American Geophysical Union Chapman Conference

Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

21 - 25 March 2011

Climates, Past Landscapes and Civilizations

AGU Chapman Conference on Climates,Past Landscapes and Civilizations

Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA21 - 25 March 2011

Conveners

Peter Clift, University of Aberdeen, UKDorian Fuller, University College LondonLiviu Giosan,Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, USARowan Flad, Harvard University, USASam VanLaningham, University of Alaska, FairbanksJim Aimers, Statue University of New York, Geneseo

Program Committee

Raymond Bradley, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USAZhongyuan Chen, East China Normal University, ShanghaiJohn Day, Louisiana State University, USAG. Mathias Kondolf, University of California, Berkeley, USAPeter DeMenocal, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, USAMark Macklin, Aberystwyth University, UKDavid Montgomery, University of Washington, USAMichael Staubwasser, University of Cologne, Germany

Co-Sponsors

Financial Support

The conference organizers acknowledge the generous support of the followingorganizations:

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AGU Chapman Conference on Climates,Past Landscapes and Civilizations

Meeting At A Glance Monday, 21 March 20111830h – 2230h Welcome Reception

Tuesday, 22 March 20110830h – 0845h Welcome and Introduction0845h – 1015h Climate-Environmental-Societal Interactions – Global Perspective I1015h – 1100h Open Post Session and Refreshment Break 1100h – 1215h Climate-Environmental-Societal Interactions – Global Perspective II1215h – 1345h Lunch on your own1345h – 1515h Africa1515h – 1545h Europe and the North Atlantic I1545h – 1645h Open Poster Session and Refreshment Break 1645h – 1745h Europe and the North Atlantic II1745h – 1815h Discussion I

Wednesday, 23 March 20110830h – 0945h Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean0945h – 1030h East Asia I1030h – 1130h Open Poster Session and Refreshment Break1130h – 1245h East Asia II1245h – 1415h Lunch on your own1415h – 1530h South Asia1530h – 1630h Open Poster Session and Refreshment Break1630h – 1800h South Asia II1800h – 1830h Discussion II1630h – 2100h Conference Dinner

Thursday, 24 March 20110800h – 1600h Field Trip – Bandelier National Monument

Lunch is provided

Friday, 25 March 20110830h – 0915h Australasia-Pacific 0915h – 1000h South and Central America I 1000h – 11:00h Open Poster Session and Refreshment Break1100h – 1230h South and Central America II1230h – 1400h Lunch on your own1400h – 1445h Western North America1445h – 1615h Working Group1615h – 1645h Open Poster Session and Refreshment1645h – 1745h Working Group Overviews1745h – 1830h Discussion III

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MONDAY, 21 MARCH

1830h – 2030h Welcome Reception

TUESDAY, 22 MARCH

0830h – 0845h Welcome and Introduction

Climate-Environmental-Societal Interactions - GlobalPerspective IPresiding: Sanjeev Gupta, Rowan K. FladSunset Room

0845h – 0930h William F. Ruddiman | Late Holocene CO2 And CH4 Increases: Natural OrAnthropogenic? (INVITED)

0930h – 0945h Davis A. Basil | Can climate change explain the spread of farming duringthe Neolithic revolution?

0945h – 1000h G M. Kondolf | Sediment Yield Increases/Decreases from Direct HumanAction and Climate Change

1000h – 1015h Kevin Anchukaitis | Synchronous megadrought in Asia and North Americaduring the last millennium

1015h – 1100h Open Poster Session and Refreshment Break IPavilion

P-1 Angela S. Jayko | Holocene paleoenvironments and transient indigenousoccupation sites in the Owens River watershed, SW Great Basin

P-2 Jeff Jorgensen | Getting into shape: a simple, rapid, and low-cost methodto identify Pacific salmonid (Oncorhynchus spp.) vertebrae to species

P-3 Thomas Raab | Reconstructing past landscapes – The use of modern open-cast lignite mining

P-4 Frank Kiwalabye | Vulnerability and Effects of Climate change to olderpeople in Africa

P-5 Brian M. Fagan | “The Great Warming: An Archaeologist looks at ancientclimate change, or: The STory of the Silent Elephant in the Room

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SCIENTIFIC PROGRAM

P-6 Amy E. Draut | Climate variation, landscape cover, and aeolian sandmobility on the Navajo Nation, southwestern U.S

P-7 Lincoln Steinberger | Recent human interaction with environment in atropical rainforest mosaic, North Queensland, Australia

P-8 Hideaki Maemoku | Was the Ghaggar River Mighty Saraswati duringMature Harappan Period?

P-9 Takahiro Miyauchi | Late Holocene geomorphic coastal changes affectingthe mutation of bay-facing Harappan sites of the Indus civilization,Gujarat, India

P-10 Germain Bayon | Intensified weathering and anthropogenic deforestationin Iron Age central Africa

P-11 Emma Gatti | Hydrological response to the Toba super-volcano ash falloutin the Middle Son Valley, Western India: palaeo-environmental andarchaeological implications

P-12 Yama Dixit | Holocene Palaeoclimate History of the Plains of NW IndiaInferred from Palaeo-Lake Riwasa

P-13 Dengke Hu | Variation in Holocene East Asian Monsoon StrengthReflected by Deep Sea Sediment in the South China Sea

P-14 Jaime L. Bach | Use of Maritime History to Assess Local Perceptions andReactions to Climate Change on the Island of Tabiteuea Maiaki

P-15 Jago Cooper | Living with Extreme Weather in a Stable Climate: A long-term perspective on human-climate relationships in the Caribbean

P-16 Tom Vanwalleghem | Interpreting climatic and anthropogenic effects onsoils and sediments: coupling soil formation and soil erosion

P-17 Amy E. Hessl | Fire, Land Use and Climate Change in Central MongoliaDuring the Last 400 Years

P-18 Gail L. Chmura | The Human Trigger for Development of Tree Islands inthe Florida Everglades

P-19 Max B. Berkelhammer | Indian Monsoon failure during the 4.2k Event

P-20 Elaine Matthews | Non-climatic controls on malaria: A historical study ofthe US, Italy and Sri Lanka

P-21 Hugo A. Loaiciga | Climate variability, people, water, and energy: fromMayan to solar-thermal desalination of seawater

P-22 Janina Körper | Application of paleoclimatic simulations in ageoarchaeological framework – two case studies along the Nile

P-23 Emilie Gauthier | From first Caribou to Norse sheep: impact of grazing insouth Greenland

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P-24 Pavla Zackova | MACROFOSSIL EVIDENCE OF HUMAN IMPACT ONVEGETATION DURING THE LATE GLACIAL-HOLOCENE FROMEXTINCT LAKE ŠVARCENBERK, SOUTHERN BOHEMIA, CZECHREPUBLIC

P-25 Aurel Persoiu | A Holocene Perspective On Interactions Between SocialAnd Environmental Processes In NW Romania, Central Europe

P-26 Tim Beach | Perennial Wetlands of the Ancient Maya: Testing Models ofHuman-Nature Interactions

P-27 Emilie Gauthier | ULTIMAGRI Project: from pristine to anthropogenicGreenland landscape

P-28 Neil Pederson | Neither New York City nor Atlanta are Prepared for aReturn to Historical Drought

P-29 Michael Staubwasser | Holocene Indus Drought Cycles, the 4.2 ka Event inAsia, and the Search for a Mechanism

P-30 Liviu Giosan | From the Blue Danube to the Black Sea: Climate-Landscape-Human Interactions in the Lower Danube Basin

P-31 Nivedita Mehrotra | Holocene vegetation – climate and evidence of earlyRice cultivation in Southern Tripura, India based on Palynological analysis

P-32 Jun’ichi Okuno | The role of hydro-isostasy for Holocene sea-level changesand coastal evolution in the southern Indus region, Gujarat, India

P-33 Barry V. Rolett | Holocene Sea-level Change and Neolithic CulturalResponse in Southeast China

P-34 Charly Massa | Quantification of medieval and modern human drivenerosion due to agriculture on a south Greenland lake system

P-35 Ravindra N. Singh | Humans, environment and the decline of the IndusCivilisation:Investigating relationships between Land, Water andSettlement on the plains of NW India

P-36 Allen M. Gontz | The preservation of New England paleo-landscapes –links to past societies and sea-level change

P-37 Jussi Baade | Irragric anthrosols: artifacts of human adjustment to aridconditions – Examples from the Tibetan Himalaya and the coastal desertof Peru

P-38 David Rhode | Climate and its Effects on Small-Scale Societies in theBonneville Basin, western North America

P-39 Edwin R. Hajic | Geology and Geoarchaeology of the Baodun CulturePaleolandscape, Sichuan Province, China

P-40 Sam VanLaningham | Holocene Indus River Pathways Inferred from NdIsotopes and the relationship between the Fluvial Landscape and theHarappans

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P-41 Lu Liu | Analyzing Past Drought and Predicting Future Drought withComprehensive Drought Indices for Arkansas-Red River Basin

P-42 Daniel Cadzow | Hunter-Gatherers, Horticulturalists, and Climate?

P-43 Gay Jane Perez | The Changing Philippine Land Cover and Climate asObserved from Space

P-44 Amy Prendergast | A palaeoclimatic framework for the Late Pleistoceneand Early Holocene occupation of North Africa

P-45 Christopher T. Simmons | Investigating the role of changes in themeridional overturning circulation on the Holocene carbon cycle andclimate-vegetation dynamics

P-46 Nao Miyake | Vegetation changes since the middle Holocene around LakeRara, western Nepal

P-47 Irina P. Panyushkina | Climate and Siberian Scythians: Tree-ring evidenceof summer temperature variability linked to nomadic resources

P-48 Yemane Asmerom | Holocene climate variability and cultural modalities inthe southwestern USA

Climate-Environmental-Societal Interactions - GlobalPerspective IIPresiding: Sanjeev Gupta, Rowan K. FladSunset Room

1100h – 1145h Brian M. Fagan | The Great Warming: An Archaeologist Looks at ClimateChange, or the Story of the Silent Elephant in the Room (INVITED)

1145h – 1200h J Robert Gibson | The potential Impact of paleoclimatology andarcheology on mankind’s willingness to make sacrifices to mitigate futureclimate change

1200h – 1215h Carsten Lemmen | Are Holocene climate events irrelevant for, or are theytriggers of the Neolithic transition?

