Environmental history

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Richard T. Corlett
Keyword(s):  
Environmental History ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Homo Erectus ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Natural Catastrophes ◽  
Urban Settlements ◽  
History Of ◽  
Spread Of Agriculture

This chapter covers the environmental history of Tropical East Asia, starting with its assembly from Gondwanan fragments during the Mesozoic. Changes in sea level, climate, and vegetation are covered in increasing detail from the Eocene to the present day, and the influence of volcanic eruptions and other natural catastrophes is discussed. The history of human occupation is outlined, from the appearance of Homo erectus more than a million years ago, through the arrival of modern humans in the region 80,000–50,000 years ago, to the spread of agriculture and the development of urban settlements. Human impacts on natural ecosystems are considered throughout the period of occupation, culminating in the concept of the human-dominated Anthropocene.

scholarly journals A Holocene pollen record of savanna establishment in coastal Amapá

2008 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 341-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauro B. de Toledo ◽  
Mark B. Bush
Keyword(s):  
Vegetation Change ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Detrended Correspondence Analysis ◽  
Fire Frequency ◽  
Pollen Record ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Sample Distribution ◽  
River Flooding ◽  
History Of ◽  
Tremendous Impact

The main goal of this study was to investigate how climate and human activities may have influenced ecotonal areas of disjoint savannas within Brazilian Amazonia. The fossil pollen and charcoal records of Lake Márcio (Amapá) were used to provide a Holocene palaeoecological history of this region. Detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) was used to enhance the patterns of sample distribution along the sediment core. A marked vegetation change from closed forests with swamp elements to open flooded savanna at c. 5000 yrs BP was evident from the pollen record. Charcoal analysis revealed a pattern of increased accumulation of particles coincident with the establishment of savannas, suggesting higher fire frequency and human impacts near the lake. A 550-year sedimentary hiatus suggests that the lake depended heavily on floodwaters from the Amazon River, and that it became suddenly isolated from it. When sedimentation restarted in the lake, the environment had changed. A combination of factors, such as reduced river flooding, palaeofires and human occupation may have had a tremendous impact on the environment. As there are no other major changes in vegetation, after 4700 yrs BP, it is plausible to assume that the modern mosaic vegetation formed at that time.

Preliminary Survey and Core Sampling on the Aegean Coast of Turkey

1992 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 75-78
Author(s):  
K. Lambrianides
Keyword(s):  
Environmental History ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Human Environment ◽  
The Core ◽  
Cultural Systems ◽  
History Of ◽  
University College London ◽  
The Government ◽  
Geomorphological Evolution ◽  
Coastal Settlement

This survey was planned with the help of the Human Environment Department of the Institute of Archaeology, University College London. Fieldwork was carried out with the help of: Bayan Asuman Güngör, the government representative (from Türk İslam Müzesi, Yeşil-Bursa). We also welcomed two visitors from Ege Üniversitesi, Edebiyat Fakültesi: Mr. Kirami Ölgen (geomorphologist and research assistant of Prof, İlhan Kayan, Coğrafya Bölümü) and Dr. Halime Hüryılmaz, (archaeologist, Klasik Arkeoloji Anabilim Dalı), who came to Altınova and provided invaluable expertise. We were also greatly assisted throughout by the advice and involvement of Prof, İlhan Kayan himself before, during and after the coring. Initial analysis of the core samples was carried out at their laboratory at Ege by Prof. Kayan and Mr. Ölgen. The latter also sampled the cores and prepared the chart of the bore-hole findings. Finance was again generously provided by the BIAA and the CRF of London University. Fieldwork took place between 30th October and 8th November 1991.The aim of the survey was to study the geomorphological evolution of the Madra Çay delta and to learn more about the palaeo-environmental history of a mound located on the delta, as part of a study of prehistoric coastal settlement on the Aegean coast of Turkey. Adaptation to the environment is regarded as one of the four functional criteria of cultural systems and we wanted to find out which of the various different phases in the changing environment of the delta had attracted human occupation.

Aeolian and fluviolacustrine landforms and prehistoric human occupation on a technically influenced floodplain margin, the Méma, central Mali

2007 ◽  
Vol 86 (3) ◽  
pp. 241-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Makaske ◽  
E. de Vries ◽  
J.A. Tainter ◽  
R.J. Mclntosh
Keyword(s):  
Climatic Variability ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Archaeological Heritage ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
15Th Century ◽  
Urban Settlements ◽  
History Of ◽  
Climatic History ◽  
Inland Niger Delta ◽  
Semi Arid Region

