Abstract
Prehistoric human history on the Tibetan Plateau is a hotly debated topic. Archaeological research on the plateau during the past few decades has enormously improved our understanding of the topic and makes it possible for us to consider the processes and mechanisms of prehistoric human migration to the region. By reviewing the published archaeological research on the Tibetan Plateau, we propose that the first people on the plateau initially spread into the He-Huang region from the Chinese Loess Plateau, and then moved to the low elevation Northeastern Tibetan Plateau and perhaps subsequently to the entire plateau. This process consisted of four stages. (1) During the climatic amelioration of the Last Deglacial period (15–11.6 ka BP), Upper Paleolithic hunter-gatherers with a developed microlithic technology first spread into the Northeastern Tibetan Plateau. (2) In the early-mid Holocene (11.6–6 ka BP), Epipaleolithic microlithic hunter-gatherers were widely distributed on the northeastern plateau and spread southwards to the interior plateau, possibly with millet agriculture developed in the neighboring low elevation regions. (3) In the mid-late Holocene (6–4 ka BP), Neolithic millet farmers spread into low elevation river valleys in the northeastern and southeastern plateau areas. (4) In the late Holocene (4–2.3 ka BP), Bronze Age barley and wheat farmers further settled on the high elevation regions of the Tibetan Plateau, especially after 3.6 ka BP. Finally, we suggest that all of the reported Paleolithic sites earlier than the LGM on the Tibetan Plateau need further examination.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Aldenderfer M. 2011. Peopling the Tibetan Plateau: Insights from archaeology. High Alt Med Biol, 12: 141–147
Aldenderfer M, Zhang Y. 2004. The prehistory of the Tibetan Plateau to the seventh century AD: Perspectives and research from China and the West since 1950. J World Prehist, 18: 1–55
An Z M. 1960. Neolithic Yangshao and Longshan Cultures in China (in Chinese). History Education, 8: 7–13
Archaeological Institute of Chinese Social Academy, Tibetan Cultural Relics Bereau. 1999. Qugong in Lasah (in Chinese). Beijing: Encyclopedia of China Publishing House
Archaeological Institute of Chinese Social Academy. 2003. Chinese Archaeology-Xia and Shang (in Chinese). Beijing: Chinese Social Science Press
Archaeological Institute of Chinese Social Academy. 2010. Chinese Archaeology-Neolithic (in Chinese). Beijing: Chinese Social Science Press
Baker P T. 1969. Human adaptation to high altitude. Science, 163: 1149–1156
Barton L, Newsome S D, Chen F H, Wang H, Guilderson T P, Bettinger R L. 2009. Agricultural origins and the isotopic identity of domestication in northern China. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 106: 5523–5528
Beall C M. 2001. Adaptations to altitude: A current assessment. Annu Rev Anthropol, 30: 423–456
Brantingham P J, Gao X, Olsen J W, Ma H, Rhode D, Zhang H, Madsen D B. 2007. A short chronology for the peopling of the Tibetan Plateau. In: Madsen D B, Chen F H, Gao X, eds. Developments in Quaternary Science. Amsterdam: Elsevier. 129–150
Brantingham P J, Rhode D, Madsen D B. 2010. Archaeology augments Tibet’s Genetic history. Science, 329: 1467