1215h – 1345h Lunch

AfricaPresiding: Tina L. Thurston, Jim AimersSunset Room

1345h – 1400h Stefan Kröpelin | High-resolution evidence of Holocene climate change inthe Sahara and correlation to human-environment interaction

1400h – 1415h Kathleen Nicoll | A New Synthesis of Records of QuaternaryPalaeoenviromental Change and Geoarchaeology in the NE Sahara

1415h – 1430h Mark G. Macklin | When the Nile ran dry: rethinking people river-environment interactions in Sudanese Nubia 5000 BC – AD 500

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1430h – 1515h Peter B. deMenocal | What caused the mid-Pliocene aridification of Africa?(INVITED)

Europe and the North Atlantic IPresiding: Liviu Giosan, David MontgomerySunset Room

1515h – 1530h Daniel Veres | A Six Thousand Year Geochemical Record of AtmosphericMetal Deposition in an Ice Core from Scarisoara Cave, Apuseni Mountains,Romania

1530h – 1545h Manuela Schlummer | Human Induced Hillslope Sediment Storages inCentral Europe

1545h – 1645h Open Poster Session and Refreshment Break II

Europe and the North Atlantic IIPresiding: Liviu Giosan, David MontgomerySunset Room

1645h – 1700h Thomas A. Raab | Mining as a factor of prehistoric and historic landscapeschange in Central Europe

1700h – 1715h Tina L. Thurston | The Political Ecology of Iron Age, Medieval and EarlyModern Ulster, Northern Ireland

1715h – 1730h Bianca B. Perren | Agriculture and climate from the Norse landnám to thepresent: the biological response to human activities at Igaliku, SouthGreenland

1730h – 1745h Paul Aharon | Rainfall Variability and the Rise and Fall of theMississippian Chiefdoms: Evidence from DeSoto Caverns (Alabama, USA)coeval stalagmites

1745h – 1815h Discussion I

WEDNESDAY, 23 MARCH

Middle East and Eastern MediterraneanPresiding: Michael Staubwasser, Raymond BradleySunset Room

0830h – 0915h Harvey Weiss | Quantifying Collapse: Abrupt Climate Change, RegionalAbandonments, Habitat-Tracking, and the Humean Counterfactual(INVITED)

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0915h – 0930h Mark R. Besonen | Increasing Evidence for a Pronounced, Mid-1stMillennium A.D. Desiccation Event in the Eastern Mediterranean

0930h – 0945h Simone Riehl | Mid-late Holocene agricultural system transformations inthe northern Fertile Crescent: archaeobotanical, geoarchaeological andphilological evidence

East Asia IPresiding: Sam VanLaningham, Harvey WeissSunset Room

0945h – 1000h Dorian Q. Fuller | When did climate changes encourage rice agriculture,and when did rice agriculture encourage climate change?

1000h – 1015h Brendan M. Buckley | The Societal Impact of Southeast AsianHydroclimate Variability Over the Past Millennium

1015h – 1030h Zhongyuan Chen | Neolithic and delta of China

1030h – 1130h Open Poster Session and Refreshment Break III

East Asia IIPresiding: Harvey Weiss, Sam VanLaninghamSunset Room

1130h – 1215h Robert L. Bettinger | Climate and Human Behavioral Change: The Last100,000 Years in the Loess Plateau of North China (INVITED)

1215h – 1230h Bing Hong | Chinese Civilization and Climate Change

1230h – 1245h Suzanne A. Leroy | Climatic and sea level changes in the south and middlebasins of Caspian Sea at 4 cal. ka BP

1245h – 1415h Lunch

South AsiaPresiding: Peter Clift, Emma GattiSunset Room

1415h – 1430h Cameron Petrie | Humans, environment and the decline of the IndusCivilisation: investigating relationships between Land, Water andSettlement on the plains of NW India

1430h – 1445h Liviu Giosan | Landscape Dynamics in the Indus Basin: From Harappa tothe Flood of 2010

1445h – 1500h Richard H. Meadow | The 4.2kya Abrupt Climatic Event and the IndusCivilization

1500h – 1515h Sanjeev Gupta | Large-scale river channel shifts on the western Indo-Gangetic Plains: Implications for Harappan civilisation

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1515h – 1530h Toshiki Osada | “Environmental change and the Indus civilization”: areport on the major outcome of our RIHN project (2007-2011)

1530h – 1630h Open Poster Session and Refreshment Break IV

South Asia IIPresiding: Suzanne A. Leroy, Ravindra N. SinghSunset Room

1630h – 1715h John W. Day | Post-Glacial Coastal Margin Productivity and the Emergenceof Complex Societies (INVITED)

1715h – 1730h Rita P. Wright | Human Geography and the Impact of Climate Change inthe Upper Indus Valley: Convergent Data from Stable Isotopes, CORONAImagery, and the Paleobotanical Record

1730h – 1745h Atsunori Nakamura | Mid-Late Holocene Asian monsoon reconstructionusing a sediment core obtained from Lake Rara, western Nepal

1745h – 1800h Peter Clift | Evolving Holocene Drainage Geometries and EnvironmentalConditions in the Indus River Basin

1800h – 1830h Discussion II

1830h – 2100h Conference Banquet Dinner

THURSDAY, 24 MARCH

0800h – 1600h Bandelier National Monument

FRIDAY, 25 MARCH

Australasia-PacificPresiding: Zhongyuan Chen, Peter B. deMenocalSunset Room

0830h – 0845h Yair Rosenthal | Controls on hydrologic variability in the Indo-Pacificregion during the past two millennia

0845h – 0900h Patrick T. Moss | Historical and Pre-Historic Human EnvironmentalImpacts on the Sub-Tropics of eastern Australia

0900h – 0915h Sean Ulm | Naïve Island Landscapes: People and Environmental Change inthe South Wellesley Archipelago, Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia

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South and Central America IPresiding: Dorian Q. Fuller, J Robert GibsonSunset Room

0915h – 0930h Francis J. Magilligan | Sensitivity of floodplains and cultural systems toextreme events: agrarian strategies, adaptation, and geomorphic responsesto El Niño floods in the Peruvian Atacama Desert

0930h – 0945h C. Fred T. Andrus | Upwelling, productivity, and fish regime shift related tocoastal Andean civilization

0945h – 1000h David W. Stahle | Mesoamerican Dendroclimatology

1000h – 1100h Open Poster Session and Refreshment Break V

South and Central America IIPresiding: Dorian Q. Fuller, J Robert GibsonSunset Room

1100h – 1145h Jed O. Kaplan | On the Sensitivity of the Global Terrestrial Biosphere toHuman-Induced Soil Degradation Over the Holocene, with Implicationsfor Sustainability and Societal Change

1145h – 1200h Jim Aimers | Drought and the Ancient Maya Collapse

1200h – 1215h Elizabeth Rushton | Palynological evidence for climatic shifts and changesin landscape at the Mayan city of Lamanai, Belize, ca. 1500 BC to AD 1500

1215h – 1230h Matthew S. Lachniet | Climate of Central Mexico since the rise of theAztecs: testing climate hypotheses for famine and disease epidemics

1230h – 1400h Lunch

Western North AmericaPresiding: Amy E. Draut, G M. KondolfSunset Room

1400h – 1415h Victor J. Polyak | Paleoamerican climate in southwestern North America

1415h – 1430h David M. Rubin | Differences In Human/Landscape/Climate InteractionsIn Grand Canyon 1-2 Millennia Ago And The Present

1430h – 1445h Mark Boslough | Impact did not Cause Climate Change, Extinction, orClovis Termination at 12.9 ka

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1445h – 1615h Working Group

1615h – 1645h Open Poster Session and Refreshment Break VI

1645h – 1745h Working Group Overviews

1745h – 1830h Discussion III

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Aharon, PaulRainfall Variability and the Rise and Fall of theMississippian Chiefdoms: Evidence from DeSotoCaverns (Alabama, USA) coeval stalagmitesAharon, Paul1; Dhungana, Rajesh2; Aldridge, David E.3;Lambert, Joe W.4; Phillips, Joseph H.5

1. Geological Sciences, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa,AL, USA

2. University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA3. University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA4. University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA5. University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

Archeological records from the southeast USA attest tothe rise and growth of the Mississippian chiefdoms betweenAD 800-1000 and their decline between AD 1450-1577.Ceremonial mounds, the most characteristic artifacts of thechiefdoms, ceased by the end of the 16th century. Thefactors that promoted the emergence and abrupt decline ofthe Mississippian polities continue to be a subject of heateddebate among researchers. Warfare, resource depletion andepidemic diseases brought by the European expeditions arethe most prominent factors invoked. The hypothesis thatclimate change may have impacted the history of thechiefdoms has so far received little attention because of thescarcity of contemporaneous local and regional paleoclimaterecords. Here we report newly acquired proxy climate recordsarchived in three coeval stalagmites from DeSoto (Kymulga)Caverns in Alabama and address the question of whetherclimate variability may have been implicated in the rise anddemise of the Mississippian polities. Oxygen and carbonisotope records, absolutely dated by the 230Th radiometricmethod, offer biennially resolved time series of the past twomillennia. Monitoring studies of the DeSoto caveenvironment and concurrent deposition of aragonitestalagmites have established that inter-annual rainfallvariability is the dominant factor controlling the observedstable isotope phase transitions. Power spectra analysis ofthe data offers compelling evidence that decadal (24 and 36yrs) and centennial (~200 and ~640 yrs) periodicities inrainfall variability were persistent in the southeastern USAover the past two millennia. Evaluation of coherency andphase between solar variability recorded by atmosphericradiocarbon in tree-rings and the wet/dry intervals archivedin the stalagmites suggests a cause and effect relationship.The following lines of evidence argue that wet/drytransitions were likely to impact the evolution of theMississippian societies: (i) The time of emergence andgrowth of the Mississippian chiefdoms and theiragricultural transition to a dependency on corn, a warm andwet weather crop, coincide with a period of increased annualrainfall amount from a 44% below to a 15% above presentvalue over the AD 500-1000 interval; (ii) A sharp drop ofabout 37% below present level in rainfall occurred between

AD 1000-1200 followed by a brief rainfall recovery to presentlevels at AD 1300; (iii) Abandoned villages and downstreammovement of populations that occurred long before theDeSoto Expedition from AD 1539-1542 werecontemporaneous with the documented decline in rainfalland enhanced drought conditions after AD 1300 thatculminated at around AD 1650. Thus wetter conditions thanpresent may have promoted corn agriculture during thegrowth of the chiefdoms whereas food shortages, caused byfailed corn crops under sever drought conditions, may haveplayed a much greater role in the demise of theMississippian chiefdoms than previously recognized.

Aimers, JimDrought and the Ancient Maya CollapseAimers, Jim1

1. Anthropology, SUNY Geneseo, Geneseo, NY, USA

For nearly a century, hypotheses about the causes of thelowland Maya collapse of the ninth century A.D. havereflected contemporary concerns. Recently a number ofenvironmental scientists and archaeologists have evokedclimate change and drought to explain the Maya collapseand a number of other periods of decline or abandonment inMaya history. In this paper I argue that many of thearguments about drought and collapse simplify ormisrepresent the archaeological data, or rely on outdatedarchaeological research on the Maya. Closer collaborationbetween physical scientists and archaeologists is needed tobetter align the climate data with current archaeologicalevidence.

Anchukaitis, KevinSynchronous megadrought in Asia and NorthAmerica during the last millenniumAnchukaitis, Kevin1; Buckley, Brendan1; Cook, Edward1;Tierney, Jessica1; Jungclaus, Johann2; D’Arrigo, Rosanne1;Ammann, Caspar3

1. Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, ColumbiaUniversity, New York, NY, USA

2. Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg,Germany

3. National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO,USA

We investigate persistent multidecadal droughtsidentified from tree-ring records from Asia and NorthAmerica since the Medieval epoch. Severe drought in themiddle of the 14th century in Vietnam, India, and Chinaoccurred at the same time as drought conditions in NorthAmerica and anomalously wet periods in eastern tropicalAfrica. We use these proxy paleoclimate records to findanalog simulated conditions within a multimodel ensemble

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ABSTRACTSlisted by name of presenter

of millennial-length forced atmosphere-ocean generalcirculation models. The best model analogs are associatedwith warm tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures, a colderIndo-Pacific warm pool, the warm phase of Pacific decadalvariability, and a colder North Atlantic and southern ocean.We compare these simulated broad-scale anomalies withexisting high resolution marine proxy records. Possiblechanges in atmosphere and ocean circulation collectivelyassociated with large-scale, severe and persistent monsoondrought are diagnosed, as are differences between modelanalogs identified under natural and anthropogenic forcingregimes.

