Historical Interactions between Multi-Cultural Societies and the Natural Environment in a Semi-Arid Region in Central Eurasia

kubota Jumpei RIHN

uyama Tomohiko Slavic Research Center, Hokkaido University matsuyama Hiroshi Faculty of Urban Environmental Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University takeuchi Nozomu Graduate School of Science, Chiba University fujita Koji Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University sugiyama Masaaki Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University funakawa Shinya Graduate school of Agriculture, Kyoto University sohma Hidehiro Faculty of Letters, Nara Women’s University konagaya Yuki National Museum of Ethnology yoshikawa Ken Graduate School of Environmental Science, Okayama University yoshida Setsuko Department of Applied Sociology, Shikoku Gakuin University kato Yuzo RIHN chengzhi RIHN

This project examines the historical interactions of humanity and nature in the semi-arid region of Central Eurasia. Textual, archaeological and biophysical evidence is used to examine the effect of human boundaries on environments, ethnic groups, dominant patterns of subsistence, and relations between cities and their surrounding areas. The findings of this project will improve understanding of how past human activities cumulatively affected ecosystems in Central Eurasia, and how semi-arid regions can best be managed in the future.

Background and objectives

Nomads were once the principal inhabitants of semi-arid Central Eurasia. Following the rise and fall of various ethnic groups and empires, the Yuan Dynasty took nominal control of much of Eurasia in the 13th and 14th centuries. In the 18th century, however, a national border was drawn across the region, definitely distinguishing Russia from Qing China. The inhabitants of the area subsequently experienced a great change of lifestyle, as the border and national settlement policies forced nomadic peoples out of their traditional patterns of livelihood.

This project combines analysis of historical documents, archaeological remains and natural proxies such as ice cores, lake sediment samples, tree rings and windblown deposits in order to describe how nomadic peoples and nation-states affected the natural resources and climatic conditions in the Ili River watershed in Central Eurasia. Project researchers also investigate human activities on both sides of the Russia/China border in order to describe its potential effect on contemporary environmental conditions.

Research area and groups

Research centers on the Ili River watershed area, which extends from China to Kazakhstan, and surrounding areas, including Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Throughout human history, Central Eurasia has been a key site of interaction between individual ethnic groups inhabiting or passing through the area, and a longtime crossroads for the civilizations of East and West. In more recent times, the development policies of modern states have led to severe environmental degradation.

This project consists of two research groups. The first group uses historical documents and natural proxies to describe historical changes in both human and natural systems. The second group investigates current human activities and natural systems in order to interpret the long term significance of past human and environmental change.

Progress to date

Initial analysis of data from Lake Balkash indicates that lake level began to decrease in the 10^th century, and at the turn of the 13^th century reached its lowest level in the past 2000 years. After this regression, the lake level showed rapid recovery, and remained relatively high until the modern regression beginning in the 1960s. Other lakes in Central Eurasia, such as the Aral Sea and Lake Issyk-Kul,experienced a similar regression in medieval times, suggesting the climate then was cooler and drier. Increased human reliance on lake waters in this period could also be associated with their lower levels.

 We find evidence that the establishment of a clear border between Russia and the Chinese Qing Dynasty shifted patterns of human-environmental interaction in the region. The border exposed certain areas to concentrated human activity, which, along with increasing technological capacity, clearly demonstrate human potential to cause dramatic environmental change.

 The most dramatic change in long-term patterns of human and environmental interaction in semi-arid Eurasia was the shift from nomadic to sedentary societies accompanying the establishment of modern agriculture. Russia's expansion into Kazakhstan in the late 19^th century, agricultural collectivization in 1929, and Khrushchev's Virgin Lands Program gradually converted Kazakhstan into a major agricultural zone. Agricultural production was pursued with little regard for environmental capacity or impact. With the collapse of the Soviet Union many farms were abandoned, reducing pressure on natural resources, and allowing some ecosystem recovery.

 In China, modern development did not begin in earnest until the 1950s. China’s dramatic recent growth, however, is increasing demand for natural resources and the western provinces may again be subject to centrally planned development.

 Cooperation with research institutions in Kazakhstan, China and Russia has facilitated collection of a number of unusual historical documents, maps and images of the region. Several documents describe the locations and populations of different nomadic groups, and the number of animals kept by each. Of these documents and maps, those written in Manchurian have not been previously investigated because few researchers can understand the Manchurian script; we are currently engaged in their translation and analysis.

 We are also compiling information obtained from historical texts, archaeological sites and images into a chronological GIS database that will demonstrate in graphic manner the long-term human and environmental transformations in Central Eurasia.