Brantingham P J, Xing G, Madsen D B, Rhode D, Perreault C, Woerd J, Olsen J W. 2013. Late occupation of the high-elevation northern Tibetan Plateau based on cosmogenic, luminescence, and radiocarbon ages. Geoarchaeology, 28: 413–431
Chai Y. 1999. Millet (in Chinese). Beijing: Chinese Agriculture Press
Chang G Z. 2014. Chinese Bronze Age. Beijing: SDX Joint Publication Company
Chen F H, Xu Q H, Chen J H, Birks H J B, Liu J B, Zhang S R, Jin L Y, An C B, Telford R J, Cao X Y, Wang Z L, Zhang X J, Selvaraj K, Lu H Y, Li Y C, Zheng Z, Wang H P, Zhou A F, Dong G H, Zhang J W, Huang X Z, Bloemendal J, Rao Z G. 2015a. East Asian summer monsoon precipitation variability since the last deglaciation. Sci Rep, 5: 11186
Chen F H, Chen J H, Holmes J, Boomer I, Austin P, Gates J B, Wang N L, Brooks S J, Zhang J W. 2010. Moisture changes over the last millennium in arid central Asia: A review, synthesis and comparison with monsoon region. Quat Sci Rev, 29: 1055–1068
Chen F H, Dong G H, Zhang D J, Liu X Y, Jia X, An C B, Ma M M, Xie Y W, Barton L, Ren X Y, Zhao Z J, Wu X H, Jones M K. 2015b. Agriculture facilitated permanent human occupation of the Tibetan Plateau after 3600 B.P. Science, 347: 248–250
Chen F H, Yu Z C, Yang M L, Ito E, Wang S M, Madsen D B, Huang X Z, Zhao Y, Sato T, Birks H J B, Boomer I, Chen J H, An C B, Wunnemann B. 2008. Holocene moisture evolution in arid central Asia and its out-of-phase relationship with Asian monsoon history. Quat Sci Rev, 27: 351–364
Chen X P. 1987. The direction and route of “Tang Tibet Ancient Road” (in Chinese). Qinghai Soc Sci, 3: 70–76
Chen Y C, Qu T L. 2012. Study on the society complexity about 10000 years ago in North China (in Chinese). Cultural Rel Central China, 3: 20–26
Cheng B, Chen F H, Zhang J W. 2013. Palaeovegetational and palaeoenvironmental changes since the last deglacial in Gonghe Basin, northeast Tibetan Plateau. J Geogr Sci, 23: 136–146
Clark P U, Dyke A S, Shakun J D, Carlson A E, Clark J, Wohlfarth B, Mitrovica J X, Hostetler S W, McCabe A M. 2009. The Last Glacial Maximum. Science, 325: 710–714
D'Alpoim Guedes J, Lu H, Hein A M, Schmidt A H. 2015. Early evidence for the use of wheat and barley as staple crops on the margins of the Tibetan Plateau. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 112: 5625–5630
D'Alpoim Guedes J, Butler E E. 2014. Modeling constraints on the spread of agriculture to Southwest China with thermal niche models. Quat Int, 349: 29–41
D'Alpoim Guedes J, Lu H, Li Y, Spengler R, Wu X, Aldenderfer M. 2014. Moving agriculture onto the Tibetan Plateau: The archaeobotanical evidence. Archaeol Anthropol Sci, 6: 255–269
Diamond J. 2002. Evolution, consequences and future of plant and animal domestication. Nature, 418: 700–707
Dodson J R, Li X Q, Zhou X Y, Zhao K L, Sun N, Atahan P. 2013. Origin and spread of wheat in China. Quat Sci Rev, 72: 108–111
Dong G H, Jia X, An C B, Chen F H, Zhao Y, Tao S C, Ma M M. 2012. Mid-Holocene climate change and its effect on prehistoric cultural evolution in eastern Qinghai Province, China. Quat Res, 77: 23–30
Dong G H, Wang L, Cui Y F, Elsto R, Chen F H. 2013a. The spatiotemporal pattern of the Majiayao cultural evolution and its relation to climate change and variety of subsistence strategy during late Neolithic period in Gansu and Qinghai Regions, northwest China. Quat Int, 316: 155–161
