The Central Plains of China witnessed a crucial cultural transformation towards the end of the Longshan period from a chiefdom-like society to a state-level society that has been speculated to be associated with regionally favorable environmental conditions. However, this speculation has not yet been substantiated. We first compiled the information on human migrations and extreme floods during the late Longshan period and then compared the relationships of human settlements with hydrogeomorphic settings in the Central Plains between the Longshan and Xinzhai-Erlitou periods. Our comparison shows that the course of the Yellow River was relatively stable during the Longshan period in the eastern Central Plains, where abundant highlands might have existed for human dwellings. However, geologically and archaeologically documented extreme floods that occurred at ~ 4000 cal. yr BP changed hydrogeomorphic settings in key locations along the Yellow River. The northern Henan area and the bordering area of Henan, Shandong and Anhui Provinces were subjected to frequent crevasses from flooding of the Yellow River at ~ 4000 cal. yr BP, which might have forced human migrations. Consequently, the northern Henan area and the bordering area of the three provinces lacked human settlements, whereas the western Central Plains contained concentrated human settlements during the Xinzhai-Erlitou period. We propose that the success of the above-mentioned cultural transformation was likely causally associated with hydrogeomorphic setting changes in the lower Yellow River Basin. Specifically, the frequent crevasses from flooding of the Yellow River at ~ 4000 cal. yr BP in the eastern alluvial plain regions made the western hilly and mountainous regions of present-day Henan Province the “refuge” for eastern immigrants during the late Longshan period. After the floods, human reoccupation and subsequent population increase beyond the local optimum carrying capacity within the Luoyang Basin during the Erlitou period might be a key driver of local social complexity.

到龙山时代末期，中原见证了重要的文化转型，从一个类酋长的社会到一个被认为与区域有利的环境条件有关的州级社会。但是，这种猜测尚未得到证实。我们首先收集了有关龙山后期人类迁徙和极端洪灾的信息，然后比较了龙山和新寨-二里头时期中原地区人类住区与水文地理环境的关系。我们的比较表明，在中原东部的龙山时期，黄河的航向相对稳定，那里可能有丰富的高地可供人类居住。然而，地质和考古记录表明，发生在约4000卡的极端洪水。BP改变了黄河沿岸关键位置的水文地貌设置。河南北部地区以及河南，山东和安徽省的交界地区在〜4000 cal的黄河洪水中经常遭受裂缝。BP，这可能迫使人类迁徙。因此，河南省北部和这三个省的边界地区缺乏人类住区，而中寨西部地区在新寨-二里头时期则集中了人类住区。我们认为，上述文化转型的成功可能与黄河流域下游的水文地貌环境变化有因果关系。具体来说，黄河泛滥造成的频繁裂缝在〜4000 cal时出现。yr在东部冲积平原地区的BP使现今河南省的西部丘陵和山区成为龙山后期晚期东部移民的“避难所”。洪灾过后，二里头时期洛阳盆地内人类的重新居住和随后的人口增长超出了当地的最佳承载能力，这可能是当地社会复杂性的主要驱动力。