Developing intra- and inter-continental research networks for the study of human adaptations to Lateglacial and early Holocene environmental changes

Summary

Over the last decade our knowledge of human-environment interaction in prehistory has been radically transformed. It has become increasingly apparent that prehistoric humans had to cope with a vast range of different environmental changes that had their own particular temporal and spatial dynamics. These changes ranged from millennial- and continental-scale ecosystem turnover and sea-level rise, to centennial- and hemispheric-scale abrupt climate change events, to extreme events such as tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. The complexities of the potential impacts of these changes on human societies cross-cut traditional regional and temporal research specialisms. Continued advancement of our knowledge therefore requires researchers to come together at intra- and inter-continental scales to share knowledge, data, and build multi-scalar models to investigate the variability of human adaptations to different kinds of palaeoenvironmental change. The International Union for Quaternary Research (INQUA) Humans and Biosphere Commission has recently funded a project that takes on this challenge: “Cultural and palaeoenvironmental changes in Late Glacial to Middle Holocene Europe—gradual or sudden?”. We will present results from this project and discuss the development of an INQUA International Focus Group that will focus on these questions across the Northern Hemisphere.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)   •
• Human Adaptations to Lateglacial and Early Holocene Climate and Environmental Changes: Towards a Trans-Atlantic Perspective (Part 1)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage