Abstract: Based on the field survey in the Hukou Waterfall reach of the Yellow River,the headward erosion rates of the waterfall during the different time periods tracing back to about 4000 years were obtained.The historical runoff time series within the last 4200 years were reconstructed by referring to the ratio of water volume of the waterfall measured presently to the width of the stone trough formed due to the waterfall.The temporal variation of paleo-water volumes on the basin up the Yellow River-Hukou has been worked out,also the thousand-year-scale comparison of its wet、dry,peak and trough periods with the warm cold,wet and dry periods of the ancient climate、the movement and fall of the fourth era in western china、and the formation and break of the ancient soil along the sides of the yellow River,has been presented.