Progress in Environmental Evolvement and Environmental Archaeology Study in the Yangtze Delta (China)

A review was conducted on the environmental evolvement and environmental archaeological research since the 1980s in the Yangtze Delta. Former environmental evolvement and environmental archaeological research results can be summed up into 4 aspects: 1) Formation and evolution of the Taihu Lake; 2) Transgression and sea-level changes in the Holocene epoch; 3) Reconstruction of the pre-historical environment; and 4) Impacts of environmental variations on the rise and fall of human civilization (formation of the cultural interruptions). Based on this review, some limitations in the present research methods and possible outcomes are pointed out in this paper.