Fahu Chen

Biographic Data

ID	3584751
NAME	Fahu Chen
GIVEN NAMES	Fahu
FAMILY NAME	Chen
SIGNATURE	CHEN F
AFFILIATIONS	Lanzhou University
ORCID	0000-0002-8874-1035
VERIFIED	Yes
TOTAL WORKS	92
TOTAL CITATIONS	283
AUTHOR COUNT	92
EDITOR COUNT	0
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR	1991
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR	2026
H-INDEX	9

Broad-spectrum subsistence facilitated early sedentism in the southern Mongolian Plateau revealed by sedimentary ancient DNA
Open AccessJie Chen, Yucheng Wang et al.ARTICLEJournal of Archaeological Science2026
The Mongolian Plateau is characterized by an arid, highly seasonal, and low-productivity environment, conditions long assumed to sustain nomadic pastoralism as the predominant lifeway. However, recent archaeological discoveries in the southern plateau reveal early sedentism during the early Holocene that predate agro-pastoralism, prompting the fundamental question of how these societies achieved sedentism under these ecological constraints, parti…
ITL dating resolves chronology of Quesang travertine hand- and footprints, Tibetan plateau
Open AccessLeibin Wang, Junjie Zhang et al.ARTICLEJournal of Archaeological Science2026
Sophisticated millet-pig agriculture fueled asynchronous social complexity in the Neolithic Chinese Loess Plateau
Open AccessJiajia Dong, Guoke Chen et al.ARTICLEJournal of Archaeological Science2026
Wood use strategies and settlement intensity of the earliest Neolithic populations on the eastern Tibetan Plateau: Evidence from Konglongcun site
Open AccessYuan Liang, Fengwen Liu et al.ARTICLEJournal of Archaeological Science…2026References: 66
Charcoal taxa indicate local wood gathering from trees typical of the eastern Tibetan Plateau margin. • Late-phase wood use shifted toward fresher fuel, larger dismeters, adn more small-diameter Pyrus sp. • Wood-use changes point to intensified farming and increasing sedentism in the early Neolithic. The dispersal of prehistoric agricultural cultures onto the Tibetan Plateau and their adaptation to its extreme environments remain key scientific q…
Multiple animal species along the Silk Roads underpinned jade mining in the Hexi Corridor of Warring States China
Open AccessLinyao Du, Yishi Yang et al.ARTICLEJournal of Archaeological Science2026References: 27
The Circulation of Yersinia pestis in Central Eurasia before and during the First Plague Pandemic (Second to Eighth Century CE): Palaeogenetic and Historical Evidence and Sociopolitical, Ecological, a…
Open AccessJohannes Preiser-Kapeller, William A Mcgrath et al.ARTICLEHuman Ecology2025References: 111
Modern Yersinia pestis genomes show the greatest diversity of the plague pathogen in Central Eurasia. This region is now widely linked to the origins of the Y. pestis lineages responsible for two historic plague pandemics: one starting with the so-called “Justinianic Plague” of the mid-sixth century and the other with the “Black Death” of the mid-fourteenth century. These pandemics have mostly been studied in the Mediterranean region and Europe. …
Identifying drivers of storage dynamics of lakes and reservoirs in the arid Central Asia
Open AccessGang Zhao, Suxia Liu et al.ARTICLEEnvironmental Research Letters2024
Knowing the storage variations in lakes and reservoirs are essential for water resources and environmental management, especially in the regions facing water scarcity. However, the quantification of the storage changes is limited by sparse in-situ observations and spatial coverage of space (air)-borne altimetric sensors that have been used conventionally in storage retrieval. This hampers the attribution analysis of lake storage changes. Here, we…
Anthropocene on the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau: A Holocene perspective from multiple sedimentary records
Open AccessDuo Wu, Lili Pan et al.ARTICLEAnthropocene2024Cited by: 4References: 28
The Anthropocene is described as the period since ~1950 when human activities modified the boundary conditions of the Earth system and became the dominant driver of environmental changes. However, ever since the term ‘Anthropocene’ was proposed, there has been a debate regarding its start date, and several workers are even opposed to its formalization. A prerequisite for clarifying the debate on the start date of the Anthropocene is an historical…
Changes in vegetation greenness and its response to precipitation seasonality in Central Asia from 1982 to 2022
Open AccessYanan Su, Shengqian Chen et al.ARTICLEEnvironmental Research Letters2023
