Socio-Environmental Dynamics along the Historical Silk Road

Front Matter ....Pages i-xxvi
Front Matter ....Pages 1-1
 On the Paleo-climatic/Environmental Impacts and Socio-Cultural System Resilience along the Historical Silk Road  (Liang Emlyn Yang, Hans-Rudolf Bork, Xiuqi Fang, Steffen Mischke, Mara Weinelt, Josef Wiesehöfer)....Pages 3-22
Front Matter ....Pages 23-23
 Evolution of Saline Lakes in the Guanzhong Basin During the Past 2000 Years: Inferred from Historical Records  (Jie Fei, Hongming He, Liang Emlyn Yang, Xiaoqiang Li, Shuai Yang, Jie Zhou)....Pages 25-44
 Landscape Response to Climate and Human Impact in Western China During the Han Dynasty  (Steffen Mischke, Chengjun Zhang, Chenglin Liu, Jiafu Zhang, Zhongping Lai, Hao Long)....Pages 45-66
 The Ili River Delta: Holocene Hydrogeological Evolution and Human Colonization  (Jean-Marc Deom, Renato Sala, Anne Laudisoit)....Pages 67-94
 Quantitative Evaluation of the Impact on Aral Sea Levels by Anthropogenic Water Withdrawal and Syr Darya Course Diversion During the Medieval Period (1.0–0.8 ka BP)  (Renato Sala)....Pages 95-121
 Reconsidering Archaeological and Environmental Proxies for Long Term Human-Environment Interactions in the Valley of Kashmir  (Michael Spate)....Pages 123-149
Front Matter ....Pages 151-151
 Living with Earthquakes along the Silk Road  (Miklós Kázmér)....Pages 153-176
 Natural Disasters in the History of the Eastern Turk Empire  (Rustam Talgatovich Ganiev, Vladimir Vladimirovich Kukarskih)....Pages 177-193
 Dry and Humid Periods Reconstructed from Tree Rings in the Former Territory of Sogdiana (Central Asia) and Their Socio-economic Consequences over the Last Millennium  (Magdalena Opała-Owczarek, Piotr Owczarek)....Pages 195-214
 A Drought Reconstruction from the Low-Elevation Juniper Forest of Northwestern Kyrgyzstan since CE 1565  (Feng Chen, Shulong Yu, Qing He, Bakytbek Ermenbaev, Rysbek Satylkanov)....Pages 215-228
Front Matter ....Pages 229-229
 Social Impacts of Climate Change in Historical China  (Xiuqi Fang, Yun Su, Zhudeng Wei, Jun Yin)....Pages 231-245
 Climate Change and the Rise of the Central Asian Silk Roads  (Daniel J. Hill)....Pages 247-259
 The Coming of the Barbarians: Can Climate Explain the Saljūqs’ Advance?  (Yehoshua Frenkel)....Pages 261-273
 Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of the Oxus Civilization in Southern Central Asia  (Élise Luneau)....Pages 275-299
 Climatic and Environmental Limiting Factors in the Mongol Empire’s Westward Expansion: Exploring Causes for the Mongol Withdrawal from Hungary in 1242  (Stephen Pow)....Pages 301-321
Front Matter ....Pages 323-323
 Resilience of the Human-Water System at the Southern Silk Road: A Case Study of the Northern Catchment of Erhai Lake, China (1382–1912)  (Anning Xu, Liang Emlyn Yang, Weibing Yang, Aubrey L. Hillman)....Pages 325-358
 The Age and Origin of Karez Systems of Silk Road Oases around Turpan, Xinjiang, P.R. of China  (Bertil Mächtle, Stefan Hecht, Nicola Manke, Bernd Kromer, Susanne Lindauer, Cheng-Sen Li et al.)....Pages 359-378
 Water Supply and Ancient Society in the Lake Balkhash Basin: Runoff Variability along the Historical Silk Road  (Irina P. Panyushkina, Mark G. Macklin, Willem H. J. Toonen, David M. Meko)....Pages 379-410
 Demographic Changes, Trade Routes, and the Formation of Anthropogenic Landscapes in the Middle Volga Region in the Past 2500 Years  (Leonid A. Vyazov, Ekaterina G. Ershova, Elena V. Ponomarenko, Konrad Gajewski, Mikhail S. Blinnikov, Ayrat G. Sitdikov)....Pages 411-452
Front Matter ....Pages 453-453
 Routes Beyond Gandhara: Buddhist Rock Carvings in the Context of the Early Silk Roads  (Marike van Aerde)....Pages 455-480
 Steppe and Sown: Eurasianism, Soil and the Mapping of Bukhara in the Light of Soviet Ethnographic Accounts  (Susanne Marten-Finnis)....Pages 481-506
 A Karez System’s Dilemma: A Cultural Heritage on a Shelf or Still a Viable Technique for Water Resiliency in Arid Regions  (Shalamu Abudu, Zhuping Sheng, James Phillip King, So-Ra Ahn)....Pages 507-525