Chao Hu Lake Archaeological Sites
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Chao Lake basin (31°31′47.1″N, 117°22′29.8″E) includes the geographical area around Chao Lake (Chinese: 巢湖 Chao Hu), 15km from Hefei City, China. It is the largest lake in Anhui province, and one of the five major freshwater lakes in China. The lake has formed for about 10 thousand years, with currently 5 million residents in the surrounding communities. Located in the monsoon climate zone, the weather has given rise to agriculture and economy as well as ruined settlements. [1]
Chao Lake is used as source of drinking water, irrigation, and fisheries, while its surrounding deciduous forests and fertile soil were foundation of agricultural development. There are ten rivers (Hangbu, Fengle, Pai, Nanfei, Dianbu, Zhegao, Niutun, Yuxi, Xi and Zhao) and five mountains (Yinpingshan, Fenghuangshan, Yefushan, Dabieshan and Fanghushan) surrounding the lake, allowing settlement and activity areas of ancient communities. [2] Hundreds of archaeological sites of ancient settlements are discovered in the Chao Lake basin. In the Chao Lake basin, there are 52 sites from the Neolithic Age, 114 sites from Shang-Zhou Dynasties, and 60 sites from Han Dynasty. [3]
Agriculture thrived since the Holocene when human activities influenced natural vegetation and fire use. [3] Paddy rice originated in the basin during the Neolithic Age and spread to East Asia. [2] The basin is also constantly occupied by wars between North and South due to its geographical structure with waterways and mountains in the middle of Eastern China. [4]