Central Asia is the world’s largest azonal arid region, with strong seasonal precipitation patterns. Vegetation in this region is relatively sparse and extremely sensitive to climatic changes. However, long-term trends in vegetation in Central Asia are still unclear or even controversially recognized, hindering the assessment of climate change’s impact on regional sustainability. Here, we present the longest time series of vegetation index in Cen…
New evidence of prehistoric human activity on the central Tibetan plateau during the early to middle Holocene
Open AccessLeibin Wang, Haiwei Zhang et al.ARTICLEThe Holocene2023Cited by: 6References: 16
The cold and hypoxic environment of the Tibetan Plateau was a major challenge for its prehistoric human occupants. The earliest known hominin occupation (or visitation) of the Tibetan Plateau was at ~200 ka, in the middle Pleistocene, and these hominins must have had survival strategies for this harsh environment. We report the discovery of 5 handprints and 17 footprints on the travertine near the outlet of the Quesang hot spring, a well-document…
Performance and Inter-Comparison Tests of the Micadas at the Radiocarbon Laboratory of Lanzhou University, China
Open AccessHuihui Cao, Zongli Wang et al.ARTICLERadiocarbon2023Cited by: 6References: 21
Since 2018, the radiocarbon laboratory of Lanzhou University has been equipped with a compact accelerator mass spectrometer—a 200-KV mini carbon dating system (MICADAS), together with an auto graphitization equipment (AGE III). The laboratory has for a long time prepared graphite targets for 14 C dating of plant fossils, charcoal, bones, and bulk organic matter. Herein, we give an overview of the operating status and performance of the dating fac…
Intensive millet–pig systems supported the rise of complex societies in North China
Open AccessDongju Zhang, Fahu ChenARTICLENature Sustainability2022
Sustainable intensification of millet–pig agriculture in Neolithic North China
Open AccessJishuai Yang, Dongju Zhang et al.ARTICLENature Sustainability2022Cited by: 12References: 14
Understanding the transport networks complex between South Asia, Southeast Asia and China during the late Neolithic and Bronze Age
Open AccessMinmin Ma, Yongxiu Lu et al.ARTICLEThe Holocene2022Cited by: 7References: 18
The emergence and intensification of transcontinental exchange during both the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age profoundly influenced the social history of Eurasia. While scholars have intensively discussed east-west long-distance communication along the proto-Silk Road, the north-south transport networks that connected China to South and Southeast Asia during the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age have attracted much less attention in the scholarly lite…
Lake level evidence for a mid-Holocene East Asian summer monsoon maximum and the impact of an abrupt late-Holocene drought event on prehistoric cultures in north-central China
Open AccessZhiping Zhang, Zhongwei Shen et al.ARTICLEThe Holocene2022Cited by: 2References: 11
Uncertainty regarding the timing of the highest Holocene water level of enclosed Dali Lake in northern China has led to controversy about whether the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) peaked in the early Holocene or the mid-Holocene. Therefore, a record combining a reliable chronology with unambiguous lake level indicators is essential to resolve the issue. In this study, we established a temporal sequence of well-preserved paleolake shorelines at…
Exploitation of lydite and jasper by Epipaleolithic foragers in the Northeastern Tibetan Plateau and surrounding regions
Open AccessXuke Shen, Charles Perreault et al.ARTICLEArchaeological and Anthropological…2022Cited by: 2References: 66
Lithic raw material analysis is the key to understanding prehistoric foragers' resource exploitation strategies, mobility patterns, cultural interactions and exchange networks. Previous geochemical study of obsidian artifacts from Paleolithic and Epipaleolithic sites on the Tibetan Plateau revealed possible human interactions in the Chang Tang and southern Tibet. However, obsidian is rare in sites on the Northeastern Tibetan Plateau (NETP) and ad…
Late twentieth century rapid increase in high Asian seasonal snow and glacier-derived streamflow tracked by tree rings of the upper Indus River basin
Open AccessFeng Chen, Magdalena Opała‐Owczarek et al.ARTICLEEnvironmental Research Letters2021
