Holocene vertebrates from a dry cave on Eleuthera Island, Commonwealth of The Bahamas

The Holocene ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 806-813 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W Steadman ◽  
Nancy A Albury ◽  
Jim I Mead ◽  
J Angel Soto-Centeno ◽  
Janet Franklin
Keyword(s):  
Late Holocene ◽  
Terrestrial Plants ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
The Bahamas ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
Southeastern Myotis ◽  
Accelerator Mass Spectrometer ◽  
Myotis Myotis ◽  
Vertebrate Assemblage ◽  
Myotis Austroriparius

We report a mid- to late-Holocene, non-cultural vertebrate assemblage from Garden Cave (site EL-229), Eleuthera Island, The Bahamas, with 2450 fossils representing 26 species. The chronology is based on accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) radiocarbon (14C) dates determined directly on individual bones of the hutia ( Geocapromys ingrahami), an extirpated species of rodent that dominates the bone assemblage at Garden Cave. Four AMS 14C dates from our excavation range from 1340 to 1280 cal. BP (surface of the site) to 4860 to 4830 cal. BP with depth. A hutia bone lying on the surface from elsewhere in the cave dated to 450 to 290 cal. BP, which is roughly the time of European and African contact on Eleuthera. Other extirpated species from Garden Cave are tortoise ( Chelonoidis sp.), rock iguana ( Cyclura sp.), skink ( Mabuya sp.), parrot ( Amazona leucocephala), crow ( Corvus nasicus), and southeastern myotis ( Myotis austroriparius). Each of these species may have survived on Eleuthera until sometime after the initial human occupation of the island (~1000 cal. BP), although we have direct AMS 14C dates for only the hutia. During the time of fossil deposition in Garden Cave, sea levels were approaching that of today, yet land areas were considerably larger than now, connecting Eleuthera to New Providence, and potentially to Exuma as well. Such relatively recent connections are important in explaining past and present distributions of terrestrial plants and animals.

scholarly journals The paleoecology and extinction of endemic tortoises in the Bahamian Archipelago

The Holocene ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 420-427
Author(s):  
David W Steadman ◽  
Nancy A Albury ◽  
Lizabeth A Carlson ◽  
Richard Franz ◽  
Michelle J LeFebvre ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Native Species ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Human Settlement ◽  
The Bahamas ◽  
Turks And Caicos Islands ◽  
Human Contact ◽  
Accelerator Mass Spectrometer ◽  
Island Group ◽  
Bahamian Archipelago ◽  
Archeological Site

No native species of tortoises ( Chelonoidis spp.) live today in the Bahamian (Lucayan) Archipelago (= The Bahamas + The Turks and Caicos Islands), although a number of species inhabited these islands at the first human contact in the late-Holocene. Until their extinction, tortoises were the largest terrestrial herbivores in the island group. We report 16 accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) radiocarbon (14C) dates determined directly on individual bones of indigenous, extinct tortoises from the six Bahamian islands (Abaco, Eleuthera, Flamingo Cay, Crooked, Middle Caicos, Grand Turk) on five different carbonate banks. These 16 specimens probably represent six or seven species of tortoises, although only one ( Chelonoidis alburyorum on Abaco) has been described thus far. Tortoises seem to have survived on most Bahamian islands for only one or two centuries after initial human settlement, which took place no earlier than AD ~700–1000. The exception is Grand Turk, where we have evidence from the Coralie archeological site that tortoises survived for approximately three centuries after human arrival, based on stratigraphically associated 14C dates from both tortoise bones and wood charcoal. The stable isotope values of carbon (σ13C) and nitrogen (σ15N) of dated tortoise fossils show a NW-to-SE trend in the archipelago that may reflect increasing aridity and more consumption of cactus.

