How Humans Spread Onto Tibetan Plateau

Source -http://www.asianscientist.com/2016/09/in-the-lab/prehistoric-humans-loess-tibetan-plateau/

Based on a comprehensive review of past archaeological work, researchers in China have proposed how ancient humans spread onto the Tibetan Plateau.

AsianScientist (Sep. 12, 2016) - Researchers in China have uncovered how ancient humans spread onto the Tibetan Plateau. Their work was published in Science China: Earth Sciences.

The Tibetan Plateau, as the Earth’s ‘third pole,’ has long been of interest to many, especially in relation to its human history. Over the last few decades our understanding of the history of human occupation of the Tibetan Plateau has significantly improved as a result of progress made in archaeological, genetic and earth science studies. However, the mechanism of how humans migrated to the Tibetan Plateau remains unclear because the studies used different materials and approaches. The study team, comprised of researchers from Lanzhou University, the Gansu Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeological Research, the Qinghai Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeological Research and the Tibetan Cultural Relic Conservation Institute, performed a comprehensive review of past archaeological work on the Tibetan Plateau, reconstructing the history of human migration there. From their findings, first author Dr. Zhang DongJu and colleagues propose that humans first arrived in the relatively low elevation Northeastern Tibetan Plateau from the adjacent Western Loess Plateau via the He-Huang Valley, and then moved further south to the central plateau. They also highlight current problems involved in the study of the history of human occupation of the Tibetan Plateau and propose possible solutions. The conclusions of the study could also be significant for studies of the adaptation of humans to other high elevation environments, they say.

The article can be found at: Zhang et al. (2016) History and Possible Mechanisms of Prehistoric Human Migration to the Tibetan Plateau. ——— Read more from Asian Scientist Magazine at: http://www.asianscientist.com/2016/09/in-the-lab/prehistoric-humans-loess-tibetan-plateau/