fewer have been directly radiocarbon dated, making the date when wheat was adopted in the region and its role in subsistence farming uncertain. Based on systema…
Food and ritual resources in hunter-gatherer societies
Hydrological change and human activity during Yuan–Ming Dynasties in the Loulan area, northwestern China
Human activity on arid lands has been related to oases evolution. The ancient Loulan, an important transportation hub of the ancient Silk Road, developed on an ancient oasis on the west bank of the lake Lop Nur in Xinjiang, China. Previous studies and historical documents suggest that the region has experienced dramatic natural environmental and human activity–related changes over time, transitioning from a particularly prosperous oasis to a depo…
The development of Yangshao agriculture and its interaction with social dynamics in the middle Yellow River region, China
This study presents new archaeobotanical evidence for agricultural production in the middle Yellow River region during the Yangshao culture period. Phytolith analyses, together with radiocarbon dating of samples from 10 sites in Zhengzhou, showed that common millet and foxtail millet were cultivated with rice in the region around 4000–3000 cal BC. The ratio of crop remains revealed that common millet was dominant in the crop structure. Rice culti…
The first discovery of Neolithic rice remains in eastern Taiwan
Phytolith analysis for the identification of barnyard millet (Echinochloa sp.) and its implications
Pollen record of the centennial climate changes during 9–7 cal ka BP in the Changjiang (Yangtze) River Delta plain, China
We reconstructed the centennial climate changes for the period of 9–7 cal ka BP in the upper region of the Changjiang (Yangtze) River Delta plain. A general warming and wetting trend from 8560 to 7220 cal yr BP was indicated by the decrease in Quercus (deciduous) and increases in Quercus (evergreen), Pinus , and Polypodiaceae spores. However, there were several brief climate fluctuations. A notable palynological change, from regional assemblages …
Dating rice remains through phytolith carbon-14 study reveals domestication at the beginning of the Holocene
Significance When the domestication of rice began in its homeland, China, is an enduring and important issue of debate for researchers from many different disciplines. Reliable chronological and robust identification criteria for rice domestication are keys to understanding the issue. Here, we first use phytolith dating to constrain the initial occupation of Shangshan, an important site with early rice remains located in the Lower Yangtze region …
Prehistoric evolution of the dualistic structure mixed rice and millet farming in China
Compared with the monistic structure of crop agriculture in Southwest Asia and Mesoamerica, agriculture in ancient China reflects the characteristics of a dualistic structure with millet in the north and rice in the south. It is argued that the rice and millet farming modes were mutually exchanged during their development and formed a vast region of mixed farming. However, the time and place of its origin, the routes of dissemination, and the dev…
The ancient dispersal of millets in southern China
This study presents the first direct evidence of millet cultivation in Neolithic southeast coastal China. Macroscopic plant remains and phytoliths, together with direct accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dates on crops, have shown that both foxtail millet and broomcorn millet were cultivated with rice in the Huangguashan and Pingfengshan sites in Fujian province around 4000–3500 cal. BP. Ratios of different parts of crop remains reve…
Temporal changes of mixed millet and rice agriculture in Neolithic-Bronze Age Central Plain, China
Mixed millet and rice agriculture is a unique agricultural style of China, and is distributed in a broad band between the Yangtze and Yellow River basin. However, the development of this style during the Neolithic-Bronze Age has not been comprehensively clarified, owing to limited archaeobotanical data and imprecise chronology for most of the regions. Here, the Central Plain, a location where mixed agriculture may have first appeared, was selecte…
Cultivation strategies at the ancient Luanzagangzi settlement on the easternmost Eurasian steppe during the late Bronze Age
Phytolith and diatom evidence for rice exploitation and environmental changes during the early mid-Holocene in the Yangtze Delta
Using phytolith analysis from a well-dated and high-resolution sediment sequence in the apex of northern Yangtze Delta, we investigate environmental changes, the rise and decline of rice exploitation and possible impacts of environment on rice exploitation during the early mid-Holocene. The phytolith sequence documents a relatively warm and dry interval during ca.9000 to 8200 cal yr BP, followed by climatic amelioration before 7200 cal yr BP. Phy…
Phytoliths as a tool for investigations of agricultural origins and dispersals around the world
From the modern to the archaeological
Prehistoric evolution of the dualistic structure mixed rice and millet farming in China