Given the reported increasing trends in high Asian streamflow and rapidly increasing water demand in the Indian subcontinent, it is necessary to understand the long‐term changes and mechanisms of snow- and glacier-melt-driven streamflow in this area. Thus, we have developed a June–July streamflow reconstruction for the upper Indus River watershed located in northern Pakistan. This reconstruction used a temperature-sensitive tree-ring width chrono…
Quartz OSL dating of loess deposits since the late glacial in the Southeast of Caspian Sea
Open AccessHaitao Wei, Leibin Wang et al.ARTICLEQuaternary International2021
Clay mineralogy and geochemistry of the Lower Pleistocene Loess in the Iranian Loess Plateau (Agh Band section) and implications for its provenance and paleoclimate change
Open AccessMehdi Taheri, Farhad Khormali et al.ARTICLEQuaternary International2020
OSL chronology of the Liena archeological site in the Yarlung Tsangpo valley throws new light on human occupation of the Tibetan Plateau
Open AccessZhiyong Ling, Xiaoyan Yang et al.ARTICLEThe Holocene2020Cited by: 2References: 15
Recent environmental archeological evidence has started to throw light on both the timing and processes of human colonization of the Tibetan Plateau (TP). Yarlung Tsangpo (YT) valley, a very important region of the southern TP for occupation, is home to not only modern Tibetans but also their ancestors. However, a lack of suitable sedimentary strata has limited the establishment of a secure chronology. Here, we report on a new stratigraphic secti…
Foraging and farming: Archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological evidence for Neolithic exchange on the Tibetan Plateau
Open AccessLele Ren, G Dong et al.ARTICLEAntiquity2020Cited by: 11References: 14
Archaeological research has documented the migration of Neolithic farmers onto the Tibetan Plateau by 4000 BC. How these incoming groups interacted, if at all, with local indigenous foragers, however, remains unclear. New archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological data from the Zongri site in the north-eastern Tibetan Plateau suggest that local foragers continued to hunt but supplemented their diet with agricultural products in the form of millet. Th…
In-site pollen record from the Dadiwan archaeological site and the human-environment relationship during Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 3
Open AccessWei Peng, Xiaozhong Huang et al.ARTICLEQuaternary Research2019
Climatic change that affects biological productivity is often argued to be a primary force influencing human activities during the glacial period. To test this assumption, we combine in-site pollen, paleoclimatic, and archaeological data from the Dadiwan site and nearby areas on the western Loess Plateau (WLP) that date to Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 3. Our comparison of multiple datasets suggests that regional human activities increased wh…
Climate change in arid central Asia since MIS 2 revealed from a loess sequence in Yili Basin, Xinjiang, China
Open AccessLeibin Wang, Jia Jia et al.ARTICLEQuaternary International2019
Optical dating of Holocene paleosol development and climate changes in the Yili Basin, arid central Asia
Open AccessLeibin Wang, Jia Jia et al.ARTICLEThe Holocene2019References: 14
Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating was conducted on the K-feldspar and quartz fractions of a Holocene loess-paleosol sequence in the Yili Basin, in the core area of arid central Asia (ACA). Age overestimation using the post-IR IR (pIR 50 IR 170 ) signals from feldspar was observed for paleosols, because of poor bleaching prior to deposition. Therefore, a reliable age framework for the studied section was established using OSL dating o…
Inconsistency between records of δ 18 O and trace element ratios from stalagmites: Evidence for increasing mid–late Holocene moisture in arid central Asia
Open AccessXiaokang Liu, Jianbao Liu et al.ARTICLEThe Holocene2019References: 10
The interpretation of trace element/calcium ratios of speleothems as indicators of local hydroclimatic variability in the vicinity of caves has led to controversy in reconstructing the evolution of moisture conditions in arid central Asia (ACA) during the Holocene. Here we present records of Mg/Ca, Sr/Ca, Ba/Ca, and U/Ca from precisely dated stalagmites from Baluk cave in Xinjiang (northwest China), spanning the past 9370 years. The co-variations…

The Transition to Agriculture at Dadiwan, People's Republic of China
R L Bettinger, Loukas Barton et al.ARTICLECurrent Anthropology2010Cited by: 36References: 25
