Climates, Landscapes, and Civilizations

About this book

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.

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

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