Climates, Landscapes, and Civilizations brings together a collection of studies on the history of complex interrelationships between humans and their environment by integrating Earth science with archeology and anthropology. At a time when climate change, overpopulation, and scarcity of resources are increasingly affecting our ways of life, the lessons of the past provide multiple reference frames that are valuable for informing our future decisions and action plans. Volume highlights include discussions of multiple connotations of the Anthropocene, landscapes as a link between climate and humans, synoptic approaches to explore large-scale cultural patterns, regional studies for contextualizing cultural complexity, and environmental determinism and social theory. Straddling the fields of Earth sciences, anthropology, and archaeology and presenting research from across several continents, Climates, Landscapes, and Civilizations will appeal to a wide readership among scientists, scholars, and the public at large.
Table of Contents
Preface
Liviu Giosan, Dorian Q. Fuller, Kathleen Nicoll, Rowan K. Flad, and Peter D. Clift vii
Bridging a Disciplinary Gap
William F. Ruddiman 1
Section I: Americas
Arguments and Evidence Against a Younger Dryas Impact Event
M. Boslough, K. Nicoll, V. Holliday, T. L. Daulton, D. Meltzer, N. Pinter, A. C. Scott, T. Surovell, P. Claeys, J. Gill, F. Paquay, J. Marlon, P. Bartlein, C. Whitlock, D. Grayson, and A. J. T. Jull 13
Environment and Agency in the Ancient Maya Collapse
James J. Aimers 27
Rainfall Variability and the Rise and Collapse of the Mississippian Chiefdoms: Evidence From a DeSoto Caverns Stalagmite
Paul Aharon, David Aldridge, and John Hellstrom 35
Building Resilience in Island Communities: A Paleotempestological Perspective
Jago Cooper 43
Recent Seasonal Variations in Arid Landscape Cover and Aeolian Sand Mobility, Navajo Nation, Southwestern United States
Amy E. Draut, Margaret Hiza Redsteer, and Lee Amoroso 51
Section II: Asia
Utilization of Distal Tephra Records for Understanding Climatic and Environmental Consequences of the Youngest Toba Tuff
Emma Gatti and Clive Oppenheimer 63
An Abrupt Shift in the Indian Monsoon 4000 Years Ago
M. Berkelhammer, A. Sinha, L. Stott, H. Cheng, F. S. R. Pausata, and K. Yoshimura 75
Late Holocene Drought Pattern Over West Asia
Michael Staubwasser 89
Geomorphological Constraints on the Ghaggar River Regime During the Mature Harappan Period
Hideaki Maemoku, Yorinao Shitaoka, Tsuneto Nagatomo, and Hiroshi Yagi 97
A Simulation of the Neolithic Transition in the Indus Valley
Carsten Lemmen and Aurangzeb Khan 107
Mid-to-Late Holocene Agricultural System Transformations in the Northern Fertile Crescent: A Review of the Archaeobotanical, Geoarchaeological, and Philological Evidence
Simone Riehl, Konstantin Pustovoytov, Aron Dornauer, and Walther Sallaberger 115
Late Holocene Evolution of the Fuzhou Basin (Fujian, China) and the Spread of Rice Farming
Barry V. Rolett 137
Climate-Induced Changes in Population Dynamics of Siberian Scythians (700–250 B.C.)
Irina P. Panyushkina 145
Section III: Africa
Geoarchaeological Perspectives on Holocene Climate Change as a Civilizing Factor in the Egyptian Sahara
Kathleen Nicoll 157
Heavy Rainfalls in a Desert(ed) City: A Climate-Archaeological Case Study From Sudan
Jonas Berking, Janina Körper, Sebastian Wagner, Ulrich Cubasch, and Brigitta Schütt 163
Section IV: Europe
The Influence of Transgressive Paleogeography on the Development and Decline of Cardium Pottery Culture (Mediterranean Neolithic)
A. Amorosi and A. Morelli 171
A Dynamic Human Socioecology of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Ulster
Tina Thurston and Gill Plunkett 177
Section V: New Approaches and Discussions
Influences of Active Tectonism on Human Development: A Review and Neolithic Example
Eric R. Force and Bruce G. McFadgen 195
Irragric Anthrosols - Artifacts of Human Adaptation to Arid Conditions: Examples From the High Himalaya and the Coastal Desert of Peru
J. Baade 203
Hunter-Gatherers, Agriculturalists, and Climate: Insights From a Cross-Disciplinary Review
Daniel M. Cadzow 209
AGU Category Index 217
Index 219