AbstractThe Mema is a semi-arid region in central Mali with a rich archaeological heritage indicating the former existence of large urban settlements. The archaeological data suggest millennia of occupation history of the Méma preceding relatively sudden abandonment by the 14th or 15th century AD. Population numbers have remained low since then and today’s human presence in the area is sparse and largely mobile. Geomorphologically, the Méma can be characterized as a graben hosting various generations of aeolian landforms and (presently mostly dry) interdunal channels and lakes, linked to the neighbouring Inland Niger Delta floodplain. Given this setting, and the variability of the Sahelian climate, climatic contributions to the region’s sudden abandonment are likely. A geomorphological survey of the region, and interpretation of the observed geomorphological record in terms of climatic history, aimed at providing a basis for understanding the intensive occupation and subsequent abandonment of the Méma. The results of this study underscore dramatic Holocene climatic variability, leading to the region’s present geomorphological diversity, but also suggest that neotectonic movements constitute an important additional cause of regional desiccation. Both may have encouraged prehistoric people to abandon the Méma after a long period of occupation.

scholarly journals Observations on the connection between glacial phases, natural catastrophes and economic trends of the last millennium in Italy

The Holocene ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (8) ◽  
pp. 1322-1334
Author(s):  
Pier Luigi Bragato ◽  
Hanspeter Holzhauser
Keyword(s):  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Economic Consequences ◽  
Current Phase ◽  
Last Millennium ◽  
Natural Catastrophes ◽  
Economic Trends ◽  
History Of ◽  
Glacial Expansion ◽  
Critical Phases ◽  
General Connection

Humanity has often faced critical phases determined by climate changes combined with other natural catastrophes that implied significant socio-economic consequences. In this article, we present an observational study on the possible systematic connection between these factors for the specific case of Italy, comparing the occurrence of pandemics, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions with the glacial history of the last millennium. We have found that the natural catastrophes concentrate in the periods of ice expansion in Europe, whereas the phenomena are in attenuation in the current phase of global warming. Such a behavior has influenced the economy of the country: in fact, a comparison with a reconstruction of the per capita Gross Domestic Product since 1310 shows that the periods of maximum economic expansion occurred during the deglaciation phases. This study has confirmed the general connection of the climate with a number of Earth processes and the difficulty to foresee its changes. Furthermore, the extension of the analysis at the world level for the last 2500 years has evidenced that different types of pandemics (plague, cholera and influenza) almost exclusively spread during the phases of glacial expansion.

scholarly journals Radiocarbon Studies of Peat Bogs: an Investigation of South Kamchatka Volcanoes and Upper Volga Archeological Sites

Radiocarbon ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 43 (2B) ◽  
pp. 571-580 ◽  
Author(s):  
N E Zaretskaia ◽  
V V Ponomareva ◽  
L D Sulerzhitsky ◽  
M G Zhilin
Keyword(s):  
Environmental History ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Peat Bogs ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Volga River ◽  
Volga River Basin ◽  
Upper Volga ◽  
Sample Composition ◽  
Different Types ◽  
History Of

We have undertaken extensive programs of natural radiocarbon measurement to date the evidence for various events buried in peat bogs. Two case studies are described here: 1) the chronological reconstruction of South Kamchatka volcanic eruptions and, 2) investigation of multi-layered archeological sites in the Upper Volga River Basin. Studies of sample composition and peat taphonomy allowed us to determine the source of 14C age deviations and to reconstruct the environmental history of organic matter accumulation. Data sets, obtained from different types of peat bog and containing traces of these Holocene events, are discussed.

A 7300-yr-old environmental history of seabird, human, and volcano impacts on Carlisle Island (the Islands of Four Mountains, eastern Aleutians, Alaska)

2019 ◽  
Vol 91 (03) ◽  
pp. 934-952 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evgeniya A. Kuzmicheva ◽  
Olesya I. Smyshlyaeva ◽  
Dmitry D. Vasyukov ◽  
Bulat F. Khasanov ◽  
Olga A. Krylovich ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental History ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Initial Stage ◽  
History Of ◽  
Tephra Layers ◽  
Strong Winds ◽  
Human Predation ◽  
The Fourier Transform ◽  
Fertilizing Effect

AbstractWe present the results of multiproxy study of a peat deposit from Carlisle Island (the Islands of Four Mountains, Aleutians). Vegetation on the initial stage of the peat is characterized by heath vegetation dominated by Ericales indicating cold conditions at 7300–6100 cal yr BP. The appearance of Betula and Alnus is the result of long-distance transportation attributable to strong winds at this time. Sedge-grass (Cyperaceae and Poaceae) communities began replacing heath vegetation at 6100 cal yr BP because of the climatic amelioration. C/N ratios and pollen spectra remain relatively stable at 6100–2450 cal yr BP. For the CR-03 peatland, volcanic tephra contributed significantly to the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy spectral data. Volcanic input created overlap of an aluminosilicate signal with carbohydrate vibrations. Significant changes occurred at approximately 2450 cal yr BP when there is the some evidence of cooler and wetter conditions of the Neoglacial. High values of δ15N observed at 7100–7000 cal yr BP reflect the fertilizing effect of seabird nesting colonies. A decrease in δ15N ca. 6900 cal yr BP may indicate initial settlement on Carlisle Island corresponding with harvesting seabirds. Human predation continued until a series of volcanic eruptions, which deposited Okmok II and CR-02 tephra layers at ca. 2000 and 1050 cal yr BP, respectively.

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