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Abstract We examine the Holocene loess record in the Heye Catchment on the margins of the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and China Loess Plateau (CLP) to determine: the region to which the Heye Catchment climate is more similar; temporal change in wind strength; and modification of the loess record by mass wasting and human activity. Luminescence and radiocarbon dating demonstrate loess deposited in two periods: >11–8.6 ka and <5.1 ka. The 8.6–5.1 ka depositional hiatus, which coincides with the Mid-Holocene Climatic Optimum, is more similar to the loess deposition cessation in the TP than to the loess deposition deceleration in the CLP. Grain-size analysis suggests the Heye loess is a mixture of at least three different grain-size distributions and that it may derive from multiple sources. A greater proportion of coarse sediments in the older loess may indicate stronger winds compared with the more recent depositional period. Gravel incorporated into younger loess most likely comes from bedrock exposed in slump scarps. Human occupation of the catchment, for which the earliest evidence is 3.4 ka, postdates the onset of slumping; thus the slumps may have created a livable environment for humans. 

Rice (Oryza sativa) is one of the world’s most important food crops. We reconstruct the history of rice dispersal in Asia using whole-genome sequences of >1,400 landraces, coupled with geographic, environmental, archaeobotanical and paleoclimate data. We also identify extrinsic factors that impact genome diversity, with temperature a leading abiotic factor. Originating ∼9,000 years ago in the Yangtze Valley, rice diversified into temperate and tropical japonica during a global cooling event ∼4,200 years ago. Soon after, tropical rice reached Southeast Asia, where it rapidly diversified starting ∼2,500 yBP. The history of indica rice dispersal appears more complicated, moving into China ∼2,000 yBP. Reconstructing the dispersal history of rice and its climatic correlates may help identify genetic adaptation associated with the spread of a key domesticated species. 

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. The authors propose that, rather than being grown locally, this millet was acquired via exchange with farmers. This article highlights how indigenous foragers engaged in complex patterns of material and cultural exchange through encounters with newly arrived farmers. 

The difference in the chemical compositions between Neolithic pottery from the eastern and western ends of the northern Chinese Loess Plateau has been known for some time, and a number of possible explanations have been proposed. However, a full understanding of the difference is yet to be achieved. Based on recent geological studies of the Tianshui‐Qin'an area on the western Loess Plateau, the present study establishes a logical connection between the chemical characteristics of Neolithic pottery from the western Loess Plateau and the primary sediments available in the area. Moreover, this study reveals that the chemical compositions of clay used for fine wares and coarse wares at Dadiwan also bear some clear differences. Based on these findings, the paper discusses possible clay selection methods by potters in the Neolithic western Loess Plateau to make their different wares based on the locales where suitable raw materials are available. The paper demonstrates that the raw materials available for pottery making on the eastern and western Loess Plateau differ significantly and this explains the marked difference in ceramic composition between the two locations 

Ancient farmers experienced climate change at the local level through variations in the yields of their staple crops. However, archaeologists have had difficulty in determining where, when, and how changes in climate affected ancient farmers. We model how several key transitions in temperature affected the productivity of six grain crops across Eurasia. Cooling events between 3750 and 3000 cal. BP lead humans in parts of the Tibetan Plateau and in Central Asia to diversify their crops. A second event at 2000 cal. BP leads farmers in central China to also diversify their cropping systems and to develop systems that allowed transport of grains from southern to northern China. In other areas where crop returns fared even worse, humans reduced their risk by increasing investment in nomadic pastoralism and developing long-distance networks of trade. By translating changes in climatic variables into factors that mattered to ancient farmers, we situate the adaptive strategies they developed to deal with variance in crop returns in the context of environmental and climatic changes.