A large-scale cartographic study covering more than 4,000 years of Chinese history has revealed clear patterns in the distribution of ancient burials. The three main clusters of tombs were consistently located in the central lowland regions with fertile soils and access to water, where populations had been concentrated for centuries. The key factors determining the geography of burials turned out to be population density, the economic well-being of the regions and the type of agriculture. in areas with ancient rice-growing traditions, considerably fewer tombs have survived, probably due to centuries of intensive cultivation of the land. The cartographic data also reflects periods of past upheaval: during times of war and large-scale migrations, the center of the “cemetery” landscape gradually shifted to the south. The study allows us to take a new look at the connection between socio-economic processes and burial practices in the history of China.
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