Dong G H, Jia X, Elston R, Chen F H, Li S C, Wang L, Cai L H, An C B. 2013b. Spatial and temporal variety of prehistoric sites and its influencing factors in the upper Yellow River valley, Qinghai Province, China. J Archaeol Sci, 40: 2538–2546
Dong G H, Wang Z L, Ren L L, Matuzeviciute G M, Wang H, Ren X Y, Chen F H. 2014. A comparative study of radiocarbon dating on charcoal and charred seeds from the same flotation samples in the late Neolithic and Bronze age sites in Gansu and Qinghai provinces, northern China. Radiocarbon, 56: 157–163
Dykoski C A, Edwards R L, Cheng H, Yuan D X, Cai Y J, Zhang M L, Lin Y S, Qing J M, An Z S, Revenaugh J. 2005. A high-resolution, absolute-dated Holocene and deglacial Asian monsoon record from Dongge Cave, China. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 233: 71–86
Elston R G, Guanghui D, Dongju Z. 2011. Late Pleistocene intensification technologies in Northern China. Quat Int, 242: 401–415
Flad R, Li S C, Wu X H, Zhao Z J. 2010. Early wheat in China: Results from new studies at Donghuishan in the Hexi Corridor. Holocene, 20: 955–965
Fu D X. 2001. The discovery, identification and research of Neolithic crop remains from Changguogou site, Tibet (in Chinese). Archaeology, 3: 66–74
Gai P, Wang G D. 1983. The excavation report of Epipaleolithic Layihai site in upper Yellow River valley (in Chinese). Acta Anthropol Sin, 2: 49–59
Gao X, Zhou Z Y, Guan Y. 2008. Human cultural remains and adaptation strategies in the Tibetan Plateau margin region in the late Pleistocene (in Chinese). Quat Sci, 28: 969–977
Gayden T, Cadenas A M, Regueiro M, Singh N B, Zhivotovsky L A, Underhill P A, Cavalli-Sforza L L, Herrera R J. 2007. The Himalayas as a Directional Barrier to Gene Flow. Am J Hum Genet, 80: 884–894
Gayden T, Mirabal S, Cadenas A M, Lacau H, Simms T M, Morlote D, Chennakrishnaiah S, Herrera R J. 2009. Genetic insights into the origins of Tibeto-Burman populations in the Himalayas. J Hum Genet, 54: 216–223
Goebel T, Derevianko A P, Petrin V T. 1993. Dating the Middle-to-Upper-Paleolithic transition at Kara-Bom. Curr Anthropol, 34: 452–458
Goebel T, Waters M R, O’Rourke D H. 2008. The late Pleistocene dispersal of modern humans in the Americas. Science, 319: 1497–1502
Greenland Ice-core Project Members. 1993. Climate instability during the last interglacial period recorded in the GRIP ice core. Nature, 364: 203–207
Herzschuh U, Birks H J B, Liu X, Kubatzki C, Lohmann G. 2010. This article has been retracted: What caused the mid-Holocene forest decline on the eastern Tibet-Qinghai Plateau? Glob Ecol Biogeogr, 19: 278–286
Hoffecker J F. 2009. The spread of modern humans in Europe. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 106: 16040–16045
Hou G, Lai Z, Cao G, E C, Sun Y, Rhode D, James F. 2015. The earliest prehistoric pottery in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and its archaeological implications. Quat Geochronol, 30: 431–437
Huang W W, Chen K Z, Yuan B Y. 1987. Discovery of Paleolithic artifacts in the Xiao Qaidam Lake area, Qinghai Province (in Chinese). Beijing: Sciences Press
Hudson A M, Olsen J W, Quade J. 2014. Radiocarbon dating of Interdune Paleo-Wetland deposits to constrain the age of Mid-to-Late Holocene microlithic artifacts from the Zhongba site, Southwestern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Geoarchaeology, 29: 33–46