Andrus, C. Fred T.Upwelling, productivity, and fish regime shiftrelated to coastal Andean civilizationAndrus, C. Fred T.1; Etayo-Cadavid, Miguel F.1; Sandweiss,Daniel H.2; Reitz, Elizabeth J.3; Hodgins, Gregory W.4; Jones,Kevin B.5

1. Department of Geological Sciences, University ofAlabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

2. Climate Change Institute/Department of Anthropology,University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA

3. Department of Anthropology/Museum of NaturalHistory, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA

4. NSF-Arizona Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Laboratory,University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

5. United States Geological Survey, Reston, VA, USA

Multiple proxies suggest that significant changes in ElNiño-southern oscillation (ENSO) occurred during the timeof the Moche civilization along the North Coast of what isnow Peru. It has been hypothesized that this ENSOvariability contributed to political upheaval in the 6th - 8thcenturies. New molluscan radiocarbon reservoir age datasuggest there may have been variable and diminished coastalupwelling during at least part of this time. Upwelling drivesmuch of the marine productivity in this region, and marineresources were a foundation of Andean coastal economies. Itis therefore tempting to argue that in addition to the otherchallenges presented by variable El Niño frequency, intensity,and duration, critical marine resources periodically becamescarce for the Moche. However the impact of any suchchange may have been more complex than simple loss ofresources. Unlike many other regions where long-termintense fishing pressure has resulted in changes to the age,growth, and trophic structure of fish populations, there islittle evidence for overfishing in coastal Peru until historicaltimes. It does not appear that the carrying capacity of thelocal marine ecosystems was met, even considering therelatively high coastal human population densities duringthis time. However, regime shift (e.g. anchovy versus sardinedominance) has been documented in both modern andancient Peruvian fisheries. Such shifts can result from ENSOvariability and the consequences of these shifts would havebeen felt by those who depended on fish as a protein source.Assessing such a regime shift may be challenging in complexurban archaeological sites such as are common with the

Moche. This is due to a variety of factors ranging fromtaphonomic loss of small zooarchaeological remains totrophic level preferences among different status groups inthese sites. However investigation into the potential impactsof climate change to fisheries may give useful insight intothe economic and political challenges faced by the Moche.

Asmerom, YemaneHolocene climate variability and culturalmodalities in the southwestern USAAsmerom, Yemane1; Polyak, Victor J.1

1. University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA

The Americas, as the most recent sites of humanoccupation and cultural development, offer a special naturallaboratory to study the interaction of climate and culture.This is particularly true for the Southwestern United Stateswhere there have been over a century long cultural andanthropological studies coupled with broad climatic andenvironmental investigations. Recent results from high-resolution speleothem-based climate studies of the Holoceneprovide unique opportunity to look at the question afresh.Although Holocene climate variability has not been asdramatic as that we (Asmerom et al, 2010) and others (Wagner et al., 2010) have reported during the last glacial, itwas nevertheless significant. Coming out of the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, we reported a prolonged wet period,about 1000 years past the end of the Younger Dryas. Ourisotopic and speleothem growth and gray scale data showthat this was followed by a very arid period during the earlyHolocene. The early to middle Holocene was particularlyarid than any other time during the Holocene. There was anoteable shift towards wetter conditions in the lateHolocene, starting around 4000 years ago. Climate over thelate Holocene, although wetter, was more variable comparedto the rest of the Holocene, in which overall wetterconditions are punctuated by arid episodes. Holoceneclimate variability can be attributed to changes in insolationat the millennial scale, solar at the centennial to multi-decadal scale and variability in the PDO phase and changesin the strength and modalities of ENSO. The interplaybetween PDO and ENSO is particularly noteworthy. Forexample, decadal scale arid phases, such as the drought ofthe 1950s are characterized by the coincidence of thenegative PDO phase and La Nina phase of ENSO. Althoughit is difficult to attribute causality, the coincidence betweenclimate transitions and changes in cultural modalities isimpressive. The transition to hyper-arid conditions duringthe later part of the early Holocene coincides with changesfrom big game hunters to hunter gatherer subsistence. Thechange to agricultural communal life occurred during thetransition to wetter conditions around 4000 years ago. Inshorter time-scales, we show that pueblo cultural stagescoincide with rapid changes in climate, the abandonment ofdwellings, such as Chaco Canyon being a dramatic exampleof that.

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Baade, JussiIrragric anthrosols: artifacts of human adjustmentto arid conditions – Examples from the TibetanHimalaya and the coastal desert of PeruBaade, Jussi1

1. DEpartment of Geography, Friedrich-Schiller-University,Jena, Germany

In semi-arid to arid regions irrigation agriculturerepresents a creative human adjustment to theenvironmental conditions. Using additional ground- orsurface water sources enables societies to establish arablefarming systems in otherwise hostile environments and gaina measure of adaptability against climatic fluctuations.When surface water is used for irrigation the diversion ofwater and suspended sediment to the fields results in thedevelopment of irragric anthrosols (ATir). Often thesesediments content other artifacts like charcoal and potteryfragments which can be used for age determination.Surprisingly, publications where irragric anthrosols havebeen used to determine the onset of irrigation agriculture ina specific region are difficult to find. A search in GoogleScholar returned only 20 hits. The scarcity of reports onirragric anthrosols is most probably due to the novelty of theterm in the global soil description system, where irragricanthrosols where introduced with reference to a soil surveyin Yemen from 1983. A re-analysis of soil profiles from otherareas where stream discharge is used for irrigation, willprobably reveal that this soil type is much more abundantthan presently perceived. Here we present the results ofinvestigations of irrigation terraces in the Tibetan Himalayaand in the coastal desert of southern Peru. Theinvestigations in the Tibetan Himalaya focused on the upperKali Gandaki valley (2,500 m to 4,000 m asl.), Mustang,Nepal. The region is characterized by a mixture ofoperational and abandoned irrigation terraces. Dating of theup to 4 m thick irragric anthrosols showed that irrigationand arable farming started here ca. 2,500 cal. BP. Thepersistence of irrigation agriculture over more than twomillennia demonstrates the robustness and sustainability ofthis technique at the edge of the Tibetan Plateau. Themixture of operational and abandoned terraces indicatesthat processes of regional or global extent, like climatechange, might not be accountable for the abandonment ofspecific sites. Geomorphologic analysis of the conditions ofabandoned sites revealed that debris flows, deep seated massmovements and Holocene river incision disrupting feedercanals can explain the abandonment of specific sites. In thehyper-arid coastal desert of southern Peru irragricanthrosols cover an area of ca. 14.000 ha at the foot of theAndes in the catchment of the Rio Grande de Nasca. Basalages of the up to 3,8 m thick anthrosols in the Palpa Valleyindicate a start of irrigation agriculture around 3.500 yearsago and a more or less continuous expansion of theirrigation system to its present extent. The sedimentaryrecord provides evidence for erosion and sedimentationduring extreme runoff events, but there is no indication ofwidespread abandonment of irrigated fields related to the

cultural changes documented for this area. Comparing thesedimentation rates of irragric anthrosols at these twocontrasting sites reveals minimum long term rates of 0.3 and2.0 mm a-1, and maximum rates of 3.0 and 36.0 mm a-1 forthe Peruvian and the Tibetan site, respectively. In this paperthese findings will be compared to published results fromother sites.

Bach, Jaime L.Use of Maritime History to Assess LocalPerceptions and Reactions to Climate Change onthe Island of Tabiteuea MaiakiBach, Jaime L.1

1. Anthropology, University of Montana, Missoula, MT,USA

As vulnerable areas of the world face the effects of globalclimatic change, local inhabitants perceive of and react tothose changes in relation to their previous understanding oftheir environment. In a society with limited writtendocumentation, other sources must be relied upon in orderto compare current situations to past realities. On the islandof Tabiteuea Maiaki, within the Pacific island-nation of theRepublic of Kiribati, the maritime history of the localculture can be examined as a source of information toexpose the contrasts between past and present, through theanalytical use of the archaeological record, historicalartifacts, and oral traditions. Through the implementationof a three-month pilot study conducted during 2010,preliminary results can be deduced regarding the localperceptions of and reactions to climate change on the islandof Tabiteuea Maiaki. Local perceptions, derived from theprevious uses of their atoll environment and narratives pastdown from their ancestors, were compared to currentobservations in order to show the changing variables towhich the islanders are reacting with traditional strategiesand innovative techniques.

Basil, Davis A.Can climate change explain the spread of farmingduring the Neolithic revolution?Basil, Davis A.1; Kaplan, Jed O.1; Mauri, Achille1

1. ARVE Group, ENAC, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland

It has been proposed that the development and spreadof settled agriculture from the Middle East to the north andwest of Europe during the early and middle part of theHolocene was influenced by climate change. This can beconsidered in terms of either a ‘push’ from a deterioratingclimate in the source regions, or the ‘pull’ of an improvingclimate in destination regions. We investigate this climatechange hypothesis using a new updated version of the Daviset al. (2003) pollen-based reconstruction of Holoceneclimate. This new dataset includes over 20% more sites fromacross Europe, with particular improvements in datacoverage for Central Europe. Climate derived from over 800pollen sites was assimilated onto a uniform spatial grid andtime-step based on a 4-dimensional interpolation technique

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composed of 3-dimensional space plus time. This methodretains temporal fidelity by focusing the reconstruction ontoa particular time-step, helping to avoid the temporalblurring of the ‘time-slice’ approach. Dating control isprovided by over 5000 radiocarbon dates, together withother independent chronological controls such aslaminations and tephra. The changing suitability of theclimate for various crops has been mapped to provide ameasure of agricultural potential during the Holocene forthe European region. We then compare these maps with thearchaeological and pollen-based record of agriculturaldevelopment.

http://arve.epfl.ch/

Bayon, GermainIntensified weathering and anthropogenicdeforestation in Iron Age central AfricaBayon, Germain1; Dennielou, Bernard1; Etoubleau, Joel1;Ponzevera, Emmanuel1

1. Department Geosciences Marines, IFREMER, Plouzane,France

The rainforest in central Africa experienced a majorcrisis in the third millennium before present. Between about2800 and 2200 cal yr BP, mature evergreen trees wereabruptly replaced by savannas and other pioneer formations.This event is well-documented in numerous palynologicaland geochemical records from lake sediments in Cameroon,Congo and Gabon. The general consensus is that the forestdisturbance was caused by a regional climate change. Butthere is also evidence for human activities in the CentralAfrican rainforest during the third millennium BP. Inparticular, the major episode of forest clearance wascontemporaneous with the Bantu expansion, one of themost significant migration and cultural transformation inhuman history. At that period, the migration of Bantu-speaking agriculturalists originated from near the modernNigeria-Cameroon border led to diffusion of novelagricultural practices and iron smelting technology acrosssub-Saharan Africa. Although the generally accepted view isthat the onset of dryer conditions in the second half of thethird millennium BP established a favorable environment forthe settlement of Bantu farmers across Central Africa,archeological evidence, such as the widespread occurrence ofburied charcoal at sites dating back to the early Iron Age,suggest that human may have had an environmental impacton the forest at that period. Whether the Bantu farmersplayed an active role in the Central African rainforest crisishence remains an open question. In this study, we presentgeochemical records (core scanner XRF elemental profiles,Nd and Hf isotopes) from two marine sediment coresrecovered off the Congo River, that permit thereconstruction of chemical weathering intensity in centralAfrica for the last 40,000 years. The data indicate a pulse ofintensified weathering centered around 2500 years ago,contemporaneous with the rainforest crisis. Evidence thatthis weathering event departs significantly from the long-term weathering fluctuations related to the Late Quaternary

climate suggests that it was not triggered by natural climaticfactors solely. Instead, we propose that the migration ofBantu-speaking agriculturalists across sub-Equatorial Africaat that time had a more pronounced environmental impactthan initially thought.