Compared with the monistic structure of crop agriculture in Southwest Asia and Mesoamerica, agriculture in ancient China reflects the characteristics of a dualistic structure with millet in the north and rice in the south. It is argued that the rice and millet farming modes were mutually exchanged during their development and formed a vast region of mixed farming. However, the time and place of its origin, the routes of dissemination, and the dev…
The ancient dispersal of millets in southern China
This study presents the first direct evidence of millet cultivation in Neolithic southeast coastal China. Macroscopic plant remains and phytoliths, together with direct accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dates on crops, have shown that both foxtail millet and broomcorn millet were cultivated with rice in the Huangguashan and Pingfengshan sites in Fujian province around 4000–3500 cal. BP. Ratios of different parts of crop remains reve…
Assessing the occurrence and status of wheat in late Neolithic central China
The introduction of wheat into central China is thought to have been one of the significant contributions of interactions between China and Central Asia which began in the 3rd millennium bc. However, only a limited number of Neolithic wheat grains have been found in central China and even fewer have been directly radiocarbon dated, making the date when wheat was adopted in the region and its role in subsistence farming uncertain. Based on systema…
Temporal changes of mixed millet and rice agriculture in Neolithic-Bronze Age Central Plain, China
Mixed millet and rice agriculture is a unique agricultural style of China, and is distributed in a broad band between the Yangtze and Yellow River basin. However, the development of this style during the Neolithic-Bronze Age has not been comprehensively clarified, owing to limited archaeobotanical data and imprecise chronology for most of the regions. Here, the Central Plain, a location where mixed agriculture may have first appeared, was selecte…
Phytolith analysis for the identification of barnyard millet (Echinochloa sp.) and its implications
The first discovery of Neolithic rice remains in eastern Taiwan
Palaeoenvironment and agriculture of ancient Loulan and Milan on the Silk Road
Ancient Loulan, an important city on the Silk Road, disappeared about 1500 years ago. The environmental conditions associated with the vicissitude of ancient Loulan have been debated since the city was rediscovered in ad 1900. However, little paleobotanical evidence concerning vegetation and environment in this area has so far been available. In this study, phytoliths and diatoms extracted from 16 samples including two fossil camel coprolites fro…
New evidence of agricultural activity and environmental change associated with the ancient Loulan kingdom, China, around 1500 years ago
The ancient kingdom of Loulan on China’s Silk Road has disappeared for about 1500 years. Historical records have documented widespread cultivation in Loulan which supported the kingdom’s prosperity for hundreds of years. However, no farmland ruins have been found although the ancient Loulan city was discovered more than 100 years ago. In this study, remotely sensed, geomorphic and geological observations of possible farmlands in Loulan were analy…
Geographic mosaics of rice domestication in the lower Yangtze River indicated by morphological characteristics of rice bulliform phytoliths
Spatial and temporal pattern of rice domestication during the early Holocene in the lower Yangtze region, China
Rice is among the world’s most important and ancient domesticated crops. However, the spatial and temporal pattern of the early rice domestication process remains unclear due to the lack of systematic study of wild/domesticated rice remains and corresponding dates during the early Holocene. Here, we collected 248 samples from five typical Shangshan cultural sites in the lower Yangtze region where is the most likely origin place of rice for phytol…
Phytoliths in spikelets of selected Oryzoideae species
Cultivation strategies at the ancient Luanzagangzi settlement on the easternmost Eurasian steppe during the late Bronze Age
The development of Yangshao agriculture and its interaction with social dynamics in the middle Yellow River region, China
This study presents new archaeobotanical evidence for agricultural production in the middle Yellow River region during the Yangshao culture period. Phytolith analyses, together with radiocarbon dating of samples from 10 sites in Zhengzhou, showed that common millet and foxtail millet were cultivated with rice in the region around 4000–3000 cal BC. The ratio of crop remains revealed that common millet was dominant in the crop structure. Rice culti…
New evidence supports the continuous development of rice cultivation and early formation of mixed farming in the Middle Han River Valley, China
Located in the transitional region between northern and southern China, the middle Han River valley is of pivotal significance for current debates on rice domestication and the formation of mixed farming in early China. Based on phytoliths and macro-plant remains from 10 sites, along with radiocarbon dating, this study has narrowed the 2000-year gap in early rice utilization by 700 years in the middle Han River valley, and demonstrated the contin…
