Taihu Lake is the third largest modern freshwater lake in China and its formation is a major event in the development of the Yangtze River Delta Plain and the East China Coast. The Taihu region was transformed from a coastal plain with incised valleys into a saucer-like depression by changes in river discharge during the late Pleistocene to early Holocene. Later, coastal dunes and accumulated fluvial deposits in the bay isolated the lagoon from the sea and its desalination occurred subsequently. The evolution of Taihu Lake bears witness to the significant marine transgression and regression events between 7500-55000BP, which played a key role in shaping human occupation of the area during the Middle Neolithic.
By reviewing previous palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental studies - including various scientific analyses of environmental proxies and dating of borehole and stratigraphic section samples - this study attempts to reconstruct and map the land-sea evolution of the Taihu region by integrating published geomorphic simulation models and other empirical data. On this basis, the spatial distribution and cultural characteristics of 86 archaeological sites belonging to the Majiabang culture (7100-6000 BP) and 146 sites belonging to the Zongze culture (6000-5300 BP), together with the subsistence data from 68 of them, are further investigated to provide insights into human-environment interactions during the Neolithic peorid.