Spatiotemporal patterns of Neolithic human activities in the North China Plain-Loess Plateau and adjacent regions

Understanding the spatiotemporal distribution of prehistoric human activities is crucial for revealing the evolutionary mechanisms of early human-environment relationships. The region encompassing the North China Plain-Loess Plateau and adjacent regions serves as an ideal context due to its continuous human occupation and pivotal role in agricultural intensification during the Neolithic period. By systematically comparing spatial modes across sub-regions and cultural affiliations, our results reveal diachronic transitions. Initially, early populations relying on broad-spectrum foraging tethered to specific ecological patches manifested as a “clustering-driven mode” characterized by isolated clusters and consistently low site density. Subsequently, the establishment of intensive agriculture largely alleviated these ecological constraints, fostering substantial demographic expansion and widespread spatial infilling that resulted in a “density-driven mode” featuring contiguous and high-density expanses. Furthermore, cross-regional comparisons during peak agricultural periods demonstrate that natural environments persistently modulated these modes. Topographic fragmentation in the Yan-Liao Region (YLR) and Upper-Middle Yellow River Region (UMYRR) likely drove higher site clustering (NNI = 0.79 and 0.77, respectively) compared to the broad plains of the Lower Yellow River Region (LYRR; NNI = 0.85). Meanwhile, regional hydrothermal limitations appear to have structurally capped the maximum carrying capacity in the YLR, resulting in substantially lower peak site density (0.53 sites per 100 km 2 ) relative to the peak densities observed in the UMYRR and LYRR (0.6–0.84 sites per 100 km 2 ). Overall, this regional-scale study demonstrates that the spatiotemporal evolution of early Chinese civilization was governed by a complex interplay between transformative agricultural innovations and enduring environmental backgrounds.