The ‘Mediaeval Warm Period’ drought recorded in Lake Huguangyan, tropical South China
The geochemistry of dated sediment cores from Lake Huguangyan (21°9′N, 110°17′E), tropical South China, reveals distinct stratigraphical patterns in total organic and inorganic carbon (TOC, TIC), biogenic silica (BS) and total nitrogen (TN) over the past 1400 years. In this hydrologically closed lake, TIC variations may re‘ ect changes in the precipitation/evaporation ratio, which controls the evaporative enrichment of carbonate. TOC, BS and TN i…
Earliest Neolithic occupation and maritime adaptation on the West Pacific coast
Food and ritual resources in hunter-gatherer societies
Hydrological change and human activity during Yuan–Ming Dynasties in the Loulan area, northwestern China
Human activity on arid lands has been related to oases evolution. The ancient Loulan, an important transportation hub of the ancient Silk Road, developed on an ancient oasis on the west bank of the lake Lop Nur in Xinjiang, China. Previous studies and historical documents suggest that the region has experienced dramatic natural environmental and human activity–related changes over time, transitioning from a particularly prosperous oasis to a depo…
Rice domestication and climatic change
Fossil rice phytoliths have been identified from a lateglacial to Holocene sequence of epicontinental sediments in the East China Sea that were probably transported by the Yangtze River from its middle and/or lower reaches. The rice phytoliths occurred first in the sequence at about 13 900 cal. yr BP and disappeared during the period of 13 000–10000 cal. yr BP, implying the earliest domesticated cereal crops of the world ever reported. Based on t…
Rice domestication and climatic change
The ‘Mediaeval Warm Period’ drought recorded in Lake Huguangyan, tropical South China
The geochemistry of dated sediment cores from Lake Huguangyan (21°9′N, 110°17′E), tropical South China, reveals distinct stratigraphical patterns in total organic and inorganic carbon (TOC, TIC), biogenic silica (BS) and total nitrogen (TN) over the past 1400 years. In this hydrologically closed lake, TIC variations may re‘ ect changes in the precipitation/evaporation ratio, which controls the evaporative enrichment of carbonate. TOC, BS and TN i…
The Huguang maar lake—a high-resolution record of palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic changes over the last 78,000 years from South China
Phytoliths as quantitative indicators for the reconstruction of past environmental conditions in China I
A 1200-year proxy record of hurricanes and fires from the Gulf of Mexico coast
We present here the first high-resolution pollen record of vegetation response to interactions of hurricane and fire disturbances over the past 1200 yr from a small lake in Alabama on the Gulf of Mexico coast. The paleo tempestological record inferred from the over wash sand layers suggests that the Alabama coast was directly struck by Saffir–Simpson category 4 or 5 hurricanes twice during the last 1200 yr, around 1170 and 860 cal yr BP, suggesti…
Some fundamental misconceptions about paleotempestology
Phytoliths Analysis for the Discrimination of Foxtail Millet (Setaria italica) and Common Millet (Panicum miliaceum)
Foxtail millet (Setaria italica) and Common millet (Panicum miliaceum) are the oldest domesticated dry farming crops in Eurasia. Identifying these two millets in the archaeobotanical remains are still problematic, especially because the millet grains preserve only when charred. Phytoliths analysis provides a viable method for identifying this important crop. However, to date, the identification of millet phytoliths has been questionable, because …
Earliest domestication of common millet ( Panicum miliaceum ) in East Asia extended to 10,000 years ago
The origin of millet from Neolithic China has generally been accepted, but it remains unknown whether common millet ( Panicum miliaceum ) or foxtail millet ( Setaria italica ) was the first species domesticated. Nor do we know the timing of their domestication and their routes of dispersal. Here, we report the discovery of husk phytoliths and biomolecular components identifiable solely as common millet from newly excavated storage pits at the Neo…
Palynological and satellite-based Modis observations of modern vegetational gradients in China
Year vegetation and climate change around the East China Sea shelf inferred from a high-resolution pollen record
Pollen-inferred climate changes and vertical shifts of alpine vegetation belts on the northern slope of the Nyainqentanglha Mountains (central Tibetan Plateau) since 8.4 kyr BP
Fossil pollen from Nam Co and modern pollen from altitudinal vegetation belts around the lake are investigated to reveal alpine vegetation succession in response to climate changes during the Holocene in the central Tibetan Plateau. The discriminant analysis on 37 topsoil samples shows that pollen samples from alpine steppe at lower elevations ( 60%). Our result indicates that the pollen ratio of Artemisia to Cyperaceae (A/Cy) can be used as an i…
