[DSRP Evidence](https://dsrpevidence.org/)

# Topographic accessibility and proto-urban settlement organization in Neolithic China

Cheng et al., 2026, Nature Cities — Archaeology

Patterns: [Systems](https://dsrpevidence.org/pattern/systems), [Relationships](https://dsrpevidence.org/pattern/relationships)

## In short

The relationship between a driving factor (terrain accessibility) and the organization of a system (settlement distribution) is shown to be historically contingent — strengthening, weakening, and reorganizing over time rather than fixed.

## What they found (results)

Across Neolithic China (5000-2000 BCE), settlement intensity tracked terrain-derived overland accessibility closely between 5000-2500 BCE, but this accessibility-settlement association weakened sharply after 2500 BCE even as overall spatial clustering of settlements remained strong.

These researchers were not testing DSRP. The finding is theirs; the correspondence to DSRP is drawn by this site.

[Source](https://doi.org/10.1038/s44284-026-00511-2)