洞庭湖新石器文化遗址与古环境

洞庭湖地区丰富的古文化遗址为研究历史时期环境演变提供了条件。洞庭湖在晚更新世末至早全新世呈现深切河谷与零星洼地湖泊共存的河湖切割平原景观。进入全新世暖期，人类活动开始在洞庭湖平原周边地区频繁出现；大溪文化时期人类已在平原湖区中部开始渔猫活动；屈家岭文化时期人类活动从洞庭湖平原中部退出；龙山文化时期人类文化活动遗址向湖中推进，湖泊三角洲有所发展。商周至秦汉时期，洞庭湖三角洲平原发育，河间洼地湖泊、沼泽形成。魏晋以来，特别是长江分流入洞庭，导致了洞庭湖的迅速扩张，19世纪以后，由于大量泥沙入洞庭湖及人类围垦，使洞庭湖迅速淤浅，湖泊面积锐减。

Neolithic ashes and historical environment in the Dongting Lake area

The abundant Neolithic sites advantage for the historical environmental research in the Dongting Lake area. The Dongting Lake has experienced several change process since last ice age. From later Pleistocene to early Holocene the Dongting Lake area was a plain cutting by deep channel. Then the anthropologic has been to the Dongting Lake area frequently since the globe change warmer in Neolithic time. The Zaoshi civilization shows the human activity almost in the periphery of the Dongting Lake area and the Daxi civilization indicates the advance to the center of the Lake area for fishing and hunting. It was warm and flooding in the Qujialing civilization time, and human being retreated from the lake area. Since the Longshang civilization time, it was cool and precipitation reduced, and ther human activity moved to the center of the lake area. The lake's delta developed and lake's surface decreased. From then to the Han Dynasty, the delta plain developed and small lakes and swamps formed. Since the Wei and Jin Dynasty the lake expanded especially by the Yangtze River distribution to the Dongting Lake. The Dongting Lake shrunk by almost two thirds of its area of a century ago, which attributed to natural siltation from upstream sediment source and intensifying human impact, such as reclamation and aquaculture, and also lead to the lake storage capacity lost quickly.