Beach, TimPerennial Wetlands of the Ancient Maya: TestingModels of Human-Nature InteractionsBeach, Tim1; Luzzadder-Beach, Sheryl2

1. STIA, Georgetown Univ, Washington, DC, USA2. Geography and Geoinformation Science, George Mason

University, Fairfax, VA, USA

Geoarchaeological research in the wetlands of northernBelize from 2000 to 2009 revealed two new models of soilformation and Maya wetland agriculture as adaptations tolandscape inundation and aggradation in the Archaicthrough Post Classic. Based on a widespread paleosolsequence formed through the Mid Holocene above theperennial water-table, the Maya were farming this landscapeas early as 4500 BP in the Archaic Period and into the MayaPreclassic (3000-1700 BP). The water table began to inundatethese paleosols by 2500 BP, gradually submerging andburying the paleosol with Histosol layers, erosion-inducedsediments, flood alluvium, and gypsum precipitated fromsulfate- and calcium-saturated water. We present twoconceptual models of landscape evolution based on scores ofexcavations with multiple lines of evidence. These modelsshow that the ancient Maya responded to environmentalchange in both piecemeal and preplanned, large-scale effortsto build 900-meter-long ditches to carve out new land foragricultural uses during the Classic Period (c. 1700-1100 BP).We then test these models in two new regions studied in2009-2010 again based on water and soil chemistry and soilmorphology, pollen, phytoliths, macrofossils, and multipleradiocarbon dates. All lines of evidence suggest Mayawetland fields formed by complex natural, environmentalchanges and heterogeneous human adaptations to thesechanges to reclaim the fields for multiple crops and otheruses.

Berkelhammer, Max B.Indian Monsoon failure during the 4.2k EventBerkelhammer, Max B.1, 2; Sinha, Ashish3; Stott, Lowell4;Cheng, Hai5

1. CIRES, Boulder, CO, USA2. Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of

Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA3. Department of Earth Sciences, California State

University, Dominguez Hills, Carson, CA, USA4. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern

California, Los Angeles, CA, USA5. Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of

Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

The 4.2k Event is arguably the largest abrupt climateexcursion to influence the tropics and subtropics during the

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Holocene. Rapid shifts to sustained drought conditionsbetween 4.0 and 4.2k have been clearly noted in records fromacross the Middle East, southeastern Europe, N. Africa,North America and in parts of southern China. There isstrong evidence that climatic changes during this timeplayed an influential role in the near-synchronous collapseor reorganization of a number of major civilizationsincluding the Harrapan and the Old Kingdom of Egypt.Despite the careful documentation of the event, there iscurrently no prevailing hypothesis of its likely climaticorigins. Particularly intriguing in this respect is that itssignature appears confined between the tropics and midlatitudes with no pronounced changes in the high latitudes,implicating a mechanism that both originated and remainednear to the tropics. Here we present continuous 18Omeasurements between 3650 to 7940ka from an absolutely-dated speleothem taken from what is currently the rainiestplace on Earth; Cherrapunji, India. The record provides clearevidence of an extremely rapid shift in Indian SummerMonsoon (ISM) strength between 4059 and 3860ka. Thesampling interval during the excursion is less than 10 yearsand the timing of the onset and termination are bothconstrained by radiometric dates with 30 years uncertainty.The magnitude of ISM changes are substantially larger thananything observed during both the multiple millenniapreceding the event and throughout the most recent 5centuries, based on a second nearby late Holocenespeleothem record. Reasonable constraints on the scale ofISM changes at this time are inferred using both resultsfrom an isotope-enabled GCM simulation and the empirical18O-precipitation amount relationship from this region.We use this new evidence of ISM changes during the 4.2kEvent as a catalyst to discuss whether changes in themonsoon may have been instrumental in propagatingatmospheric anomalies across the tropics and mid-latitudesduring this time. We rely on modern observations andmodeling of the global atmospheric response to weak ISMyears and compare this to the pattern of locations known tohave pronounced 4.2k signatures.

Besonen, Mark R.Increasing Evidence for a Pronounced, Mid-1stMillennium A.D. Desiccation Event in the EasternMediterraneanBesonen, Mark R.1; Rosenmeier, Michael F.2; Curtis, JasonH.3; Weiss, Harvey4; Moody, Jennifer A.5; Magill, Clayton R.6

1. Physical and Environmental Sciences, Texas A&MUniversity - Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, TX, USA

2. Geology and Planetary Science, University of Pittsburgh,Pittsburgh, PA, USA

3. Geological Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL,USA

4. Environmental Studies Program, Yale University, NewHaven, CT, USA

5. Classics, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA6. Geosciences, Pennsylvania State University, University

Park, PA, USA

Lake Kournas, a ~25 m deep lake in western Crete, hasprovided a sedimentological and geochemical record thatdocuments decadal and centennial-scale climate variabilitywithin the Eastern Mediterranean region over the last 6000years. Oxygen isotope values from the Kournas basinsediments indicate generally drier conditions in the mid-Holocene between ~6000 and 1800 B.C. Minimum 18Ovalues, suggesting wetter conditions, occurred between 1800and at least ~1300 B.C. Around A.D. 400, a pronounceddesiccation event, the largest noted at Kournas over thelength of the record, dropped the lake level by at least ~11 m.This event exposed lacustrine deposits, and allowed them tobe downcut leading to a gap in the sediment record atshallower water depths. The timing and magnitude of thisevent is supported by a companion record from the Limnesbasin, a sinkhole depression ~35 km northwest of Kournason the Akrotiri Peninsula. A catastrophic earthquake inwestern Crete in A.D. 365 may also have affected thehydrology of the Kournas and Limnes basins (uplift duringthe earthquake has been estimated at nearly two meters inthe area surrounding the lakes). However, a climaticexplanation is favored here as it coincides with an increasingbody of evidence that demonstrates the existence of thismid-1st millennium desiccation event throughout theEastern Mediterranean region, and perhaps further afield.Additional paleo records which register this event include anunpublished record from Marmara Gölü, a broad, shallowlake in central western Turkey which abruptly lowered, andwent completely dry after the middle of the 5th century A.D.Similarly, Nar Gölü, a crater lake in central Turkey with anannually-laminated sedimentary sequence, provides a stableoxygen isotope record which registers the largest desiccationevent of the last 1700 years toward the end of the 5thcentury A.D. The Nar Gölü record has been linked viateleconnections to both North Atlantic winter climate, andthe Indian Monsoon during summers. Additional evidencefor this aridity event also comes from recent, ultra-highresolution work on a speleothem from Soreq Cave, Israelwhich shows a general period of drying in the Levant regionfrom A.D. 100-700 with strong fluctuations around A.D.

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100, 400, and 500. Overall, this mid-1st millennium A.D.event may not be as wide-spread as other well-knownHolocene abrupt climate change events, but at the local scalefor affected regions, it appears that it might have reached acatastrophic magnitude. Though this event is notspecifically linked with any societal impacts at this point, itdoes generally correspond with the decline and fall of theRoman Empire; thus, it would have applied a strongenvironmental stress to a system already in great flux.

Bettinger, Robert L.Climate and Human Behavioral Change: The Last100,000 Years in the Loess Plateau of North China(INVITED)

Bettinger, Robert L.1

1. Anthropology, University of California - Davis, Davis, CA,USA

While concern over global warming has increasedscientific interest in, and funding for scientific research on,modern climate change and its effect on modern society, itremains that the effect of past climate change on pastsocieties is still poorly understood. Archaeologists havetraditionally invoked climate to explain such revolutionarychanges as the origins of agriculture without demonstratingthe connection between climate change and theenvironmental constraints that are actually limiting thecultural system in question. Sophisticated modeling ofcultural processes, reliable climatic proxies, and high qualityarchaeological data are equally essential in this endeavor.Some of the possibilities, complexities, and challenges inconnecting human behavior and climate change areillustrated in relation to three landmark transitions over thelast 100,000 years in the Loess Plateau of North China: 1,Appearance of anatomically modern humans; 2, Response tothe Last Glacial Maximum; 3, Origins of millet agriculture.

Boslough, MarkImpact did not Cause Climate Change, Extinction,or Clovis Termination at 12.9 kaBoslough, Mark1; Holliday, V.2; Meltzer, D.3; Pinter, N.4;Scott, A. C.5; Surovell, T.6; Claeys, P.7; Gill, J.8; Paquay, F.9;Marlon, J.8; Bartlein, P.10; Whitlock, C.11; Daulton, T.12;Nicoll, K.13; Grayson, D.14

1. Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, USA2. University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA3. Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, USA4. Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, USA5. Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey,

United Kingdom6. University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, USA7. Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium8. University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA9. University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA10.University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, USA11.Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA12.Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA13.University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA14.University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

We present arguments against an extraterrestrial impactas the agent for an abrupt climate change at the 12.9 kaYounger Dryas boundary, terminal Pleistocene extinctions ofN. American megafauna, and the supposed termination ofthe Clovis culture. Our rejection of this hypothesis is basedon multiple independent lines of reasoning and evidence.Physical impossibility: There is no mechanism that cancause a comet to explode at a sufficient altitude forcontinental-scale destruction, and no physical process thatcan sufficiently disperse fragments. Statisticalimpossibility: The a priori probability of the extraordinarily-configured impact swarm is effectively zero. Lack ofphysical model: No physics-based model has been proposedfor the putative impact/airburst that can be subjected toscientific scrutiny. Lack of physical evidence: There are nocraters or unambiguous impact markers of the correct age inN. America. Irreproducibility: Pt-group analyses failed toconfirm the meteoritic signature identified as high Irconcentrations in bulk sediments and in magnetic spherules.There are no peaks in magnetic grains or microspherules insediments corresponding to the claimed event. Hexdiamonds could not be identified. Carbon spherules havemorphologies and internal structures identical to fungalsclerotia, and carbon elongates represent arthropodcoprolites. Archeology: Archaeological, geochronological,and stratigraphic data fail to provide evidence of ademographic collapse of post-Clovis human populationsStratigraphy: There are no regional stratigraphic markerbeds or other indicators of regional geomorphic instabilityat 12.9 ka; black mats are time-transgressive in arid westernN. America. Extinctions: The dung fungal (Sporormiella)proxy for megafaunal presence indicates that somePleistocene megaherbivores declined from 14.6 to 13.7 ka,well before the proposed impact; the chronology ofextinction for over half remains unresolved.

