# Canonical recap data for Hemudu Stilted Settlement & Flood Defense (5500)
# Source: https://recap.at/5500/hemudu-settlement
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: hemudu-settlement
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/5500/hemudu-settlement"
title: Hemudu Stilted Settlement & Flood Defense
aliases:
- Hemudu culture
- Hemudu settlement
- Yangtze River Delta stilt houses
- 5500 BCE Hemudu
subtitle: This Yangtze River community pioneered collective engineering and governance structures to manage repeated catastrophic flooding through coordinated labor.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 5500-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 5500
decade: 5500
country:
name: China
slug: china
summaryShort: "Flood management or flood control are methods used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters. Flooding can be caused by a mix of both natural processes, such as extreme weather upstream, and human changes to waterbodies and runoff. Flood management methods can be either of the structural type and of "
summaryLong: Flood management or flood control are methods used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters. Flooding can be caused by a mix of both natural processes, such as extreme weather upstream, and human changes to waterbodies and runoff. Flood management methods can be either of the structural type and of the non-structural type. Structural methods hold back floodwaters physically, while non-structural methods do not. Building hard infrastructure to prevent flooding, such as flood walls, is effective at managing flooding. However, it is best practice within landscape engineering to rely more on soft infrastructure and natural systems, such as marshes and flood plains, for handling the increase in water.
lede: Around 5500 BCE, the Hemudu culture in the Yangtze River Delta built their settlements on stilts—a practical response to the region's chronic flooding. This architectural innovation didn't just keep homes dry; it represents one of humanity's earliest systematic approaches to managing water and living safely in flood-prone territory.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/63/Humber_Weir.JPG/330px-Humber_Weir.JPG"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Flood management"
importance: 75
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Location
  value: Yangtze River Delta, present-day Zhejiang Province, China
- label: Period
  value: Approximately 5500–4500 BCE (Neolithic)
- label: Primary adaptation
  value: Wooden piles driven into ground to elevate structures 1–2 meters above flood level
- label: Estimated settlement size
  value: Multiple village clusters spanning several kilometers
- label: Primary materials
  value: Wood (bamboo and timber), thatch, clay for storage vessels
- label: Subsistence base
  value: Rice cultivation, fishing, hunting, pig domestication
- label: Archaeological evidence
  value: Excavations began in 1973; thousands of artifacts and structural remains documented
timeline:
- date: 4500-01-01
  title: Hemudu culture decline
  description: Settlement patterns and cultural markers associated with Hemudu gradually transition into later Neolithic cultures; stilt construction remains but in modified forms.
- date: 5000-01-01
  title: Cultural dispersal
  description: Stilt-settlement architectural principles spread to neighboring regions of Southeast Asia, influencing settlement patterns in the broader monsoon zone.
- date: 5300-01-01
  title: Architectural refinement
  description: Stilt-house designs become more sophisticated, with evidence of raised storage structures (granaries) and communal buildings built to withstand repeated flooding.
- date: 5450-01-01
  title: Agricultural intensification
  description: Rice cultivation becomes central to subsistence economy, making stilt settlement near fertile flood-prone land economically rational despite water hazards.
- date: 5500-01-01
  title: Hemudu settlement begins
  description: Communities in the Yangtze River Delta establish semi-permanent settlements using wooden piles as foundations, responding to seasonal and irregular flooding patterns.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_management"
  title: Flood defense
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: "Hemudu's stilt construction solved a fundamental survival problem: how to inhabit fertile but dangerous floodplains. The design proved so effective that it influenced settlement patterns across East and Southeast Asia for millennia, establishing a template for hydraulic adaptation that persists in some regions today."
categories:
- disaster
- election
taxonomy:
domain: technological
eventTypes:
- tech_launch
- infrastructure_rollout
canonicalClasses:
- creation
- transformation
impactRadius: regional
velocity: gradual
predictability: emergent
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: birth
metaDescription: How Hemudu's stilt settlements pioneered flood management 7,500 years ago in China's Yangtze River Delta.
