AUTHOR=Lyu Ye , Xu Hao , Meadows Michael E. , Wang Zhanghua 

TITLE=Early to mid-Holocene sedimentary environmental evolution in the palaeo-Ningbo Bay, East China and its implications for Neolithic coastal settlement

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Marine Science

VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.1059746

DOI=10.3389/fmars.2022.1059746

ISSN=2296-7745

ABSTRACT=The Ningbo Plain on East China coast is an important centre of Neolithic culture and associated settlements were influenced by changing sea level and geomorphological and hydrological environments of the palaeo-Ningbo Bay, the details of which are still subject of debate. This study is based on two well-dated sediment cores obtained from the Ningbo Plain and here we report analyses of their sedimentology and foraminifera to reveal the infilling history of the palaeo-Ningbo Bay and its association with Neolithic occupation. Lithology of the largely muddy sediments and the dominance of euryhaline and brackish water foraminiferal species are indicative of an intertidal to subtidal environment in the palaeo-bay during the early to mid-Holocene. Abrupt coarsening of sediment grain size and a corresponding increase in the abundance of foraminiferal species of inner and middle shelf environments occurred at ca. 8.8 cal. kyr BP and 7.6 cal. kyr BP, reflecting two major events of strengthened marine transgression which correspond to the rapid global sea-level rise events of Meltwater pulses (MWPs) 1C and 1D, respectively. A marked increase in the relative abundance of Ammonia annectens and Ammonia compressiuscula during ca. 7.5–7.1 cal. kyr BP further indicate frequent storm surges at that time. Between the two rapid transgression events, aggradation of tidal flats prevailed after ca. 8.0 cal. yr BP, which provided a suitable setting for Neolithic settlements as indicated by the recently discovered Jingtoushan site. However, the transgression sequence associated with the latter, MWP-1D, event caused a regional cultural interruption at ca. 7.6 cal. kyr BP. Infilling and coastal marsh development in the palaeo-Ningbo Bay occurred progressively after ca. 7.0 cal. kyr BP and is associated with the emergence of the Hemudu Culture.