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Paleoclimate/paleoecology: N. American charcoal andpollen records show rapid changes in vegetation and fireregimes, consistent with the climate changes at both thebeginning and end of the Younger Dryas interval. The paleorecords, however, do not show evidence of continental-scalewildfire at any time during the last glacial-interglacialtransition (15 to 10 ka). Premature and continued invocationof an exceedingly rare external agent, without adequateevidence, to explain climate change, extinction, andsupposed human population collapse distracts from oureffort to understand the complex links and cascading effectsof environmental variability on society.

Buckley, Brendan M.The Societal Impact of Southeast AsianHydroclimate Variability Over the Past MillenniumBuckley, Brendan M.1; Bell, Andrew1; Anchukaitis, Kevin1;Cook, Edward1; Fletcher, Roland2; Penny, Dan2; Sano,Masaki3; Wichienkeeo, Aroonrtu4; Leiberman, Victor5;Truong, Mai Hong6; Le Canh, Nam7

1. Tree Ring Laboratory, Lamont-Doherty EarthObservatory, Palisades, NY, USA

2. Greater Angkor Project, University of Sydney, Sydney,NSW, Australia

3. Graduate School of Environmental Studies, NagoyaUniversity, Nagoya, Japan

4. Department of History, Chiang Mai Rajabhat University,Chiang Mai, Thailand

5. Department of History, University of Michigan, AnnArbor, MI, USA

6. Faculty of Forestry, Nong Lam University, Ho Chi MinhCity, Viet Nam

7. Office of International Research, Bidoup Nui BaNational Park, Dalat City, Viet Nam

We have recently produced robust reconstructions ofclimate from Southeast Asian tree rings that span most ofthe past millennium. The longest of these is a nearly 900-year reconstruction of March-May Palmer Drought SeverityIndex (PDSI) from the Vietnamese cypress Fokieniahodginsii from the montane forests of southern Vietnam.The second is a 550-year PDSI reconstruction from northernVietnam at Mu Cang Chai, from the same species and of thesame season. Our third record is a 440-year inferredreconstruction of monsoon season (June-Sept) PDSI fromnorthwestern Thailand teak. These three records revealperiods of episodic drought and pluvials that often lasteddecades and coincided with key periods of social upheavalacross Southeast Asia, in particular the early 15th centuryKhmer demise at Angkor and the late 18th century collapseof all major kingdoms across the region. We are using theserecords to reconstruct flood patterns in the Tonle Sap Basin,and estimate the historical food potential of the largest riceagriculture and fishery system in Indochina. We arecurrently processing collections of Fokienia from Vietnamand Laos that span from 12 to 23 degrees north latitude,and these will allow us to analyze the spatial variability ofhydroclimate over Indochina. Links to ENSO variability and

other dynamical causes are highlighted, particularly ondecadal time scales. We introduce recently translatedhistorical documentation from ancient chronicles of the LanNa, Pagan, Siamese and Dai Viet kingdoms that corroboratekey periods of droughts, famines, floods, disease andpestilence. In several instances, severe climate anomalies weredirectly linked to periods of greatest social turmoil. We alsoapply these climate reconstructions to issues of societalvulnerability in the modern period, in order to buildprobabilistic predictors of drought for use in rurallandscapes. We have demonstrated in simulation that thesepredictors have skill in improving inter-annual crop andfarm-structure choices, and we are developing tools to helpreduce risk-averse behavior by rural smallholders, helping tomove them away from subsistence thresholds and enhancingcommunity resilience. Our research therefore connectspaleoclimate and historical information with present andfuture vulnerability reduction in Southeast Asia through along-term perspective on climate variability, and animproved understanding of coupled human and naturalsystems.

Cadzow, DanielHunter-Gatherers, Horticulturalists, and Climate?Cadzow, Daniel1

1. Anthropology, State University of New York at Buffalo,Buffalo, NY, USA

Can hunter gathers and non-intensive horticulturalistshave significant impacts on large-scale environmentalsystems? If so, what are the impacts, how are they made innon-state level and pre-metallurgical societies, and how farinto that past can they be projected? To answer thesequestions we must also know how human activities relate tothe proxy data used in paleoenvironmental reconstructions.This will require input from many fields. Current research byecologists and resilience theorists challenge many age-oldassumptions about how social- and ecological-systemsinteract. Ethnologists and archaeologists are showing howlong-term aggregations of daily practices of non-intensivehorticulturalists can influence socioecological ecologicalsettings at large scales. These insights call for new andinnovative analyses of ethnohistoric literature and other setsof data for evidence that was overlooked or misinterpretedduring past investigations. This includes evidence of large-scale clearings for settlement and agriculture and broadcastbiomass burning. This research uses data and theory used byarchaeologists, ethnographers, historians, ecologists, andpaleoecologists to build a model that illustrates how StoneAge people can influence environments at scales that havethe potential to affect climate. Those investigating thecarbon cycle, and its role in trapping energy near the earth’ssurface, are finding the terrestrial reservoirs of carbon to besignificant. They are also finding practices like biomassburning to be effective at mobilizing the carbon stored inthese reservoirs. It is therefore possible that humans have forthousands or even tens of thousands of years played asignificant role in redistributing terrestrial reserves ofcarbon thereby influencing the changing climate. This paper

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will describe my proposed dissertation research, whichconsists of the excavation of sediment cores from the vicinityof key sites that are well documented archaeologically andhistorically. The cores will be analyzed for changes in pollen,phytoliths, and charcoal as they relate to documentedchanges in habitation, population sizes, and practices. Thisresearch is necessary because the assumption that humanscaused changes in these proxy data is as tenuous as theassumption that humans had no impact.

Chen, ZhongyuanNeolithic and delta of ChinaChen, Zhongyuan1

1. East China Normal University, Shanghai, China

This paper tends to use geoarchaeological approach todiscuss the kinship of Chinese Neolithic evolution to deltaformation, including the Yangtze (Changjiang), Zhujiang(Pearl) and Yellow (Huanghe) River deltas. The exitingdatabase has revealed numerous Neolithic settlements(>1000) on the Yangtze delta coast, initiating mostly from7000 – 4000 years BP. The established spatial and temporalmigration of the settlements of three major cultural stagesrepresents delta-coast topographic change in response to theHolocene sea-level rise. The gradually stabilized coastlinefrom early to mid-late Holocene provides a habitableselectivity for our ancestors, who had engaged in the ricecultivation since 7000 years ago, the timing of the Holocenedelta initiation. The early sparsely- and loosely-distributed tolate clustered settlements with emergence of highly-sophisticated ancient city and hydro-dykes on the selectedportion of delta coast highlights the significance ofenvironmental control. In comparison, instability of theYellow river channel due to over-siltation and associatedfloodings made most Neolithic settlements inhabitable onthe delta coast, but those on the river-channel terraces withless influence of the Holocene sea level fluctuations. LimitedNeolithic settlements of the Zhujiang delta mostly occurredon the inner estuarine coast, or on the island coast, whichare primarily pre-Quaternary bedrocks exposed in the mid ofestuarine bay. Topographically, these settlements werehabituated at places with 1-2 m higher than the surroundinglowlands. Of note, the Holocene climate warming alsohelped promote the coastal civilization, as represented byrice cultivation and associated cultural development. Theearlier rice cultivation in the Yangtze delta of subtropical-temperate zone than that of the Zhujiang of subtropicalsetting probably meant the differences of monsoonalfunction and food diversity. Virtually, the establishedNeolithic settlement patterns of the Chinese deltas reflectthe regional uniqueness of physical setting. These aredeterminant in controlling the advancement of the ChineseNeolithic civilization on the delta-coast, primarily from low-level agricultural farming to societal sophistication.

Chmura, Gail L.The Human Trigger for Development of TreeIslands in the Florida EvergladesChmura, Gail L.1, 2; Graf, Marie-Theres1, 2

1. Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal,QC, Canada

2. Global Environmental and Climate Change Centre,McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

During the last glacial, the vegetation of South Floridawas arid steppe distributed across a karst landscape. Overthe Holocene rising sea levels caused the water table to rise,eventually creating a landscape with saturated soils and a“river of grass”, i.e., marsh vegetation dominated bysawgrass. The modern Everglades also contains elevatedareas that serve as islands of terrestrial vegetation, manyhigh enough to support trees. The slightly higher elevation(1-2 m) and vegetation diversity of the islands providesrefuge for wildlife avoiding seasonal high waters and theislands are highly valued as hotspots of diversity within theEverglades system. Sediment coring for paleoecologicalstudies indicated that peats of the islands were younger andshallower than those of the surrounding marsh, supportinga widely held belief that the tree islands formed overlocalized high points in the underlying carbonate bedrock.More recent discovery of a hard mineral layer perched withinthe peat soils of many islands reveals that depth to bedrock,and age of islands has been misinterpreted, calling for a newtheory of tree island development. The ~40-75 cm thicklayer, a “pedogenic calcrete” is composed of reprecipitatedcalcium carbonates and calcium phosphates interspersedwith bone, charcoal, and human artefacts. Below is a middenwith cultural artefacts that date to the origin of theEverglades wetland system about 4,000 years ago. It is likelythat early human occupation on the landscape wasresponsible for development of the Everglades large treeislands as well as island stability and productivity. Theelevated surfaces of middens provided refuge for terrestrialvegetation as surrounding soil became saturated. Bones inthe middens provided additional bulk as well asphosphorous for plant growth in the otherwisephosphorous-depleted wetland. These better soil conditionsallowed establishment of trees which were key todevelopment of the perched mineral layer. Trees are knownto play a major role in pedogenic calcrete formation,particularly in areas with pronounced wet and dry seasons,such as the Everglades. Transpiration by the trees drawscarbonate-rich water through the soil and carbonates andphosphates excluded from the roots are deposited within therooting zone. Our research indicates that this processprobably began with establishment of trees on the islandand is an ongoing process. Fire is a regular phenomenon inthe Everglades, resulting in combustion of peat soils.Because it does not burn, the calcrete layer protects theunderlying soil, maintaining elevation and allowingregrowth of terrestrial vegetation. Ironically, it is humandisturbance that now threatens these valuable ecosystems.Urban development has displaced much of the Everglades

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and water control systems threaten the remainder. Thecalcrete layer is subject to dissolution under extendedflooding and if not maintained by tree growth. This is likelyoccurring in South Florida’s water control districts today,where high water levels are maintained and tree islands aredisappearing.