wikidataQid: Q1187968
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260602002601/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_management"
  capturedAt: 2026-06-02
  label: Flood defense
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_management"
gallery:
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/63/Humber_Weir.JPG/330px-Humber_Weir.JPG"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/63/Humber_Weir.JPG/330px-Humber_Weir.JPG"
  caption: Flood management
  credit: Wikipedia · "Flood management"
  width: 330
  height: 219
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/Preliminary_examination_report-_flood_control_investigation%2C_Pierce%2C_Colorado_and_vicinity%2C_Weld_County%2C_Colorado_-_DPLA_-_3b14078d60105acfe8d902d67fdf8e2c_%28page_21%29.jpg/1280px-Preliminary_examination_report-_flood_control_investigation%2C_Pierce%2C_Colorado_and_vicinity%2C_Weld_County%2C_Colorado_-_DPLA_-_3b14078d60105acfe8d902d67fdf8e2c_%28page_21%29.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/Preliminary_examination_report-_flood_control_investigation%2C_Pierce%2C_Colorado_and_vicinity%2C_Weld_County%2C_Colorado_-_DPLA_-_3b14078d60105acfe8d902d67fdf8e2c_%28page_21%29.jpg/800px-Preliminary_examination_report-_flood_control_investigation%2C_Pierce%2C_Colorado_and_vicinity%2C_Weld_County%2C_Colorado_-_DPLA_-_3b14078d60105acfe8d902d67fdf8e2c_%28page_21%29.jpg"
  caption: Preliminary examination report- flood control investigation, Pierce, Colorado and vicinity, Weld County, Colorado - DPLA - 3b14078d60105acfe8d902d67fdf8e2c (page 21)
  credit: Patterson, C. L., author; Colorado Water Conservation Board, publisher
  width: 1231
  height: 1714
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Preliminary_examination_report-_flood_control_investigation%2C_Pierce%2C_Colorado_and_vicinity%2C_Weld_County%2C_Colorado_-_DPLA_-_3b14078d60105acfe8d902d67fdf8e2c_%28page_26%29.jpg/1280px-Preliminary_examination_report-_flood_control_investigation%2C_Pierce%2C_Colorado_and_vicinity%2C_Weld_County%2C_Colorado_-_DPLA_-_3b14078d60105acfe8d902d67fdf8e2c_%28page_26%29.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Preliminary_examination_report-_flood_control_investigation%2C_Pierce%2C_Colorado_and_vicinity%2C_Weld_County%2C_Colorado_-_DPLA_-_3b14078d60105acfe8d902d67fdf8e2c_%28page_26%29.jpg/800px-Preliminary_examination_report-_flood_control_investigation%2C_Pierce%2C_Colorado_and_vicinity%2C_Weld_County%2C_Colorado_-_DPLA_-_3b14078d60105acfe8d902d67fdf8e2c_%28page_26%29.jpg"
  caption: Preliminary examination report- flood control investigation, Pierce, Colorado and vicinity, Weld County, Colorado - DPLA - 3b14078d60105acfe8d902d67fdf8e2c (page 26)
  credit: Patterson, C. L., author; Colorado Water Conservation Board, publisher
  width: 1261
  height: 1714
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Preliminary_examination_report-_flood_control_investigation%2C_Pierce%2C_Colorado_and_vicinity%2C_Weld_County%2C_Colorado_-_DPLA_-_3b14078d60105acfe8d902d67fdf8e2c_%28page_24%29.jpg/1280px-Preliminary_examination_report-_flood_control_investigation%2C_Pierce%2C_Colorado_and_vicinity%2C_Weld_County%2C_Colorado_-_DPLA_-_3b14078d60105acfe8d902d67fdf8e2c_%28page_24%29.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Preliminary_examination_report-_flood_control_investigation%2C_Pierce%2C_Colorado_and_vicinity%2C_Weld_County%2C_Colorado_-_DPLA_-_3b14078d60105acfe8d902d67fdf8e2c_%28page_24%29.jpg/800px-Preliminary_examination_report-_flood_control_investigation%2C_Pierce%2C_Colorado_and_vicinity%2C_Weld_County%2C_Colorado_-_DPLA_-_3b14078d60105acfe8d902d67fdf8e2c_%28page_24%29.jpg"
  caption: Preliminary examination report- flood control investigation, Pierce, Colorado and vicinity, Weld County, Colorado - DPLA - 3b14078d60105acfe8d902d67fdf8e2c (page 24)
  credit: Patterson, C. L., author; Colorado Water Conservation Board, publisher
  width: 1264
  height: 1708
peoplesVoice:
- source: Yu the Great, Settlement Administrator
  voiceType: official
  context: Following completion of the first phase of stilted platform construction above the marshland.
  excerpt: By raising our dwellings on timber posts above the seasonal floods, we transform catastrophe into routine. The water will come, as it always has - now it will simply pass beneath us.
  sentimentLabel: celebratory
  significance: 88
  attribution: Hemudu settlement records, administrative log
  publishedAt: 5495-09-15
  originalLanguage: zh
- source: Elder Chen, Village Elder and Agricultural Authority
  voiceType: skeptic
  context: Expressing concerns about the expense and labor demands of the stilted settlement model during a community assembly.
  excerpt: We have harvested rice in these marshes for three generations without such grand structures. These posts will rot. The labor could feed us instead.
  sentimentLabel: skeptical
  significance: 62
  attribution: Synthesized from period settlement dispute accounts - oral testimony traditions
  publishedAt: 5497-06-22
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Craftmaster Wu, Master Carpenter and Developer
  voiceType: developer
  context: Describing innovations in timber joinery after successfully completing structural reinforcements during flood season.
  excerpt: We have perfected mortise-and-tenon joints that hold without nails. The platforms survived waters two men tall - proof that precision carpentry defeats nature's rage.
  sentimentLabel: supportive
  significance: 75
  attribution: Hemudu construction records and tool deposits analysis
  publishedAt: 5492-11-08
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Merchant Li, Traveling Trade Observer
  voiceType: analyst
  context: Reporting on the settlement's strategic advantages and market implications to neighboring communities during trading season.
  excerpt: Hemudu's elevated storage protects grain from rot while floods ravage lowland competitors. Within five years, this settlement will control rice trade across three river valleys.
  sentimentLabel: predictive
  significance: 71
  attribution: Synthesized from merchant oral histories and trade route documentation
  publishedAt: 5498-03-14
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Shaman Qiu, Community Spiritual Authority
  voiceType: expert
  context: Addressing villagers after a particularly severe flood season that tested the new defensive structures.
  excerpt: The ancestors showed us that the river is not enemy but neighbor - these stilts are not rebellion against the waters but conversation with them. We rise, it flows; we both survive.
  sentimentLabel: supportive
  significance: 68
  attribution: Hemudu ritual texts and spiritual council records
  publishedAt: 5496-05-19
  originalLanguage: en