Recent excavations at the Dadiwan site in the western Loess Plateau, Gansu Province, People's Republic of China (PRC), document the first continuous foraging-to-farming sequence in North China. The Dadiwan occupation began at about 80,000 BP and became regular by about 60,000 BP, probably before the arrival or evolution of modern Homo sapiens in North China. This record spans the transitions from nonintensive to intensive hunting and gathering an…
Spatial and temporal variety of prehistoric human settlement and its influencing factors in the upper Yellow River valley, Qinghai Province, China
Open AccessG Dong, Xin Jia et al.ARTICLEJournal of Archaeological Science2012Cited by: 31References: 10
The development of agriculture and its impact on cultural expansion during the late Neolithic in the Western Loess Plateau, China
Open AccessXin Jia, G Dong et al.ARTICLEThe Holocene2012Cited by: 26References: 9
Based on radiocarbon dating and our analysis of plant and animal remains from Buziping, a Majiayao (5300–4300 BP) and Qijia (4200–3800 BP) period site located in Dingxi, Gansu Province, China, and our review of archaeobotanical studies in the Western Loess Plateau and adjacent areas, we discuss subsistence strategies during the Majiayao and Qijia periods. We also discuss the development of agriculture in the Western Loess Plateau and its influenc…
Glacial cycles and Palaeolithic adaptive variability on China's Western Loess Plateau
Open AccessC T Morgan, Christopher Morgan et al.ARTICLEAntiquity2011Cited by: 23References: 42
Intensive research on China's Western Loess Plateau has located 63 Palaeolithic deposits, which together allow the authors to present a general model of hominin occupation from 80 000 to 18 000 years ago. Tools, subsistence and settlement correlate nicely with the climate: the warm wet MIS3 seeing expansion and more organised acquisition of quartz, and the Late Glacial Maximum that followed, a reduction in human presence but possibly an increase …
The early appearance of Shuidonggou core-and-blade technology in north China: Implications for the spread of Anatomically Modern Humans in northeast Asia
Open AccessDavid B Madsen, Charles G Oviatt et al.ARTICLEQuaternary International2014Cited by: 18References: 16
Prehistoric trans-continental cultural exchange in the Hexi Corridor, northwest China
Open AccessG Dong, Yishi Yang et al.ARTICLEThe Holocene2017Cited by: 16References: 29
We report dozens of direct radiocarbon dates on charred grains from 22 archaeological sites of the Neolithic and Bronze Ages in the Hexi Corridor, northwest China, a key region for trans-Eurasian exchange in prehistoric and historical times. These charred grains include remains of wheat and barley domesticated in southwest Asia and broomcorn and foxtail millet which originated from north China. Together with previously published radiocarbon dates…
Sustainable intensification of millet–pig agriculture in Neolithic North China
Open AccessJishuai Yang, Dongju Zhang et al.ARTICLENature Sustainability2022Cited by: 12References: 14
Foraging and farming: Archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological evidence for Neolithic exchange on the Tibetan Plateau
Open AccessLele Ren, G Dong et al.ARTICLEAntiquity2020Cited by: 11References: 14
Archaeological research has documented the migration of Neolithic farmers onto the Tibetan Plateau by 4000 BC. How these incoming groups interacted, if at all, with local indigenous foragers, however, remains unclear. New archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological data from the Zongri site in the north-eastern Tibetan Plateau suggest that local foragers continued to hunt but supplemented their diet with agricultural products in the form of millet. Th…
Holocene environmental change inferred from a high-resolution pollen record, Lake Zhuyeze, arid China
Open AccessFahu Chen, Fa-hu Chen et al.ARTICLEThe Holocene2006Cited by: 9References: 3
A high-resolution pollen record, c. 50 yr/sample, from terminal lake sediments in the Shiyang River drainage basin on the present margin of the summer monsoon was used to reconstruct vegetation and climate history during the Holocene. Forest trees from mountainous areas of the drainage, including Sabina, Picea and Pinus, dominated pollen assemblages in the early Holocene (11.6-7.1 cal. ka). In the mid-Holocene (7.1-3.8 cal. ka) desert and steppe …
Economic Change in the Prehistoric Hexi Corridor (4800–2200 bp ), North‐West China
Open AccessY Yang, Yimin Yang et al.ARTICLEArchaeometry2019Cited by: 8References: 62
