Environmental reconstruction of Tuyoq in the Fifth Century and its bearing on Buddhism in Turpan, Xinjiang, China.
The Thousand Buddha Grottoes of Tuyoq, Turpan, Xinjiang, China were once a famous Buddhist temple along the ancient Silk Road which was first constructed in the Fifth Century (A.D.). Although archaeological researches about the Grottoes have been undertaken for over a century, the ancient environment has remained enigmatic. Based on seven clay samples from the Grottoes' adobes, pollen and leaf epidermis were analyzed to decipher the vegetation and climate of Fifth Century Turpan, and the environmental landscape was reconstructed in three dimensions. The results suggest that temperate steppe vegetation dominated the Tuyoq region under a warmer and wetter environment with more moderate seasonality than today, as the ancient mean annual temperature was 15.3°C, the mean annual precipitation was approximately 1000 mm and the temperature difference between coldest and warmest months was 24°C using Co-existence Approach. Taken in the context of wheat and grape cultivation as shown by pollen of Vitis and leaf epidermis of Triticum, we infer that the Tuyoq region was an oasis with booming Buddhism in the Fifth Century, which was probably encouraged by a 1°C warmer temperature with an abundant water supply compared to the coeval world that experienced the 1.4 k BP cooling event.
State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Ye-Na
YN
Tang
School of Chinese Classics, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China.
Xiao
X
Li
State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Yi-Feng
YF
Yao
Department of Paleontology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria ; State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
David Kay
DK
Ferguson
State Key Laboratory of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Cheng-Sen
CS
Li
D000383:Agriculture / Q000266:history*; D001106:Archaeology / Q000379:methods; D002016:Buddhism / Q000266:history*; D002681:China; D002980:Climate; D017753:Ecosystem; D049690:History, Ancient; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry; D011058:Pollen / Q000166:cytology; D014908:Triticum / Q000254:growth & development