Precise chronology of hydrological changes at ∼4.2 kyr in Central China to assess the impact of flooding on Neolithic societies

ABSTRACT A lack of quantitative rainfall reconstruction has hindered understanding of the role of hydrological disturbances at ∼4.2 kyr BP (1000 years before present) in the collapse of the Shijiahe culture—an advanced Neolithic society in the Middle Yangtze Valley (MYV). We provide a quantitative paleohydrology reconstruction for the period 4.6–3.5 kyr BP by using calcium isotopes, trace elements and δ13C from an annually laminated stalagmite from the MYV. Our reconstructed rainfall shows three drier intervals with rainfall of <700 mm/yr (4.36–4.33 kyr BP, 4.23–4.10 kyr BP, 3.57–3.55 kyr BP) and two wetter intervals with rainfall of >1000 mm/yr (3.95–3.84 kyr BP, 3.70–3.59 kyr BP), with suggestions of tripole/dipole rainfall patterns. Combined with archaeological and paleoflood evidence, these data suggest that the Shijiahe culture underwent transformation during drier periods, but abandoned the region when the rainfall was >1000 mm/yr. This robust, multiproxy record demonstrates that water excess could be as problematic as water shortage, even for advanced civilizations, and contributes to understanding hydrological perturbations at ∼4.2 kyr BP.