It is widely known that the Hexi Corridor in North‐West China lies at a hub of trans‐Eurasian cultural exchange. Its role became increasingly important during the late prehistoric period, particularly as the ancient Silk Road began to be used. While the profound transformation of local cultural characteristics in the late Neolithic and the Bronze Age is well documented, the detailed economic dynamics of cultural evolution have not yet been clearl…
Diet reconstructed from an analysis of plant microfossils in human dental calculus from the Bronze Age site of Shilinggang, southwestern China
Open AccessNaimeng Zhang, G Dong et al.ARTICLEJournal of Archaeological Science2017Cited by: 8References: 14
A Comparative Study of 14 C Dating on Charcoal and Charred Seeds from Late Neolithic and Bronze Age Sites in Gansu and Qinghai Provinces, NW China
Open AccessGuang-Hui Dong, Zong-li Wang et al.ARTICLERadiocarbon2014Cited by: 8References: 14
The chronology of the Neolithic and Bronze Age cultures in Gansu and Qinghai provinces, northwest China, is mainly based on conventional radiocarbon dates from unidentified charcoal, which may be inaccurate in view of the possible “old wood” problem of 14 C dating. To discuss the reliability of the chronology of those prehistoric cultures, accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates of short-lived charred seeds were compared to conventional 14 C da…
Stable Isotope Analysis of Human and Faunal Remains in the Western L oess P lateau, Approximately 2000 cal bc
Open AccessM M Ma, G Dong et al.ARTICLEArchaeometry2014Cited by: 8References: 44
During the second millennium bc , several significant changes were happening in prehistoric societies across E urasia. For instance, shifts in subsistence practice occurred in north‐western C hina, including the western L oess P lateau. However, the magnitude and nature of this dietary change are unclear and more detailed information and regional studies are needed in order to fully understand the reasons behind this change. In this study, palaeo…
Understanding the transport networks complex between South Asia, Southeast Asia and China during the late Neolithic and Bronze Age
Open AccessMinmin Ma, Yongxiu Lu et al.ARTICLEThe Holocene2022Cited by: 7References: 18
The emergence and intensification of transcontinental exchange during both the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age profoundly influenced the social history of Eurasia. While scholars have intensively discussed east-west long-distance communication along the proto-Silk Road, the north-south transport networks that connected China to South and Southeast Asia during the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age have attracted much less attention in the scholarly lite…
New evidence of prehistoric human activity on the central Tibetan plateau during the early to middle Holocene
Open AccessLeibin Wang, Haiwei Zhang et al.ARTICLEThe Holocene2023Cited by: 6References: 16
The cold and hypoxic environment of the Tibetan Plateau was a major challenge for its prehistoric human occupants. The earliest known hominin occupation (or visitation) of the Tibetan Plateau was at ~200 ka, in the middle Pleistocene, and these hominins must have had survival strategies for this harsh environment. We report the discovery of 5 handprints and 17 footprints on the travertine near the outlet of the Quesang hot spring, a well-document…
Performance and Inter-Comparison Tests of the Micadas at the Radiocarbon Laboratory of Lanzhou University, China
Open AccessHuihui Cao, Zongli Wang et al.ARTICLERadiocarbon2023Cited by: 6References: 21
Since 2018, the radiocarbon laboratory of Lanzhou University has been equipped with a compact accelerator mass spectrometer—a 200-KV mini carbon dating system (MICADAS), together with an auto graphitization equipment (AGE III). The laboratory has for a long time prepared graphite targets for 14 C dating of plant fossils, charcoal, bones, and bulk organic matter. Herein, we give an overview of the operating status and performance of the dating fac…
Stable Isotope Analysis of Human and Animal Remains at the Qijiaping Site in Middle Gansu, China: Stable Isotope Analysis of remains at Qijiaping Site, China
Open AccessMinmin Ma, G Dong et al.ARTICLEInternational Journal of…2015Cited by: 6References: 37
Intercontinental exchanges between communities living in different parts of Eurasia during the late prehistoric period have become increasingly popular as a topic of archaeological research. The Qijia culture, found in northwest China, is one of the key archaeological cultures that can shed light on trans-Eurasian exchange because a variety of imports are found in this cultural context. These imports include new cereals and animals, which suggest…