Clift, PeterEvolving Holocene Drainage Geometries andEnvironmental Conditions in the Indus River BasinClift, Peter1; Giosan, Liviu2; Carter, Andrew3; Alizai, Anwar1;Durcan, Julie4; Tabrez, Ali R.5

1. School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen,United Kingdom

2. Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods HoleOceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, USA

3. Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, BirkbeckCollege, London, United Kingdom

4. Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, University ofWales, Aberystwyth, United Kingdom

5. National Institute for Oceanography, Clifton, Karach,Pakistan

While there is general agreement that the SW Asianmonsoon strengthened during the Early Holocene and thenprogressively weakened after ~8 ka there continues to bedebate concerning how quickly the environment dried andwhether this may have controlled the rise and fall of earlyhuman societies in western India and Pakistan. While rapiddrying has been proposed at the time when the HarappanCulture appears to have ended such models ignore theimportant role that river in a dry, desert environment play insustaining life. In this study we attempted to reconstructchanging environmental conditions and fluvial patternsaround the western edge of the Thar Desert since ~10 ka.Clay mineral assemblages are sensitive to weatheringprocessses and we record a shift towards more smectite andespecially kaolinite after 8 ka, indicating more chemicalweathering. This trend became more intense after 4.5 kawhen the last evidence for an active river was found in theregion close to the archeological sites. The intensifyingchemical weathering reflects the lack of sediment transportand new sedimentation, despite the more arid conditions.Dating by U-Pb methods of zircon grains extracted fromsands cored and trenched from the flood plain in PakistaniPunjab shows age populations that are inconsistent withsediment sourced from either the Sutlej or the modernGhaggar-Hakra, which presently lie closest to the desert. Wesuggest that in the Early-Mid Holocene the area of heaviestHarappan Settlement was one of significant fluvialconfluence. The Sutlej and an independent Beas Riverflowed much closer to the Thar Desert than they do now.Moreover, we propose that the Yamuna, which now flowseast into the Ganges, must have contributed to the sedimentflux in the recent geological past, although the precise age ofcapture is, so far, not yet well determined. The end of theMature Harappan Phase of settlement around 1900 BCEappears to shortly postdate the end of major river flow in

the region, as the Sutlej migrated north, capturing the Beas.This change in the course of the Sutlej, together with theprobable loss of the Yamuna resulted in the much smallerGhaggar-Hakra being unable by itself to maintainsignificant flow into the desert, especially in the context of aweakening summer monsoon. The effect of thisreorganization may have been as catastrophic to agricultureas the proposed abrupt weakening of the summer monsoonrains.

Cooper, JagoLiving with Extreme Weather in a Stable Climate: Along-term perspective on human-climaterelationships in the CaribbeanCooper, Jago1

1. School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University ofLeicester, Leicester, United Kingdom

This paper presents results from a three year Leverhulmefunded research project focused on ‘The Archaeology ofClimate Change in the Caribbean’. This project has exploredthe dynamic relationship between relative climatic stability,social development and environmental change on thedifferent islands of the Caribbean. This paper willsummarize how the impacts of relative sea level change,precipitation variation and hurricane activity over the past6000 years in the Caribbean can be considered in light ofchanging settlement locations, food procurement strategiesand household architecture traditions over time. Regionalpatterns of climatic variability are discussed and key climaticand environmental hazards are identified at local, nationaland regional scales of analysis. This paper then presentsresults from an interdisciplinary fieldwork projectconducted, in collaboration with the Cuban Ministry ofScience, Technology and Environment, in northern Cubasince 2003. This case study uses recently acquiredarchaeological, paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental datato provide a detailed local perspective on how past humancommunities have lived through the impacts of climatic andenvironmental hazards in northern Cuba over the past 6000years. This study facilitates an improved understanding ofthe scaled temporalities with which human communitiesexperience climate variability and how concepts of stabilityand instability should be approached. The framework forhuman decision-making is evaluated and the multi-temporaland multi-spatial complexity of social, climatic andenvironmental change is revealed. This study highlights theconceptual friction between linking thresholds in climatechange, tipping points of sudden environmental change anddivergent pathways through societal progression. However,the relative resilience of different community lifeways areassessed in light of known climatic and environmentalhazards in the region and this provides key lessons of threatand mitigation that have important implications for modernday communities living the Caribbean.

http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/archaeology/people/cooper http://www.gheahome.org/

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Day, John W.Post-Glacial Coastal Margin Productivity and theEmergence of Complex Societies (INVITED)

Day, John W.1; Gunn, Joel2; Folan, William3; Yanez-Arancibia,Alejandro4; Horton, Benjamin5

1. Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, Louisiana StateUniveristy, Baton Rouge, LA, USA

2. Anthropology, University of North Carolin, Greensboro,NC, USA

3. Centro de Investigaciones Historicas y Sociales, Universityof Campeche, Campeche, Mexico

4. Natural Resources, Institute of Ecology, Xalapa, Mexico5. Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of

Pennsylvania, Philadelphiq, PA, USA

As relative sea level stabilized following deglaciationafter c. 7,000 BP, coastal margin primary and secondaryproductivity increased by an order of magnitude or more.Animals in the coastal margin were readily available tohumans as high quality protein and polyunsaturated fats,necessary components of anatomically modern humannutrition. Within about 500 years of relative sea levelstabilization, coastal margins were occupied by Neolithicagricultural and fishing villages. Population densitiesincreased greatly, social ranking appeared, and monumentalarchitecture requiring the mobilization of labor forces wereconstructed a further half millennium later. Our thesis isthat the temporal and spatial pattern and magnitude ofincreased coastal margin food availability was critical to theevolution of early complex societies. The time betweenpopulation expansion and the establishment of complexsocieties varied. Our investigation indicates that thisvariability was related to the seasonality of localenvironments and the change from mid to late Holoceneglobal climate.

deMenocal, Peter B.What caused the mid-Pliocene aridification ofAfrica? (INVITED)

deMenocal, Peter B.1; Feakins, Sarah2; Eglinton, Tim3;Cléroux, Caroline1; Arbuszewski, Jennifer1

1. Lamont-Doherty Earth Obs, Palisades, NY, USA2. Dept. of Earth Sciences, University of Southern

California, Palisades, CA, USA3. ETH, Zürich, Switzerland

A wealth of marine and terrestrial paleoclimate recordsdocument the progressive drying of North and East Africathroughout the last 4 Ma. Expansion of savannah grassesand prevalence of grazing mammals occurs just after 3 Ma,reaching peak aridity by 1.6 Ma. Because of its relevance topaleoenvironmental changes associated with key events inhominin evolution, the timing and cause of thisaridification has drawn great interest. Prior hypotheses forthe drying trend have included remote influences from high-latitude ice sheets, reduced CO2, and uplift of the EastAfrican highlands, each of which have potentialcomplications. A recent hypothesis was developed in a pair

of papers by Cane and Molnar (2001) and Philander andFederov (2003) that emphasizes the importance of changesin tropical SST gradients in controlling the moistureconvergence over East Africa. Atmospheric convection andrainfall in the tropics occurs where SSTs are warmest which,today, occurs over the warm pools of the western Pacific andwestern Atlantic, establishing vertical (Walker) circulationcells that presently limit rainfall over East Africa. Central tothis hypothesis is the timing of the emergence of modernIndo-Pacific SST gradients. New and previously-publishedSST records from the east and west basins of the tropicalAtlantic, Indian, and Pacific basins are presented which spanthe last 4 Ma. These records indicate that the emergencezonal and meridional SST gradients first appeared in theAtlantic near 2.8 Ma, followed by a nearly synchronousemergence of the Indian and Pacific zonal SST gradientsnear 1.6 Ma. Marine sediment records of Africanpaleoclimate evolution over this time document thatNorthwestern African dust fluxes increased markedly after2.8 Ma, whereas driest conditions were established muchlater in East Africa, near 1.6-1.8 Ma. Recent climate modelresults by Brierley and Federov (2009) have studied theimpact of tropical SST gradient changes on the climate ofNorth and East Africa, and they find that the aridificationof North Africa is most sensitive to the development ofstrong meridional Atlantic SST gradients, whereas thearidification of Eastern Africa is more sensitive to theemergence of zonal SST gradients in the Indian and Pacificbasins. These results appear explain some of the puzzlingdifferences between paleoclimate histories of North and EastAfrica, as well as their shared common late Neogene trendtoward drier conditions.

Dixit, YamaHolocene Palaeoclimate History of the Plains ofNW India Inferred from Palaeo-Lake RiwasaDixit, Yama1; Hodell, David A.1; Sinha, Rajiv3; Petrie,Cameron2

1. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge,Cambridge, United Kingdom

2. Department of Archeology, University of Cambridge,Cambridge, United Kingdom

3. Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute ofTechnology, Kanpur, India

The Indus Civilization flourished from ~4600 to ~3900yrs BP across a range of environmental zones that now spanthe borders of present-day India and Pakistan. Its majorurban centres started to decline from ~3900 BP, but theprecise reasons for this are still unclear. Climate and/orenvironmental change has been advocated as one of themajor factors, but there is no consensus on thisissue.However, extant paleoclimatic reconstructions havetypically used proxy data obtained from areas that lie beyondthe geographic limits of the Indus Civilisation, and it isquestionable whether such data can be used to reconstructthe paleoclimate of the subcontinent or of any of theenvironmental zones inhabited by Indus Civilisation

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populations. The plains of NW India lie across the boundarybetween arid and semi-arid zones and the archaeologicalresearch has suggested that this was one of the mostintensively settled regions in the periods before, during andparticularly after the floret of the Indus Civilisation. Theprecise climatological and environmental conditionsaffecting this region during the mid-late Holocene remainlargely unknown, and to remedy this, we have dated andanalysed sediment samples obtained from cores and pitsections from a paleo-lake bed at Riwasa in Haryana plains,India. Riwasa is a dry lake bed that once existed in a verysteep rainfall gradient (200-600mm) near some of theimportant archaeological sites in this region. When the lakecontained water, its hydrology was likely highly sensitive tochanges in the balance of precipitation and evaporation. It isthus well-suited for a paleoclimatic study in relation to thecultural evolution of the Indus Civilisation. Below the topsoil, the upper ~3 meters of this lake bed contains silty clay,carbonate-rich sediments with abundant freshwatergastropod and ostracod shells. The calcium carbonatecontent and the (> 63micron) particle concentrationindicates the presence of a massive hard ground underlyingthe top one metre of the sediemnts. Split cores have beenanalysed using an XRF core scanner and high-resolutionsampling has been carried out on two cores and an exposedstanding section through the Riwasa lake sequence. Samplesof ostracods and gastropods have been used for AMSradiocarbon dating and 18O and 13C isotope analysis.Results have confirmed the existence of a wet phase duringthe early Holocene but have also indicated that there wasgreat variability in oxygen isotope ratios of individualostracod valves within a single sample. Such large variabilityin shell isotopic composition suggests that there werefrequent lake level fluctuations caused by flooding duringwet periods and evaporative enrichment during dry times,typical of a playa lake. The Riwasa record constitutes thefirst isotope proxy record of local paleoclimate change fromthe plains of NW India.

