炎姜族由农业衰变为半农半牧部落的环境考古学探索

An Archeological Exploration of the Environment for the Jiang Tribe of Yan Decaying from an Agricultural Tribe to a Semi-agricultural and Semi-husbandry One

古史传说时代的农业文化圈最早起源于黄土高原,这一时代从事农业的圣人——"神农"、"后稷"都出自炎姜部族,这说明传说时代炎姜部族是以从事农业生产而闻名于世的。其原因是从炎帝到四岳帮助大禹治水的这一段时间,约为公元前4000到前2000年。这时正是全新世中期,是全球气候最为温暖的时期,故炎姜部落所居住的陕甘青一带大约相当于马家窑文化、齐家文化以及甘肃东部、陕西西部的仰韶文化,当时正好为农耕文化区。但从距今4000年以来,全球气候转凉并干旱化,陕甘青一带已经转而为以畜牧业为主的卡约、辛店、寺洼文化以及刘家文化,不再适宜于农业生产,从此也就变成了"西戎牧羊人"。此即炎姜部族从最著名的农业部族变为畜牧业文化的原因。

In the legendary ages of ancient China, the circle of agricultural civilization was first originated in the Loess Plateau. Those Saint Fathers who were engaged in farming, such as ＂Shenlong＂ and ＂Houji＂, were all from the Jiang tribe of Yan, which indicated that the family was eminent widely for farming production in those days. In the midst of the Holocene Age, namely, between 4,000 and 2,000 BC, from the reign of Emperor Yan to the days when the gods of the Four Sacred Mounts were helping Great Yu tame the floods, the Globe boasted of the warmest periods, which made what is known as Shaanxi, Gansu, and Qinghai now where the Jiang tribe used to inhabit one of the best regions to develop an agricultural civilization. Their level of civilization was almost equivalent to such ancient civilizations as Majiayao, Qijia, and Yangshao in eastem Gansu and western Shaanxi. However, since 4,000 years ago, the global climate started to become cool and dry, so the region of Shaanxi, Gansu, and Qinghai no longer suited farming production, and turned to husbandry. Hence the Shepherd of Western Barbarian.