Environment and Climate (Other Keyword)
151-175 (353 Records)
This is an abstract from the "Recent Advances in Zooarchaeological Methods" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In the past archaeology rarely played a role in the discussion of anthropogenic pollution. This lack of study is mainly due to the skepticism around the accurate representation of heavy metals in archaeological material as a result of diagenetic processes. In this study, we present preliminary results of a systematic selection of animal...
Heterogeneity in Late Glacial Environments of Southwest Germany and Implications for Magdalenian Settlement (2021)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. During the Late Glacial (~18-11.6 k cal yr BP), Magdalenian peoples recolonized southwest Germany, which was uninhabited during the Last Glacial Maximum (~27.2-23.5 k cal yr BP). Past research has generally characterized the landscape in this region as tundra or steppe during this time but making smaller-scale interpretations can be difficult due to the nature...
High Altitude Maize (Zea mays L.) Cultivation in the Lake Titicaca Basin and Endemism (2018)
Scientists have long maintained the upper limits of maize (Zea mays L cultivation was 3,600 masl. Archaeological evidence has documented a particular maize variety called tunqu by indigenous speaking populations, generally cultivated on terraces around the Copacabana Peninsula between 3810 to 4100 masl, in the Lake Titicaca Basin, Bolivia. This is the first known maize variety cultivated above 3600 masl. There were wide-spread landscape modifications such as raised fields and terraces geared to...
High-Altitude Andean Wetlands: Classificatory Systems, Nomenclature, and Functional Implications (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Political Geologies in the Ancient and Recent Pasts: Ontology, Knowledge, and Affect" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. High-altitude wetlands, known as bofedales, are vital resources for Andean herding communities because of the high-quality, perennial vegetation they provide. These wetlands are often peat-accumulating, and are attracting renewed attention because of their roles in carbon sequestration and water...
High-Altitude Hunting and the Emergence of Mobile Pastoralism in Eastern Eurasia (2021)
This is an abstract from the "New Directions in Mongolian Archaeology" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The emergence of herding economies prompted drastic changes to life in eastern Eurasia—situating the cold, arid steppes of Mongolia as a center of the ancient world. Although a growing body of evidence points to an important role for mountain zones in this transition, issues of archaeological preservation have prevented a clear understanding of...
High-Precision AMS Radiocarbon Chronologies Demonstrate Short-Lived Agricultural Village Occupations on the Northern Colorado Plateau (2023)
This is an abstract from the "The Socioecological Dynamics of Holocene Foragers and Farmers" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Fremont archaeological complex provides an important window into the socioecological dynamics underwriting the formation of settled pithouse communities in the western North America drylands. We developed high-precision AMS radiocarbon chronologies based on short-lived annuals for four Fremont sites (Cub Creek, Caldwell...
Historical Archaeology of Capitalism and Climate Change (2018)
Much of the climate change literature focuses on whether it is an empirically verifiable process or how individual’s behavior can ameliorate the impacts. Our common approach abstracts the environment, economy, society, and individuals as external relations that posit the cause and effects of global warming as categorically separate from endemic global poverty, starvation, and income disparities. Instead, we argue that discussions need to bring together all the social and natural aspects that...
A History of Knowledge of the Amazonian Dark Earths (2018)
The anthropogenic origin of the Amazonian dark earths (Terra Pretas) has been a methodologically assured fact for 70 years. Especially during the last 30 years, Terra Preta have been scientifically investigated with increasing intensity and in an ever-widening context. Currently, the dominant concept guiding research is the idea of binding atmospheric carbon which artificially produced dark earths. The large-scale production of terra preta is said to be an efficient instrument to combat global...
Holocene Palaeoenvironmental Changes in Southeastern Mozambique: The Case of the Inhambane Bay (2018)
Geoarchaeological surveys were conducted in 2016 and 2017 to better understand the environmental history and landscape evolution of the Inhambane coastal area, Southeastern Mozambique, aiming to know the environmental context of human occupation of the Tofo, Praia da Rocha and Chibuene archaeological sites. To reach this aim, 4 cores were collected in a mangrove area of the Inhambane estuary, an area both influenced by sea-level and climate changes. All the boreholes were georeferenced and...
Holocene Perspectives from the Gobi Desert: New Paleoethnobotanical and Geoarchaeological Analyses at Delger Khan Uul, Mongolia (2021)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The archaeological site of Delger Khan Uul is located in southeastern Mongolia near the eastern Gobi Desert. Today, the climate is semi-arid with cold winters and warm summers, but the region has experienced dramatic changes since the beginning of the Holocene with intervals of warm and cool periods. Utilizing lake cores we can gauge climatic trends for the...
Holocene Vegetation Changes and Fuel Use in the Honduran Highlands: The Anthracological Sequence of El Gigante Rockshelter (11,000–1000 BP) (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Holocene pollen sequences have highlighted several episodes of vegetation opening in Central America since the Archaic period, which have often been related to the dispersal of nomadic slash-and-burn agriculturalists from the Central Mexican Highlands. However, few archaeobotanical data from archaeological sites have been available to date to examine...
Honing an Integrated Approach to Geoarchaeological Research in Alluvial Environments of the Lower Ohio River Valley (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Identification and interpretation of buried cultural deposits in alluvial settings is improved by an integrated approach that considers the area at an appropriate scale in line with prehistoric land use; applies key underlying concepts; and utilizes multiple methodologies of subsurface investigation, laboratory analysis, and environmental modeling. Success at...