Draut, Amy E.Climate variation, landscape cover, and aeoliansand mobility on the Navajo Nation, southwesternU.SDraut, Amy E.1; Redsteer, Margaret H.2; Amoroso, Lee3

1. US Geological Survey, Santa Cruz, CA, CA, USA2. US Geological Survey, Flagstaff, AZ, USA3. US Geological Survey, Flagstaff, AZ, USA

Native Americans of the southwestern U.S. live onecologically sensitive semiarid to arid lands with limitedresources. On the 65,000 km2 Navajo Nation, southernColorado Plateau, one-third of the land surface is covered bysand dune deposits. Higher temperatures, changingprecipitation (drought for the past 14 years), and the spreadof exotic plant species are transforming the landscape,negatively impacting residents, many of whom continue tolive a traditional, subsistence lifestyle. During the pastdecade of drought, the spatial extent of sand susceptible to

mobilization has increased appreciably. Sand dunemigration rates in this region can exceed 35 m/yr, andregionally significant dust storms are now common. Aeoliansand mobilization from formerly stabilized ground surfacesendangers housing and transportation, jeopardizes grazinglands, and impacts regional air quality. For people tocontinue to inhabit this area successfully, we mustunderstand the processes that are rapidly altering thesedrylands and develop mitigation strategies. We presentresults from a 2-yr field study in a 0.124 km2 region of theNavajo Nation, identifying the influence of ephemeralfluvial sediment supply, livestock grazing, and climatepatterns (seasonal monsoonal rains, and an El Niño event)on aeolian sand transport, vegetation abundance andassemblage, and the extent of biologic soil crust. Sandmobility and transport were substantially greater during thedrier, non-El Niño year than during the El Niño year. Plantcover increased significantly as a result of summer monsoonrains, as did biologic soil crust. In addition, the rainsproduced a 10 m3/s flood in an ephemeral wash, andcontributed to proportionally greater increase of invasiveSalsola (Russian thistle) than of other types of vegetation.Salsola generally composed a greater proportion of plantcover in the part of the study area with heaviest livestock use.We suggest a conceptual model wherein monsoon-causedfloods (in summer and fall) supply sand that is subsequentlyentrained by wind (with most transport occurring thefollowing spring), forming aeolian dunes downwind of thewash. It is proposed that negative feedback occurs in theseasons following intense monsoon rains, such that theincreased aeolian sand supply after monsoon floodingdestabilizes new vegetation that initially thrived because ofmonsoon rainfall, and contributes to increased dunemobility. Against a backdrop of warmer, drier climate (lessvegetation overall), the increased aeolian sand transport anddune migration resulting from monsoonal floods wouldthus further compromise living conditions for traditionalcultures in the southwestern U.S.

Fagan, Brian M.“The Great Warming: An Archaeologist looks atancient climate change, or: The STory of the SilentElephant in the RoomFagan, Brian M.1

1. Lindbriar Corporation, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

What lessons about climate change can we learn fromthe experience of our forebears? The warmer world of theMedieval Warm Period (c. A.D. 800 to 1250) helped Europeto prosper and the Norse to sail to North America. But Littleknown global droughts brought centuries of aridity to thewestern United States, caused much of Ancient Mayacivilization to implode, and rippled across South Americaand Asia, sometimes with catastrophic results. The events ofthe Medieval Warm Period may help us understand a nearand more distant future where severe droughts will affectmillions of people, especially those in arid and semi-aridlands. By delving into the little known history of humans

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and water, the presentation shows how our relationship tothis most precious of resources has changed profoundlysince the Industrial Revolution. By promiscuous deeppumping, we have raised our vulnerability to water shortfallsto dangerous levels. Finally, I look ahead at some of thestrategies that will allow us to thrive in an era of increasinglyscarce water supplies.

Fagan, Brian M.The Great Warming: An Archaeologist Looks atClimate Change, or the Story of the Silent Elephantin the Room (INVITED)

Fagan, Brian M.1

1. Lindbriar Corporation, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

What lessons about climate change can we learn fromthe experience of our forebears? The warmer world of theMedieval Warm Period (c. A.D. 800 to 1250) helped Europeto prosper and the Norse to sail to North America. But Littleknown global droughts brought centuries of aridity to thewestern United States, caused much of Ancient Mayacivilization to implode, and rippled across South Americaand Asia, sometimes with catastrophic results. The events ofthe Medieval Warm Period may help us understand a nearand more distant future where severe droughts will affectmillions of people, especially those in arid and semi-aridlands. By delving into the little known history of humansand water, the presentation shows how our relationship tothis most precious of resources has changed profoundlysince the Industrial Revolution. By promiscuous deeppumping, we have raised our vulnerability to water shortfallsto dangerous levels. Finally, I look ahead at some of thestrategies that will allow us to thrive in an era of increasinglyscarce water supplies.

Fuller, Dorian Q.When did climate changes encourage riceagriculture, and when did rice agricultureencourage climate change?Fuller, Dorian Q.1

1. Archaeology, University College London, London, UnitedKingdom

Recent archaeobotanical evidence allows the firstsystematic assessment of the evolution of morphologicaldomestication traits in rice populations of the LowerYangtze during the middle Holocene, while a recentlycompiled database allows use to place the spread of early riceagriculture in its macro-regional and chronological contextin Asia. This paper will assess the evidence for the evolutionof rice cultivation, including the evidence for wet-fieldsystems (from preserved fields and weed flora), and theevolution of morphologically domesticated rice (spikeletbasesm grain metrics) against the evidence for climatic andvegetational change in the Yangtze region of China. Thissuggests that while directional changes in vegetation mayhave helped to constrain subsistence options increasinglytowards rice, social pressures also contributed towards rice

domestication, and there is no smoking gun that a singleclimatic event drove the origins of rice agriculture. Theevidence for separate slow start to Indian rice cultivation willbe briefly reviewed. Nevertheless, once established (by 6000BP) rice agriculture promoted larger populations and thecultivation of rice spread widely to North China andsubsequently to Southeast Asia, Korea, Japan. The spread ofrice shows two periods of punctuated major expansion, inthe third millennium BC (4500-4000 BP) and in the firstmillennium BC (ca. 2500 BP), and the latter clearlyassociated with an increase in irrigated paddy rice. A modelof the spread of rice in these periods can be correlated withincreased methane levels in the atmosphere. Thus while thespread of rice can be seen to have affected global climate it isless clear that earlier climatic changes were responsible forthe beginnings of rice agriculture.

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/rice/

Gatti, EmmaHydrological response to the Toba super-volcanoash fallout in the Middle Son Valley, Western India:palaeo-environmental and archaeologicalimplicationsGatti, Emma1; Durant, Adam3, 2; Oppenheimer, Clive1;Gibbard, Philip1

1. Geography, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UnitedKingdom

2. Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences,Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, USA

3. Centre for Atmospheric Science, Department ofChemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UnitedKingdom

The climatic and environmental impacts of theYoungest Toba Tuff (YTT, 74 kyr +/- 2 BP) eruption fromToba volcano, Northern Sumatra, are hotly debated in theliterature. Intense global cooling and the onset of a glacialperiod has been attributed to aerosol and ash emitted by theeruption, although recent studies suggest that the impactswere far less severe. Following this theme, it has also beensuggested that the YTT eruption played an important role inshaping the genetic diversity of modern human populations.The Middle Son Valley, India, was the first locality in theIndian Subcontinent reporting presence of YTT. The ashextends for more than 30 km and forms a discontinuous butconstant layer, showing in few selected sites primary depositstopped with secondary re-washed ash and eolian sediments.The ash has been investigated since the ‘90s to assess boththe global palaeo-envrionmental and human impact of theToba eruption, with discordant results. Nevertheless, theexact position within the alluvial stratigraphy and absolutedates relative to the Quaternary sediments surrounding theash are still unclear. Here we report on the stratigraphiccontext of ash layers present in alluvial deposits in the areaRehi-Ghoghara-Khutiali, in order to assess the validity of theYTT as chronostratigraphic marker for palaeo-environmental and archaeological studies. Usingstratigraphic logs and sedimentological reconstruction, we

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have studied the lithostratigraphic units of the receivingenvironment at the time of the eruption and the riverevolution after the ash fall-out. Facies associations have beenused to determine the geomorphology of the river and a newhydrological, geomorphologically constrained model for theSon River is proposed. The model demonstrates that due tothe river conformity and landscape characteristics, the YTTassociations in the Middle son Valley, except one, are not areliable tool for chronostratigraphic correlation.

Gauthier, EmilieFrom first Caribou to Norse sheep: impact ofgrazing in south GreenlandGauthier, Emilie1; Massa, Charly1; Bichet, Vincent1; Perren,Bianca1; Petit, Christophe2; Richard, Hervé1

1. Chrono-environnement laboratory, UMR 6249/CNRS,University of Franche-Comté, Besançon, France

2. Arscan, UMR 7041/CNRS, Paris 1, Panthéon-Sorbonne,Paris, France

Radiocarbon dating, pollen and non-pollenpalynomorph analyses from a sediment core were used toestablish the timing and effects of farming activities aroundLake Igaliku, Eastern Settlement, South Greenland. Usually,the absence of agro-pastoral impact before the medievalcolonization by Europeans provides an opportunity tounderstand the development of farming activity in a pristinelandscape. However, large herds of grazing herbivore, as earlyas 8000 cal. BP, could have a first impact on vegetationevolution. From 8000 to 4000 cal. BP, a pollen record fromLake Igaliku shows that vegetation is dominated byJuniperus and Salix. Increases in coprophilous fungi (e.g.Sporormiella, Sordariaceae, Cercophora, Podospora) suggestgrazing herbivores, probably caribou, in the surroundingarea. The arrival of caribou in north Greenland (Peary Land)is dated to 8000 cal. BP (Bennike, 1997); however, their firstoccurrence in South Greenland has never been demonstratedand this analysis could be the first evidence of their presenceas soon as 8000 cal. BP. These grazing herbivores had animpact on vegetation: each increase in coprophilous fungi isrelated to decrease in Juniper, and a clear increase inSelaginella and Cyperaceae. The onset of Betula glandulosadevelopment corresponds to a decrease in coprophilousfungi and evidence of grazing herbivores remain scarce untilthe settlement of Norse farmers by the end on the 10thcentury AD (Gauthier et al. 2010). Settlers arrived in alandscape dominated by Betula glandulosa, Betulapubescens and Salix. Decrease in Betula pubescens andJuniperus and the rise in coprophilous fungi are the firstevidence of human settlement. The presence of Norsesettlers and livestock is clearly recorded from the 11–12thcentury A.D.: increasing frequencies of Selaginella,Cyperaceae, Norse apophytes (Rumex acetosa type andRanunculus acris type) and coprophilous fungi. Thiscolonization phase is followed by a period of decreasinghuman impact at the beginning of the 14th century, with adecrease in Selaginella, Cyperaceae, weeds, apophytes andcoprophilous fungi suggesting a reduced grazing pressure.

The regrowth of Salix and Betula and the disappearance ofanthropogenic indicators except Rumex acetosa typebetween the 15th and 18th century demonstrate theabandonment of the settlement, until the development ofcontemporary agriculture in the 20th century.

