A fascinating read for anyone interested in history or archaeology:
Related:
Emperor Yu’s Great Flood: Geological data
provide support for a legendary flood in China ~4000 years ago by David R. Montgomery
Summary
We know of the legendary Emperor Yu through the story of China's Great Flood, a tale already ancient when first recorded around 1000 BCE (1). On page 579 of this issue, Wu et al. offer a provocative new explanation for this story. They present evidence for an enormous landslide dam break 1922 ± 28 BCE (2) that coincided with the major cultural transition from the Late Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age in China and that also helps explain curious details of Yu's story.
We know of the legendary Emperor Yu through the story of China's Great Flood, a tale already ancient when first recorded around 1000 BCE (1). On page 579 of this issue, Wu et al. offer a provocative new explanation for this story. They present evidence for an enormous landslide dam break 1922 ± 28 BCE (2) that coincided with the major cultural transition from the Late Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age in China and that also helps explain curious details of Yu's story.
Outburst flood at 1920 BCE supports historicity of China’s Great Flood
and the Xia dynasty
Summary
China’s historiographical traditions tell of the successful control of a Great Flood leading to the establishment of the Xia dynasty and the beginning of civilization. However, the historicity of the flood and Xia remain controversial. Here, we reconstruct an earthquake- induced landslide dam outburst flood on the Yellow River about 1920 BCE that ranks as one of the largest freshwater floods of the Holocene and could account for the Great Flood. This would place the beginning of Xia at ~1900 BCE, several centuries later than traditionally thought. This date coincides with the major transition from the Neolithic to Bronze Age in the Yellow River valley and supports hypotheses that the primary state-level society of the Erlitou culture is an archaeological manifestation of the Xia dynasty.
China’s historiographical traditions tell of the successful control of a Great Flood leading to the establishment of the Xia dynasty and the beginning of civilization. However, the historicity of the flood and Xia remain controversial. Here, we reconstruct an earthquake- induced landslide dam outburst flood on the Yellow River about 1920 BCE that ranks as one of the largest freshwater floods of the Holocene and could account for the Great Flood. This would place the beginning of Xia at ~1900 BCE, several centuries later than traditionally thought. This date coincides with the major transition from the Neolithic to Bronze Age in the Yellow River valley and supports hypotheses that the primary state-level society of the Erlitou culture is an archaeological manifestation of the Xia dynasty.