Human Adaptability to Fauna and Flora Changes during MIS 5-3. Is the Iberian Mediterranean Region a Refuge? (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Peninsular Southern Europe Refugia during the Middle Paleolithic" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Neanderthal and AMH from the Early Upper Palaeolithic have a really good knowledge of their environment and its potential resources. The local landscape and its changes should influence their behavior and the availability of resources. In this sense, the faunal remains have been better documented than flora. But our team...
Human Land Use Strategies and Responses to Risk during the Pleistocene–Holocene Transition in Eastern Beringia (2018)
Recent investigations in central Alaska at multiple scales (macro-regional, watershed, site cluster, intrasite) have revealed robust patterning among technological, faunal, and feature datasets. These responses are explored in the context of both regional environmental change associated with climatic oscillations between the Bolling-Allerod, Younger Dryas, and early Holocene chronozones as well as systemic change incorporating more logistical organization, shifts in diet breadth, and changes in...
The Human-Chicken-Environment Nexus (2019)
This is an abstract from the "HumAnE Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The chicken is a relatively recent addition to global cuisine. Unlike cattle, sheep and pigs, which were domesticated 10,000-12,000 years ago, convincing evidence for the domestication of Red Junglefowl, native to Southeast Asia, does not emerge until at 5,000 years ago, at the earliest. Furthermore, multiple strands of evidence suggest that chickens were not...
Hunting Varmints, or Tasty Morsels?: An Isotopic Survey of Iroquoian Garden Hunting (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. We use stable carbon and nitrogen analyses of over 500 archaeological animal bones to explore the relationship between ancient farming practices and local wild fauna in the context of Iroquoian horticulture in Southern Ontario (AD 1000-1600). By creating openings in the forest and introducing non-local plants, Iroquoian farming served to increase habitat...
Hurricanes as Agents of Cultural Change: Integrating Paleotempestology and the Archaeological Record (2018)
Hurricanes are major climatological events with significant impacts in tropical and extra-tropical regions worldwide. Despite this, little research has been undertaken on the effects of hurricanes and other intense storms on prehistoric societies. New evidence from the field of paleotempestology—the study of past hurricane activity using geological proxy techniques, such as lagoon sediments and speleothems—is shedding light on how hurricanes varied over the Holocene in terms of frequency,...
The Impact of Temperature on the Transition to Maize Agriculture in the Northern Upland United States Southwest (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Global Perspectives on Climate-Human Population Dynamics During the Late Holocene" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. While the Neolithic Demographic Transition (NDT) spread rapidly across most of Europe (~600 years) after the first introduction of domesticated plants, the NDT is much more gradual in the southwestern United States (1600–2600 years) following the first appearance of maize (ca. 2260–1990 BC). Climate had a...
The Impact on Mobility of Regional Variability in Rates of Environmental Change: An Agent-Based Simulation Approach (2018)
I use agent-based computer simulation to evaluate the impact of regional scale variability in rates of environmental change on residential and logistical mobility. Previous regional case studies and simulation work suggest that high variability in regional rates of environmental change (in shoreline displacement, for example) should favour settlement strategies that reduce residential mobility and rely on logistical mobility. Those strategies should select longer-term residential sites that are...
Implementing the NPS Cultural Resources Climate Change Strategy at the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park (2018)
As a park characterized by a man-made watercourse adjacent to a river, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park is uniquely situated to address the increasing impacts of climate-related flood events on cultural resources. This analysis presents a preliminary vulnerability matrix for cultural resources on the park, which include historic structures and features, historic and prehistoric archaeological sites, and canal infrastructure. We discuss how hazards posed by flooding affect...
Improving Integration of Archaeology into the Work of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change): A Status Report (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Accelerating Environmental Change Threats to Cultural Heritage: Serious Challenges, Promising Responses" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Modern anthropogenic climate change has its roots in the Industrial Revolution and has developed further through social and economic processes that have grown into world dependence on fossil fuels. Archaeology has much to say about these developments and provides important cultural...
In the Face of the Flood: A County’s Efforts to Mitigate the Potential for a Massive Loss of Cultural Resources (2018)
Coastal erosion is impacting Anne Arundel County, Maryland in a way that is extreme and remarkable with a rate of sea level rise nearly twice the global average. Historic properties and archaeological sites are at risk of inundation on the County’s shorelines. Anne Arundel County Trust for Preservation has received a cultural resources hazard mitigation grant through the National Park Service’s Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief Fund (administered by the Maryland Historical Trust) and is partnering...
Indigenous Land Use and Cultural Burning in the Amazon Rainforest Ecotone (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Subsistence Crops and Animals as a Proxy for Human Cultural Practice" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The southwestern Amazon Rainforest Ecotone is the transitional landscape between the tropical forest and seasonally flooded savannahs of the Bolivian Llanos de Moxos. These heterogeneous landscapes harbor high levels of biodiversity and some of the earliest records of human occupation and plant domestication in...
Indigenous Stewardship, Comanagement, and Knowledge Production: A Perspective from the California Coast (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Heritage Sites at the Intersection of Landscape, Memory, and Place: Archaeology, Heritage Commemoration, and Practice" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Resource management and academic disciplines focused on the study of cultural heritage and the environment have historically trained practitioners and hired for positions focused on either cultural or ecological aspects of the landscape. This dichotomy may be a...
Insights into Paleoenvironment and Cultural Resilience on the Ancient Georgia Coast and Implications for Sustainability in the Twenty-First Century (2021)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. We discuss key insights into over 5,000 years of environmental change on the Georgia Coast derived from tree-ring analyses of a deposit of ancient bald cypress from the mouth of the Altamaha River, including changes in coastal forests through time. Human-environment interactions, such as the resilience of estuarine-based societies and ecosystems during periods...