Hung L Y, Cui J F, Wang H, Chen J. 2011. Study on production region of Majiayao painted pottery from west Sichuan Province (in Chinese). Ethnoarchaeol South China, 7: 1–58
Huo W. 1990. Neolithic agricultural settlements in Himalaya region and Lancang River drainage: The Neolithic agriculture relationship between Southwest China and Bruzahom in Kashmir (in Chinese). Agric Archaeol, 2: 101–107
Ji D X, Chen F H, Bettinger R L, Elston R G, Geng Z Q, Barton L, Wang H, An C B, Zhang D J. 2005. Human response to the Last Glacial Maximum: Evidence from North China (in Chinese). Acta Anthropol Sin, 24: 270–282
Jia X, Dong G H, Li H, Brunson K, Chen F H, Ma M M, Zhang K R. 2013. The development of agriculture and its impact on cultural expansion during the late Neolithic in the Western Loess Plateau, China. Holocene, 23: 85–92
Jiang L P, Liu L. 2006. New evidence for the origins of sedentism and rice domestication in the Lower Yangzi River, China. Antiquity, 80: 355–361
Jin G Y. 2007. The archaeological discovery and research of early wheat in China (in Chinese). Agric Archaeol, 4: 11–20
Kang L, Li S, Gupta S, Zhang Y, Liu K, Zhao J, Jin L, Li H. 2010. Genetic structures of the Tibetans and the Deng people in the Himalay as viewed from autosomal STRs. J Hum Genet, 55: 270–277
Kuzmin Y, Orlova L. 1998. Radiocarbon chronology of the Siberian Paleolithic. J World Prehist, 12: 1–53
Lai Z P, Kaiser K, Bruckner H. 2009. Luminescence-dated aeolian deposits of late Quaternary age in the southern Tibetan Plateau and their implications for landscape history. Quat Res, 72: 421–430
Lee G A, Crawford G W, Liu L, Chen X C. 2007. Plants and people from the early Neolithic to Shang periods in North China. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 104: 1087–1092
Lenfant C, Sullivan K. 1971. Adaptation to high altitude. New Engl J Med, 284: 1298–1309
Li F, Gao X, Chen F Y, Pei S W, Zhang Y, Zhang X L, Liu D C, Zhang S Q, Guan Y, Wang H M, Kuhn S L. 2013. The development of Upper Palaeolithic China: New results from the Shuidonggou site. Antiquity, 87: 368–383
Li Y X. 1992. Discussion of microlithic remains in Tibet (in Chinese). Res Tibet, 1: 126–132
Li Y X. 1996. Discussion of microlithics in Sichuan Province. Sichuan Institute of Archaeology and Cultural Relics: Symposium of Sichuan Archaeology (in Chinese). Beijing: Cultural Relics Press. 6–18
Liu J Z, Zhao H M. 1999. Neolithic Changguogou site in Gongga town, Tibet (in Chinese). Archaeology, 4: 1–10
Liu L. 2007. The Chinese Neolithic: Roads to State (in Chinese). Beijing: Cultural Relics Press
Liu X Y, Hunt Harriet V, Jones Martin K. 2009. River valleys and foothills: Changing archaeological perceptions of North China’s earliest farms. Antiquity, 83: 82–95
Liu X Y, Lightfoot E, O’Connell T C, Wang H, Li S C, Zhou L P, Hu Y W, Motuzaite-Matuzeviciute G, Jones M K. 2014. From necessity to choice: Dietary revolutions in west China in the second millennium BC. World Archaeol, 46: 661–680
Lu H L. 2011. Reconsideration of Tibetan Paleolithic Archaeology by re-analyzing localities surrounding the northeast bank of Xardai Co Lake, Ritu county, A Li (in Chinese). Archaeology, 3: 59–68
Lu H L. 2012. A preliminary study of early bronze wares from Western Himalaya (in Chinese). J National Museum China, 12: 49–58
Lu H L. 2014. Trans-Himalaya cultural interactions in Western Tibetan Neolithic Age (in Chinese). Archaeology, 12: 77–89