Human occupation strategies and related environmental-climate during the middle and late Holocene in central Pampas of Argentina

The Holocene ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 244-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo G Messineo ◽  
Marcela S Tonello ◽  
Silvina Stutz ◽  
Alfonsina Tripaldi ◽  
Nahuel Scheifler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Holocene ◽  
Specific Activity ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Hard Material ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Lithic Assemblage ◽  
Depositional Rate ◽  
Archeological Site ◽  
Middle And Late Holocene

The main objective of this work is to generate and integrate interpretations of human occupation strategies and inferences of the environmental-climatic conditions in the central Pampas during the middle and late Holocene. We present a novel archeological–geological–paleoecological analysis in the area of the Cabeza de Buey lake, placed in an aeolian landscape. During the middle Holocene, two events of human occupations were recognized at Laguna Cabeza de Buey 2 archeological site. Both events present a small amount of lithic materials, a low diversity of tools and activities developed with them (principally hard material), and the hunting and primary processing of artiodactyls. These evidences suggest a locus of specific activity associated with an ephemeral human settlement under climate conditions drier than present and the presence of small, brackish, and shallow water bodies. For the late late Holocene, the hunter-gatherer occupation has a higher depositional rate of lithic assemblage, stones with diverse origins, presence of pottery fragments, a great lithic tool diversity, knapping techniques, and activities developed with these tools (processing wood, bone, hide, non-woody plant, and soft material). These evidences reveal an occupation with a higher degree of recurrence represented by a locus of multiple activities associated with a more stable landscape, such as an environment of dunes fixed by grass vegetation, and the establishment of a permanent water body. The different environmental characteristics for the middle and late Holocene in this area promoted that human groups develop two different patterns of mobility, settlement and use of space.

Palynological evidence for late-Holocene human occupation recorded in two wetlands in SW Turkey

The Holocene ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 569-584 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Vermoere ◽  
S. Bottema ◽  
L. Vanhecke ◽  
M. Waelkens ◽  
E. Paulissen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Holocene ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Sw Turkey

Late Holocene Historical Ecology: The Timing of Vertebrate Extirpation on Crooked Island, Commonwealth of The Bahamas

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 572-584 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Steadman ◽  
Hayley M. Singleton ◽  
Kelly M. Delancy ◽  
Nancy A. Albury ◽  
J. Angel Soto-Centeno ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Holocene ◽  
Historical Ecology ◽  
The Bahamas

scholarly journals Twitter under Storm: Social Media Response Sensitization in the Caribbean

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danilo T Perez-Rivera ◽  
Alexis Josué Martínez ◽  
Adriana Pons ◽  
Alejandro Rodríguez-Natal ◽  
Sergio Andrés Davila-Santana
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Emergency Preparedness ◽  
Previous History ◽  
The Bahamas ◽  
Sea Levels ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Rising Sea Levels ◽  
Hurricane Exposure ◽  
Effective Design

Climate change has led to rising sea levels and warmer sea surface temperatures. These factors contribute greatly to the intensity of hurricanes and floods they provoke. Projections estimate there will be an increase of 45% to 87% in the frequency of Category >4 hurricanes originating in the Atlantic Basin, which typically impact the Caribbean and Continental United States of America. During the 2019 Hurricane Season, there were 20 depressions, 18 storms, 6 hurricanes and 3 major hurricanes. Through this work, we explored the response on Social Media to these natural phenomena as a function of their trajectory, intensity, and previous exposure of the population to intense natural disasters. Data was collected through the Twitter API. The influences of hurricane proximity and intensity on volume of Social Media production was explored. Hurricane Dorian, with its trajectory strongly threatening the previously exposed Puerto Rico, and eventually causing widespread damage in the Abaco Islands of the Bahamas, presented the strongest case for the evaluation of the dichotomy of responses between populations with differences in previous history of exposure. The landscape of historic hurricane exposure Caribbean has radically changed in recent years. Taking advantage of Big Data to help elucidate these dynamics could be instrumental in the tailoring of emergency preparedness plans and the effective design of mental health first aid strategies.

Morphological variation among late holocene Mexicans: Implications for discussions about the human occupation of the Americas

2017 ◽  
Vol 163 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brianne Herrera ◽  
Daniel Peart ◽  
Nicole Hernandez ◽  
Kate Spradley ◽  
Mark Hubbe
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Variation ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Human Occupation
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