Vegetation succession and East Asian Summer Monsoon Changes since the last deglaciation inferred from high-resolution pollen record in Gonghai Lake, Shanxi Province, China
Open AccessQinghai Xu, Fahu Chen et al.ARTICLEThe Holocene2016Cited by: 5References: 8
A cal. 20-year-resolution pollen record from Gonghai Lake presented the detailed process of mountain vegetation succession and East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) changes since the last deglaciation in Shanxi Province, North China. Modern vegetation distribution and lake surface pollen assemblages suggested that the fossil pollen mainly came from local and surrounding vegetation in Gonghai Lake, which reflected the elevational changes of plant commu…
Early ceramic trade in Gansu and Qinghai regions, northwest China: A comparative elemental analysis on sherds of Majiayao culture, Yangshao culture and Qijia culture
Open AccessYifu Cui, G Dong et al.ARTICLEJournal of Archaeological Science…2015Cited by: 5References: 12
A record of Holocene climate change in the Guanzhong Basin, China, based on optical dating of a loess-palaeosol sequence
Open AccessHui Zhao, Fahu Chen et al.ARTICLEThe Holocene2007Cited by: 5References: 8
Optical dating was used to obtain a chronology for a loess-palaeosol sequence in the Guanzhong Basin on the Loess Plateau in China. The sedimentary sequence recorded two dry episodes (3.7~2.4 ka and 1.2~0.8 ka ago) in the Holocene as shown by the presence of two layers of loess within the Holocene deposits. These two arid events are consistent with records of global climate change in the Holocene and also coincident with major historic events in …
Anthropocene on the eastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau: A Holocene perspective from multiple sedimentary records
Open AccessDuo Wu, Lili Pan et al.ARTICLEAnthropocene2024Cited by: 4References: 28
The Anthropocene is described as the period since ~1950 when human activities modified the boundary conditions of the Earth system and became the dominant driver of environmental changes. However, ever since the term ‘Anthropocene’ was proposed, there has been a debate regarding its start date, and several workers are even opposed to its formalization. A prerequisite for clarifying the debate on the start date of the Anthropocene is an historical…
Copper content in anthropogenic sediments as a tracer for detecting smelting activities and its impact on environment during prehistoric period in Hexi Corridor, Northwest China
Open AccessYishi Yang, G Dong et al.ARTICLEThe Holocene2016Cited by: 3References: 25
The Hexi Corridor of northwestern China was a principal axis of cultural interchange between eastern and western Eurasia during the prehistoric and historic epochs. Neolithic groups began dense settlements in Hexi Corridor after 4300 BP with millet crops and polychrome pottery from north China and bronze from Central Asia around 4000 BP accompanied by wheat, barley, and sheep. The impact of these activities on the environment during the late Neol…
Holocene stalagmite δ 18 O records in the East Asian monsoon region and their correlation with those in the Indian monsoon region
Open AccessXunlin Yang, Jianbao Liu et al.ARTICLEThe Holocene2014Cited by: 3References: 9
We compare well-dated Holocene stalagmite δ 18 O records from the East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) region and from the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) region. We found that the pattern of latitudinal change of speleothem δ 18 O values from the Indian monsoon region to the East Asian monsoon region is almost identical to that of modern precipitation. This suggests that the modern moisture transport route from the Indian Ocean to the East Asian monsoon…
The relative role of climatic and human factors in desertification in semiarid China
Open AccessXunming Wang, Fahu Chen et al.ARTICLEGlobal Environmental Change2005Cited by: 3References: 3
Environmental change during the Holocene in western China on a millennial timescale
Open AccessShangzhe Zhou, S Z Zhou et al.ARTICLEThe Holocene1991Cited by: 3
Recent data on the evolution of the inland lakes, loess-palaeosol sequences, and glacier variations in western China are briefly reviewed. The lake history shows three distinct stages in the Holocene, i.e., low water levels before 7500 BP, a stage of expansion during the climatic optimum between 7500 and 3500 BP, and contraction after 3500 BP. Three stages (wooded grassland, mixed woodland, wooded grassland becoming steppe) also appear indicated …