Lu H Y, Zhang J P, Liu K B, Wu N Q, Li Y M, Zhou K S, Ye M L, Zhang T Y, Zhang H J, Yang X Y, Shen L C, Xu D K, Li Q. 2009. Earliest domestication of common millet (Panicum miliaceum) in East Asia extended to 10000 years ago. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 106: 7367–7372
Lu L D. 1998. The microblade tradition in China: Regional chronologies and significance in the transition to neolithic. Asian Perspect, 37: 84–112
Madsen D B, Ma H Z, Brantingham P J, Gao X, Rhode D, Zhang H Y, Olsen J W. 2006. The Late Upper Paleolithic occupation of the northern Tibetan Plateau margin. J Archaeol Sci, 33: 1433–1444
Marcott S A, Shakun J D, Clark P U, Mix A C. 2013. A reconstruction of regional and global temperature for the past 11300 years. Science, 339: 1198–1201
Min R. 2009. The third excavation in Haimenkou site, Jianchuan county, Yunnan Province (in Chinese). Archaeology, 8: 3–22
Moore L G, Niermeyer S, Zamudio S. 1998. Human adaptation to high altitude: Regional and life-cycle perspectives. Am J Phys Anthropol, 107: 25–64
Morgan C, Barton L, Bettinger R, Chen F, Zhang D. 2011. Glacial cycles and Palaeolithic adaptive variability on China's Western Loess Plateau. Antiquity, 85: 365–379
Ningxia Institute of Archaeology and Cultural Relics, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Scineces. 2013. Shuidonggou: Report and Research of 2003–2007 Excavations (in Chinese). Beijing: Science Press
Ningxia Institute of Archaeology and Cultural Relics. 2003. Shuidonggou: Report of 1980 Excavation (in Chinese). Beijing: Science Press
Pitulko V V, Nikolsky P A, Girya E Y, Basilyan A E, Tumskoy V E, Koulakov S A, Astakhov S N, Pavlova E Y, Anisimov M A. 2004. The Yana RHS site: Humans in the Arctic before the Last Glacial Maximum. Science, 303: 52–56
Qi X, Cui C, Peng Y, Zhang X, Yang Z, Zhong H, Zhang H, Xiang K, Cao X, Wang Y, Ouzhuluobu, Basang, Ciwangsangbu, Bianba, Gonggalanzi, Wu T, Chen H, Shi H, Su B. 2013. Genetic evidence of paleolithic colonization and neolithic expansion of modern humans on the Tibetan Plateau. Mol Biol Evol, 30: 1761–1778
Qiang M R, Chen F H, Song L, Liu X X, Li M Z, Wang Q. 2013. Late Quaternary aeolian activity in Gonghe Basin, northeastern Qinghai- Tibetan Plateau, China. Quat Res, 79: 403–412
Qin Z, Yang Y, Kang L, Yan S, Cho K, Cai X, Lu Y, Zheng H, Zhu D, Fei D, Li S, Jin L, Li H. 2010. A mitochondrial revelation of early human migrations to the Tibetan Plateau before and after the last glacial maximum. Am J Phys Anthropol, 143: 555–569
Qiu J. 2015. Who are the Tibetans? Science, 347: 708–711
Qiu Q, Wang L, Wang K, Yang Y, Ma T, Wang Z, Zhang X, Ni Z, Hou F, Long R, Abbott R, Lenstra J, Liu J. 2015. Yak whole-genome resequencing reveals domestication signatures and prehistoric population expansions. Nat Commun, 6: 10283
Qiu Q, Zhang G J, Ma T, Qian W B, Wang J Y, Ye Z Q, Cao C C, Hu Q J, Kim J, Larkin D M, Auvil L, Capitanu B, Ma J, Lewin H A, Qian X J, Lang Y S, Zhou R, Wang L Z, Wang K, Xia J Q, Liao S G, Pan S K, Lu X, Hou H L, Wang Y, Zang X T, Yin Y, Ma H, Zhang J, Wang Z F, Zhang Y M, Zhang D W, Yonezawa T, Hasegawa M, Zhong Y, Liu W B, Zhang Y, Huang Z Y, Zhang S X, Long R J, Yang H M, Wang J, Lenstra J A, Cooper D N, Wu Y, Wang J, Shi P, Wang J, Liu J Q. 2012. The yak genome and adaptation to life at high altitude. Nat Genet, 44: 946–949
