Geoarchaeological evidence of the AD 1642 Yellow River flood that destroyed Kaifeng, a former capital of dynastic China
Autor: | Michael Storozum, Zhen Qin, Hui Wang, Haiwang Liu, Qifeng Ge, Peng Lu, Ruixia Yang, Edward Park, Junwei Wan, Sanying Wang, Jinping Cao, Panpan Chen |
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Přispěvatelé: | Asian School of the Environment |
Jazyk: | angličtina |
Rok vydání: | 2020 |
Předmět: |
010506 paleontology
Multidisciplinary 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences Flood myth Environmental Social Sciences lcsh:R Natural hazards lcsh:Medicine Excavation Context (language use) Silt Geology [Science] 01 natural sciences Archaeology Article Environmental social sciences Extreme weather Capital (economics) lcsh:Q China Urban resilience lcsh:Science Natural Hazards 0105 earth and related environmental sciences |
Zdroj: | Scientific Reports, Vol 10, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2020) Scientific Reports |
Popis: | Rising global temperatures will increase the number of extreme weather events, creating new challenges for cities around the world. Archaeological research on the destruction and subsequent reoccupation of ancient cities has the potential to reveal geological and social dynamics that have historically contributed to making urban settings resilient to these extreme weather events. Using a combination of archaeological and geological methods, we examine how extreme flood events at Kaifeng, a former capital of dynastic China, have shaped the city’s urban resilience. Specifically, we focus on an extreme Yellow River flood event in AD 1642 that historical records suggest killed around 300,000 people living in Kaifeng. Our recent archaeological excavations have discovered compelling geological and archaeological evidence that corroborates these documents, revealing that the AD 1642 Yellow River flood destroyed Kaifeng’s inner city, entombing the city and its inhabitants within meters of silt and clay. We argue that the AD 1642 flood was extraordinarily catastrophic because Kaifeng’s city walls only partly collapsed, entrapping most of the flood waters within the city. Both the geology of the Yellow River floods as well as the socio-political context of Kaifeng shaped the city’s resilience to extreme flood events. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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