New evidence of agricultural activity and environmental change associated with the ancient Loulan kingdom, China, around 1500 years ago
The ancient kingdom of Loulan on China’s Silk Road has disappeared for about 1500 years. Historical records have documented widespread cultivation in Loulan which supported the kingdom’s prosperity for hundreds of years. However, no farmland ruins have been found although the ancient Loulan city was discovered more than 100 years ago. In this study, remotely sensed, geomorphic and geological observations of possible farmlands in Loulan were analy…
From the modern to the archaeological
A 1000-yr record of environmental change in NE China indicated by diatom assemblages from maar lake Erlongwan
Past environmental changes based on diatom relative abundances have been inferred from the maar Lake Erlongwan in northeast China. The limnology of Lake Erlongwan is affected by the strongly seasonal regional climate. The composition of diatom assemblages, in turn, responds to changes in the seasonal duration of ice cover in winter, water-column turnover in spring and autumn, and thermal stratification in summer. Statistical analysis of the sedim…
Early millet use in northern China
It is generally understood that foxtail millet and broomcorn millet were initially domesticated in Northern China where they eventually became the dominant plant food crops. The rarity of older archaeological sites and archaeobotanical work in the region, however, renders both the origins of these plants and their processes of domestication poorly understood. Here we present ancient starch grain assemblages recovered from cultural deposits, inclu…
Palaeovegetation and palaeoclimate in low-latitude southern China during the Last Glacial Maximum
Modern pollen distributions in Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and the development of transfer functions for reconstructing Holocene environmental changes
Palaeoenvironment and agriculture of ancient Loulan and Milan on the Silk Road
Ancient Loulan, an important city on the Silk Road, disappeared about 1500 years ago. The environmental conditions associated with the vicissitude of ancient Loulan have been debated since the city was rediscovered in ad 1900. However, little paleobotanical evidence concerning vegetation and environment in this area has so far been available. In this study, phytoliths and diatoms extracted from 16 samples including two fossil camel coprolites fro…
Prehistoric demographic fluctuations in China inferred from radiocarbon data and their linkage with climate change over the past 50,000 years
Assessing the Importance of Climate Variables for the Spatial Distribution of Modern Pollen Data in China
To assess the importance of climate variables for the distribution of modern pollen data in China, we present a continental-scale dataset consisting of 1374 samples. Boosted regression trees and constrained ordination techniques are employed to quantify the importance of six climate variables (annual precipitation, PANN; actual/potential evapotranspiration ratio, Alpha; mean annual temperature, TANN; mean temperature of the warmest month, MTWA; m…
East Asian summer monsoon precipitation variability since the last deglaciation
The lack of a precisely-dated, unequivocal climate proxy from northern China, where precipitation variability is traditionally considered as an East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) indicator, impedes our understanding of the behaviour and dynamics of the EASM. Here we present a well-dated, pollen-based, ~20-yr-resolution quantitative precipitation reconstruction (derived using a transfer function) from an alpine lake in North China, which provides fo…
East Asian summer monsoon precipitation variations in China over the last 9500 years
To better understand the long-term changes of the East Asian summer monsoon precipitation ( P jja ), quantitative reconstructions and model simulations are needed. Here, we develop continental-scale pollen-based transfer functions for P jja with weighted averaging–partial least squares (WA-PLS) regression and a Bayesian multinomial regression method. We apply these transfer functions to a set of fossil pollen data from monsoonal China for quantit…
Phytoliths as a tool for investigations of agricultural origins and dispersals around the world
Phytolith and diatom evidence for rice exploitation and environmental changes during the early mid-Holocene in the Yangtze Delta
Using phytolith analysis from a well-dated and high-resolution sediment sequence in the apex of northern Yangtze Delta, we investigate environmental changes, the rise and decline of rice exploitation and possible impacts of environment on rice exploitation during the early mid-Holocene. The phytolith sequence documents a relatively warm and dry interval during ca.9000 to 8200 cal yr BP, followed by climatic amelioration before 7200 cal yr BP. Phy…
Geography (42 works) · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research (35 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (33 works) · Biology (29 works) · Archaeology (27 works) · Phytolith (26 works) · Pollen (25 works) · Ecology (24 works) · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies (24 works) · China (22 works)