Qu T L, Bar-Yosef O, Wang Y P, Wu X H. 2013. The Chinese Upper Paleolithic: Geography, Chronology, and Techno-typology. J Archaeol Res, 21: 1–73
Rademaker K, Hodgins G, Moore K, Zarrillo S, Miller C, Bromley G R M, Leach P, Reid D A, Álvarez W Y, Sandweiss D H. 2014. Paleoindian settlement of the high-altitude Peruvian Andes. Science, 346: 466–469
Rhode D, Brantingham P J, Perreault C, Madsen D B. 2014. Mind the gaps: Testing for hiatuses in regional radiocarbon date sequences. J Archaeol Sci, 52: 567–577
Rhode D, Zhang H Y, Madsen D B, Gao X, Brantingham J P, Ma H Z, Olsen J W. 2007a. Epipaleolithic/early Neolithic settlements at Qinghai Lake, western China. J Archaeol Sci, 34: 600–612
Rhode D, Madsen D B, Brantingham J P, Dargye T. 2007b. Yaks, yak dung, and prehistoric human habitation of the Tibetan Plateau. In: Madsen D B, Chen F H, Gao X, eds. Developments in Quaternary Science. Amsterdam: Elsevier. 205–224
Roberts R G, Jones R, Smith M A. 1990. Thermoluminescence dating of a 50000-year-old human occupation site in northern Australia. Nature, 345: 153–156
Shang H, Tong H W, Zhang S Q, Chen F Y, Trinkaus E. 2007. An early modern human from Tianyuan cave, Zhoukoudian, China. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 104: 6573–6578
Shen J, Liu X Q, Wang S M, Matsumoto R. 2005. Palaeoclimatic changes in the Qinghai Lake area during the last 18000 years. Quat Int, 136: 131–140
Shi J M, Song Y H. 2010. Excavation report of Locality 9 of Shizitan site in Ji county, Shanxi Province (in Chinese). Archaeology, 10: 7–17
Spengler R, Frachetti M, Doumani P, Rouse L, Cerasetti B, Bullion E, Mar’yashev A. 2014. Early agriculture and crop transmission among Bronze Age mobile pastoralists of Central Eurasia. Proc R Soc B-Biol Sci, 281: 3382–3390
State Administration of Cultural Heritage. 1996. Atlas of Chinese Cultural Relics-Fascicule of Qinghai Province. Beijing: China Cartographic Press
State Administration of Cultural Heritage. 2001. Atlas of Chinese Cultural Relics-Fascicule of Yunnan Province (in Chinese). Kunming: Yunnan Technology Press
State Administration of Cultural Heritage. 2009. Atlas of Chinese Cultural Relics-Fascicule of Sichuan Province (in Chinese). Beijing: Cultural Relics Press
State Administration of Cultural Heritage. 2010. Atlas of Chinese Cultural Relics-Fascicule of Tibetan Autonomous Region (in Chinese). Beijing: Cultural Relics Press
State Administration of Cultural Heritage. 2011. Atlas of Chinese Cultural Relics-Fascicule of Gansu Province (in Chinese). Beijing: Surveying and Mapping Press
Su B, Xiao C, Deka R, Seielstad M T, Kangwanpong D, Xiao J, Lu D, Underhill P, Cavalli-Sforza L, Chakraborty R. 2000. Y chromosome haplotypes reveal prehistorical migrations to the Himalayas. Hum Genet, 107: 582–590
Sun Y, Lai Z, Long H, Liu X, Fan Q. 2010. Quartz OSL dating of archaeological sites in Xiao Qaidam Lake of the NE Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau and its implications for palaeoenvironmental changes. Quat Geochronol, 5: 360–364
Tang H S, Zhou C L, Li Y Q, Liang Z. 2013. A new discovery of microlithic information at the entrance to the Northern Qingzang Plateau of the Kunlun Mountains of Qinghai. Chin Sci Bull, 58: 247–253
Tang H S. 1999. Short discussion of Paleolithics and Microlithics on the Tibetan Plateau (in Chinese). Archaeology, 5: 428–438
