Abstract:

The Tibetan Plateau is one of the most hostile areas for human permanent settlement in the current world. To study when and how prehistoric human colonized the high areas of the Tibetan Plateau, is valuable for understanding the mechanism of human adaptation to high-cold and hypoxic environments. Based on the analysis of artifacts and biological remains unearthed from prehistoric sites on the Tibetan Plateau, in comparison to dating results and paleoclimate studies, we argue that prehistoric human expanded upward to high-altitude areas of the Tibetan Plateau mainly by three steps. Foragers occasionally and seasonly occupied high areas of the Tibetan Plateau before 15 000 BP; Neolithic groups extensively settled below 2 500 m asl in the margin areas of east Tibetan Plateau during 5 200~3 600 BP; human permanently settled above 3 000 m asl post 3 600 BP. Climate change promoted human activities on the Tibetan Plateau during Paleolithic period, while agriculture development and diffusion across the Eurasia was the primary factor for human extensive and year-round settlement on the “Roof of the world” during Neolithic and Bronze Ages.