Liangzhu Collapse

In Current World Archaeology 112, ‘Climate Change and Ancient Civilisation’ we are told that the Liangzhu culture of eastern China, at its peak between 3300 and 2300BC, was suddenly and mysteriously abandoned. It is classified as an advanced Neolithic society and at its heart was the city of Liangzhu, a vast walled settlement of 290 ha. The reason for the abrupt decline in its fortunes appears to involve flooding. There were extremely high rainfall levels and unusually intense monsoon rains. The sophisticated water management system of canals, reservoirs, and dams was overwhelmed, designed as it was to overcome droughts. This occurred around 2300BC, but possibly a little earlier, or a little later. What they fail to consider was the wider global context of the date, it would seem. Neither is a reason offered as to why Liangzhu was engulfed by so much precipitation or a climate that had gone haywire. The date of the collapse of Liangzhu coincides with the collapse of EB Levant and Mesopotamia, as well as a similar collapse across Anatolia and the Aegean, with repercussions in Europe and the Americas. Something else was going on and it is studiously ignored.