Tang H S. 2011a. The Archaeological cultures and their economic types on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in the late Paleolithic Age to the early Neolithic Age (in Chinese). Acta Archaeol Sin, 4: 443–466
Tang H S. 2011b. On the Broad Spectrum Revolution in the prehistory of the Qing-zang Plateau (in Chinese). J Qinghai National Univ-Soc Sci, 37: 91–96
Tanno K, Willcox G. 2012. Distinguishing wild and domestic wheat and barley spikelets from early Holocene sites in the Near East. Veg Hist Archaeobot, 21: 107–115
Thompson L G, Yao T, Davis M E, Henderson K A, MosleyThompson E, Lin P N, Beer J, Synal H A, ColeDai J, Bolzan J F. 1997. Tropical climate instability: The last glacial cycle from a Qinghai-Tibetan ice core. Science, 276: 1821–1825
Tibetan Cultural Relics Bureau, Archaeology Department of Sichuan University, Shanxi Archaeological Institute. 2005. Field Archaeology Report of Tibetan Part of Qinghai-Tibetan Railroad (in Chinese). Beijing: Science Press
Tibetan Cultural Relics Management Committee, History Department of Sichuan University. 1985. Karuo in Changdu (in Chinese). Beijing: Cultural Relics Press
Torroni A, Miller J A, Moore L G, Zamudio S, Zhuang J, Droma T, Wallace D C. 1994. Mitochondrial DNA analysis in Tibet: Implications for the origin of the Tibetan population and its adaptation to high altitude. Am J Phys Anthropol, 93: 189–199
Wang H. 2012. The sequence and patterns of the Neolithic-Bronze Age cultures in Gan-Qing region. In: School of Archaeology and Museology and Center of Research on Ancient Chinese History, Peking University, ed. Archaeological Research (in Chinese). Beijing: Cultural Relics Press. 210–243
Wang X Y. 1996. Chinese Millet (in Chinese). Beijing: Chinese Agriculture Press
Wang Z H. 1994. History of Chinese Nationalities (in Chinese). Beijing: Chinese Social Science Press
Wen B, Xie X, Gao S, Li H, Shi H, Song X, Qian T, Xiao C, Jin J, Su B, Lu D, Chakraborty R, Jin L. 2004. Analyses of genetic structure of Tibeto-Burman populations reveals sex-biased admixture in Southern Tibeto-Burmans. Am J Hum Genet, 74: 856–865
Xie D J. 2002. Prehistory Archaeology of Gan-Qing Region (in Chinese). Beijing: Cultural Relics Press
Yan G, Wang F B, Shi G R, Li S F. 1999. Palynological and stable isotopic study of palaeoenvironmental changes on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau in the last 30000 years. Paleogeogr Paleoclimatol Paleoecol, 153: 147–159
Yao T D, Greenwood G. 2009. A New “Polar” Program: Third Pole Environment (TPE) Workshop. Trans Am Geophys Union, 90: 515–515
Yao T D, Liu X D, Wang N L. 2000. Climate variation extent of Tibetan Plateau (in Chinese). Chin Sci Bull, 45: 98–114
Yao T D, Shi Y F, Qin D H, Jiao K Q, Yang Z H, Tian L D, Thompson L G, Mosley-Thompson E. 1997. Climate variation since the Last Interglaciation recorded in the Guliya ice core. Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 40: 662–668
Yao T D, Thompson L G, Mosbrugger V, Zhang F, Ma Y, Luo T, Xu B, Yang X, Joswiak D R, Wang W, Joswiak M E, Devkota L P, Tayal S, Jilani R, Fayziev R. 2012. Third Pole Environment (TPE). Environ Develop, 3: 52–64
Yi M J, Gao X, Zhang X L, Sun Y J, Brantingham P J, Madsen B D, Rhode D. 2011. A preliminary report on investigations in 2009 of some Prehistoric sites in the Tibetan Plateau marginal region (in Chinese). Acta Anthropol Sin, 30: 124–136
