Water Civilization: From Yangtze to Khmer Civilizations comprises three major topics: 1) Discovery of the origin of rice agriculture and the Yangtze River civilization in southern China was mainly based on investigation of the Chengtoushan archaeological site, the earliest urban settlement in East Asia. The origin of rice cultivation can be traced back to 10000 BC, with urban settlement starting at about 6000 BP; 2) The Yangtze River civilization collapsed around 4200 BP. Palaeoenvironmental studies including analyses of annually laminated sediments in East and Southeast Asia indicate a close relationship between climate change and the rise and fall of the rice-cultivating and fishing civilization; and 3) Migrations from southern China to Southeast Asia occurred after about 4200 BP. Archaeological investigation of the Phum Snay site in Cambodia, including analyses of DNA and human skeletal remains, reveals a close relationship to southern China, indicating the migration of people from southern China to Southeast Asia. This publication is an important contribution to understanding the environmental history of China and Cambodia in relation to the rise and fall of the rice-cultivating and fishing civilization, which we call water civilization.

Environmental archaeology
Hightechnological approach
Rice civilization
Water civilization
Yangtze and Khmer civilizations

• Front Matter
• Discovery of the Yangtze River Civilization
  Front Matter
• Discovery of the Yangtze River Civilization
  Discovery of the Yangtze River Civilization in China
• Decline of the Yangtze River Civilization
• Origin and Development of the Khmer Civilization
  Front Matter
• Origin and Development of the Khmer Civilization
  Comparative Study of the Artifacts of Phum Snay Site and the Wat Bo Temple’s Pottery Collection Database
• Survey and Excavation of Phum Snay in 2007–2010
• Non-Ceramic Grave Goods of Phum Snay in the Context of Sociopolitical Development in Northwest Cambodia
• Human Skeletal Remains Excavated from Phum Snay
• Zooarchaeology at Phum Snay, a Prehistoric Cemetery in Northwestern Cambodia
• Chemical Composition and Lead Isotope Ratios of Bronze Artifacts Excavated in Cambodia and Thailand
• Phum Snay and Its Significance in World History
• Angkor’s Demise
  Front Matter
• Angkor Demise
  Climate Deterioration and Angkor’s Demise
• Vegetation Change in the Area of Angkor Thom Based on Pollen Analysis of Moat Deposits
• Palaeoenvironment of the Areas Surrounding the Angkor Thom Moat Inferred from Entomological Analysis
• Water Civilization
  Front Matter
• Reconstruction of an 8,000-year Environmental History on Pollen Records from Lake Buyan, Central Bali
• The Great East Asian Fertile Triangle
• Back Matter

Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
Yoshinori Yasuda

Book Title
Water Civilization

Book Subtitle
From Yangtze to Khmer Civilizations

Editors
Yoshinori Yasuda

Series Title
Advances in Asian Human-Environmental Research

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-54111-0

Hardcover ISBN
978-4-431-54110-3
Published: 24 October 2012

Softcover ISBN
978-4-431-56111-8
Published: 23 August 2016

eBook ISBN
978-4-431-54111-0
Published: 23 October 2012

Series ISSN
1879-7180

Series E-ISSN
1879-7199

Edition Number
1

Number of Pages
XXII, 477

Topics
Regional and Cultural Studies, Archaeology, Anthropology, Agriculture