Yi X, Liang Y, Huerta-Sanchez E, Jin X, Cuo Z X P, Pool J E, Xu X, Jiang H, Vinckenbosch N, Korneliussen T S, Zheng H C, Liu T, He W M, Li K, Luo R B, Nie X F, Wu H L, Zhao M R, Cao H Z, Zou J, Shan Y, Li S Z, Yang Q, Asan, Ni P X, Tian G, Xu J M, Liu X A, Jiang T, Wu R H, Zhou G Y, Tang M F, Qin J J, Wang T, Feng S J, Li G H, Huasang, Luosang J B, Wang W, Chen F, Wang Y D, Zheng X G, Li Z, Bianba Z M, Yang G, Wang X P, Tang S H, Gao G Y, Chen Y, Luo Z, Gusang L, Cao Z, Zhang Q H, Ouyang W H, Ren X L, Liang H Q, Zheng H S, Huang Y B, Li J X, Bolund L, Kristiansen K, Li Y R, Zhang Y, Zhang X Q, Li R Q, Li S G, Yang H M, Nielsen R, Wang J, Wang J A. 2010. Sequencing of 50 human exomes reveals adaptation to high altitude. Science, 329: 75–78
Yuan B Y, Huang W W, Zhang D. 2007. New evidence of human activity in the Northern Tibetan Plateau in late Pleistocene (in Chinese). Chin Sci Bull, 52: 1567–1571
Zhang D D, Li S H. 2002. Optical dating of Tibetan human hand-and footprints: An implication for the palaeoenvironment of the last glaciation of the Tibetan Plateau. Geophys Res Lett, 29: 1072
Zhang D J, Chen F H, Bettinger R L, Barton L, Ji D X, Morgan C, Wang H, Cheng X Z, Dong G H, Guiderson T P, Zhao H. 2010. Archaeological records of Dadiwan in the past 60 ka and the origin of millet agriculture (in Chinese). Chin Sci Bull, 55: 1636–1642
Zhang R Z. 2004. Chinese Zoogeography (in Chinese). Beijing: Science China Press
Zhang S S. 1999. On the important advancements of the Paleolithic Archaeology in China since 1949 (in Chinese). Acta Anthropol Sin, 18: 193–214
Zhang S S. 2000. The Epipaleolithic in China. J East Asian Archaeol, 2: 51–66
Zhang Y L, Li B Y, Zheng D. 2002. The extent and area of Tibetan Plateau (in Chinese). Geography Res, 21: 1–8
Zhao M, Kong Q P, Wang H W, Peng M S, Xie X D, Wang W Z, Jia yang, Duan J G, Cai M C, Zhao S N, Cidanpingcuo, Tu Y Q, Wu S F, Yao Y G, Bandelt H J, Zhang Y P. 2009. Mitochondrial genome evidence reveals successful Late Paleolithic settlement on the Tibetan Plateau. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 106: 21230–21235
Zhao Z J, Chen J. 2011. Floatation results and analysis of Yingpanshan site, Mao County, Sichuan Province (in Chinese). Rel South, 3: 60–67
Zhao Z J. 2004. The floatation analytical report of Fengtai Kayue site in Huzhu, Qinghai Province (in Chinese). Archaeol Cultural Rel, 2: 85–91
Zhao Z J. 2005. Some thought about the characteristics of agricultural economy in the formation of Xia-Shang-Zhou civilization (in Chinese). Huaxia Archaeol, 1: 75–81, 101
Zhao Z J. 2009. Eastward spread of wheat into China—New data and new issues. Chin Archaeol, 9: 1–9
Zhao Z J. 2011. Characteristics of agricultural economy in the formation of Chinese Civilization (in Chinese). J National Museum China, 1: 19–31
Zhao Z J. 2011. New Archaeobotanic data for the study of the origins of agriculture in China. Curr Anthropol, 52: 295–306
Zheng D. 1996. Study of physical geographical system of Tibetan Plateau. Sci China Ser D-Earth Sci, 39: 410–417
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhang, D., Dong, G., Wang, H. et al. History and possible mechanisms of prehistoric human migration to the Tibetan Plateau. Sci. China Earth Sci. 59, 1765–1778 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-015-5482-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-015-5482-x