Gauthier, EmilieULTIMAGRI Project: from pristine toanthropogenic Greenland landscapeBichet, Vincent1; Petit, Christophe2; Gauthier, Emilie1;Massa, Charly1; Perren, Bianca1; Richard, Hervé1; Vannière,Boris1; Monna, Fabrice3; Millet, Laurent1

1. UMR CNRS 6249 Chrono-Environment Lab, Universityof Franche-Comté, Besançon, France

2. UMR CNRS 7041 ArScAn, University of Paris 1, Paris,France

3. UMR CNRS 5594 ARTeHis, University of Burgundy,Dijon, France

In view of the current global warming and the likelyincrease in human impacts on natural systems, looking atpast models provides opportunities to explore the complexrelationship between climate and human societies.Therefore, the historical development of agriculture on thesouthwestern coast of Greenland presents an exceptionalstudy model to examine the transition from a pristine to ananthropogenic landscape. The ULTIMAGRI project, basedon multi-proxies analyses of lake deposits, aims to examinethe environmental legacy of Norse agriculture (985-1450A.D. – Medieval Warm Period) and its collapse, and thelimited reestablishment of farms in the late 20th century (ca1920 A.D. – today). During two summer field seasons (2007and 2009), a dozen lakes have been cored in the two mainarchaeological and modern farming areas (Norse “eastern”settlement – Narsaq district 61°N - and “western” settlement– Nuuk district, 64°N). In order to investigate detailed andcontinuous palaeoenvironmental archives, sediments werecored from the central part of the lakes from a floatingplatform using a long piston corer. Four sequences have beendated with 14C AMS measurements on terrestrialmacrofossils, that cover the entire Holocene. For two ofthem, Igaliku Lake (N61°00’24’’ - W45°26’30’’) and KapisilitLake (N 64°25’32’’- W 50°11’34’’), a robust depth-age model(numerous 14C AMS, 210Pb and 137Cs) has beenestablished, focusing on the last two millennia. On these twocores, a suite of biological and physical proxies (pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, diatoms, chironomids, magneticsusceptibility, grain size distribution, mineralogy,geochemistry, C and N isotopes) is under way. The firstresults from the Igaliku sedimentary sequence provides anew high resolution insight into historical and modernGreenland sub-arctic farming activities. It suggests that,although farming activities of the Norse are well registeredin the sedimentary sequence at Igaliku, the magnitude of theimpact of the 4 centuries of Norse agriculture isconsiderably less than several decades of modern farming inthe catchment.

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Gibson, J RobertThe potential Impact of paleoclimatology andarcheology on mankind’s willingness to makesacrifices to mitigate future climate changeGibson, J Robert1

1. Former Director Sustainable Development, John Swire &Sons (HK) Ltd, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Climate scientists warn our emissions of greenhousegases will destabilize climate causing a substantial reductionour earth’s life carrying capacity. The risks, however, are notclear enough for Governments to take sufficient action.Winston Churchill once said: ‘The farther backward you canlook, the farther forward you can see’. Do paleoclimatologyand archeology have the potential to make the risks fromclimate change and resource over-exploitation sufficiently‘real’ that Government leaders will take action and thepublic will accept lower living standards? Examples whichhave impact: 1. The map of the river system in the Sahara6,000 years ago is one example of paleoclimatology showingthe scale of climate changes which may occur. 2. Archeologyon Easter Island, as described in Jarrad Diamond’s Collapse,provides a graphic example of a society overexploiting the itsresources and suffering a population crash. What more canpaleoclimatology and archeology do to make the risks ‘real’to people before it is too late to avert climate destabilization?Do we have sufficiently clear stories to tell? Are we tellingthem through a medium which reaches both Leaders andthe public? The author is an Accountant who spent fouryears working on these issues in a conglomerate corporation.He concludes that paleoclimatology and archeology arehelpful but much more can be done.

Giosan, LiviuFrom the Blue Danube to the Black Sea: Climate-Landscape-Human Interactions in the LowerDanube BasinGiosan, Liviu1

1. Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole OceanographicInstitution, Woods Hole, MA, USA

The Lower Danube basin and the Black Sea coast havebeen invoked as crucibles of civilization and pathways ofcultural and population diffusion from East to West and viceversa. The history of these interactions between humans,landscapes and climate is recorded in the sedimentary depositsof the Danube delta and the Black Sea. Here I present new dataand review the status of: (1) the proposed link between thewestward migration of the Neolithic cultural package and theBlack Sea reconnection to the World Ocean and (2) thelandscape and ecosystem modifications brought in by theMedieval deforestation and the Industrial Revolution diffusingeastward with the help of the trade along the Danube.Stratigraphic and paleo-geomorphologic information fromDanube delta aided by radiocarbon ages on articulatedmollusks constrain the level in the Black Sea before the marinereconnection to ca. 30 m below the present sea level rather

than 80 m or lower. I argue that if the flood occurred at all, thesea level increase and the flooded area during the reconnectionwere significantly smaller than previously proposed. If the linkbetween the Black Sea “flood” and the Neolithic spread ofagriculture remains controversial, the Medieval agriculturefollowed by the Industrial Revolution affected drasticallylandscapes, humans and ecosystems. I show that legacysediments and nutrients produced by during these culturalperiods and transported along the Danube changed theDanube delta landscape and the Black Sea ecosystem muchearlier than previously thought. Human impacts increaseddramatically both in the delta and the Black Sea following theincreased trade between Eastern and Western Europe after theestablishment the European Danube Commission in 1856.

Giosan, LiviuLandscape Dynamics in the Indus Basin: FromHarappa to the Flood of 2010Giosan, Liviu1; Clift, Peter D.2

1. Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole OceanographicInstitution, Woods Hole, MA, USA

2. School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen,United Kingdom

Abundance of sediment relative to the water dischargedby the Indus has been the most important control on theevolution of the Indus alluvial plain during the last 10,000years. During this time civilizations surged and faded on theIndus alluvial plain interacting with the landscape differentlydepending on the location in the Indus basin, whether inPunjab, Cholistan, Haryana or Sindh. While its largeHimalayan tributaries incised their floodplains in Punjab, theIndus alluvial plain in Sindh has been largely aggradationalthroughout the Holocene. Consequently, the Indus hasrepeatedly built stacking mega-alluvial fan-ridges along theentire length of its lower alluvial plain and switched its deltafrom east to west. In contrast to the cannibalization ofPunjabi plain sediments through incision by Himalayanrivers, deposition continued until mid Holocene along theproposed course of the mythical Saraswati River, the Ghaggar-Hakra valley, which appears to have dried up or have beencaptured before significant incision occurred. We discusspossible scenarios of human-landscape interactions over thelast millennia based on new geomorphic, stratigraphic andgeochemical data collected in the Indus region, as well aspeninsular India during recent projects in the region. Climaticmodulation of the water discharge and sediment load on theIndus and its tributaries favoring a highly dynamic landscapeemerges as crucial for the development as well as slowdisintegration of the Harappan Civilization from ca. 5500 to3000 years BP. Today, in contrast, almost no water makes it tothe Arabian Sea coast and sediment is trapped in reservoirsand along the river as the floodplain is isolated from the riverby artificial levees. This new pattern of sedimentredistribution inland and the inherited inland fanmorphology combines with the increased density of humanoccupation on a previously unstable dynamic landscape toincrease the vulnerability to large floods.

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Gontz, Allen M.The preservation of New England paleo-landscapes– links to past societies and sea-level changeGontz, Allen M.1; Maio, Christopher1; Gosselin, David1;Wagenknecht, Ekatherina1; Mastone, Victor2

1. Environmental, Earth & Ocean Sciences, University ofMassachusetts-Boston, Boston, MA, USA

2. Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources,Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Boston, MA, USA

The formerly glaciated coastal system of New Englandhas experienced a dynamic sea-level history since the onset ofdeglaciation about 22 ka. Initially, isostatic depressionresulted in a local sea level highstand followed by a rapidregression to a lowstand that varies in elevation from -60 min Maine to -40 m in Massachusetts between 12 and 14 ka.The close proximity of southeastern Massachusetts to theterminus of the Last Glacial Maximum also resulted in largeproglacial lakes during this time. Following the lowstand, atransgression began that continues through the present.Due to the lasting effect of isostatic depression and rebound,rates of sea-level rise throughout New England have beenextremely variable when compared to the global averages,especially prior to 6 ka. These variable rates of sea-level risehave affected the New England coastal system in variousways, at times focusing energy on a specific elevation forlong or short periods of time. This has resulted in a variablepotential for preservation of paleo-landscapes. Ongoingresearch in coastal Massachusetts is focused on the timeperiod between 10 ka and the present, which represents theimmediate post-lowstand transgression to the present.Numerous preserved paleo-landscapes have been discovered,including back-filled and preserved fluvial channels, floodplains, salt marshes, paleo-sols, submerged forests, inlets andbeach systems. Our research throughout the Massachusettscoastal system has identified three areas critical inunderstanding the complex styles of the evolution of thelandscape resulting from varying rates of sea-level rise. TheNeponset River system exhibits conversion of terrestriallandscapes to submerged sub-tidal lands during times ofhigher-than-present sea-level rise rates. As the transgressionprogressed, the Neponset system illustrates the influence ofvarying landscape preservation potential related to changesin exposure. Further, the entire system is complicated byintense anthropogenic alteration. In addition to theNeponset system, there are two submerged forest sites on thesoutheastern Massachusetts coast. These forest sites date toca 2770 ybp and illustrate isolated landscape preservationwith tree stumps and paleo-sols. The forest sites, based oncomparison to well-established relative sea-level curvessuggest they existed at times of slower-than-present sea-levelrise rates. The preservation potential of paleo-landscapesand the evidence of human occupation of those landscapesare strongly controlled by antecedent topography, frameworkgeology and the timing and style of sea-level rise. Byexamining well-preserved examples from the geologic record,we can begin to extrapolate past evolutionary trends into thefuture as sea-level rise rates increase and, thereby, establish

an informed perspective of how present-day coastallandscapes will respond. Additionally, understanding thelandscape response will assist in locating areas that possess ahigh degree of potential for submerged cultural resourcesand thus provide insight for designing and implementingconservation and preservation strategies.

Gupta, SanjeevLarge-scale river channel shifts on the westernIndo-Gangetic Plains: Implications for HarappancivilisationGupta, Sanjeev1; Sinha, Rajiv2; Ajit, Singh2; Carter, Andrew4;Mason, Philippa1; Murray, Andrew5; Yadav, G.3; Buylaert,Jan-Pieter5; Thomsen, Kristina5; Ferrat, Marion1

1. Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom2. Indian Institute for Technology - Kanpur, Kanpur, India3. Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India4. Birkbeck College, Univ. of London, London, United

Kingdom5. Nordic Laboratory for Luminescence Dating, Aarhus

University, Roskilde, Denmark

The distribution of settlements in ancient societies iscommonly linked to the courses of large river systems. TheBronze Age Harappan civilisation is no exception with themajor sites of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro located along theIndus river system. However, the largest collection ofHarappan archaeological sites are associated with thepostulated surface trace of a large palaeo-river channel in thedrainage divide tract between the Ganges and Indus riversystems, where no major river currently flows. It has beenproposed that this palaeo-channel was occupied by a majorriver sourced in the Himalaya, and that this river providedwater resources to sustain the extensive Harappan siteslocated along its ancient course. The abrupt abandonmentof urban centres here at ~3500 BP has been explained byexplanations such as river diversions and abrupt monsoonweakening. These hypotheses have remained untestedbecause the stratigraphy and chronology of the postulatedpalaeochannel has never been determined. Here we presentan integrated study of the Ghaggar-Hakra palaeochannelbased on detailed analysis in NW India. We use acombination of satellite image analysis, subsurfacegeophysical analysis and detailed sediment coring to analysethe large-scale planform geometry, and detailed sedimentaryand stratigraphic nature of the postulated palaeochannel inNW India. In particular we focus our analysis on a tract ofthe proposed channel adjacent to the major Harappan urbancentre of Kalibangan in Rajastan State. We present aninvestigation of satellite imagery data which when coupledwith resistivity sounding data reveal the presence of a thick,and extensive sandbody in the subsurface beneath thepostulated surface trace observed on satellite imagery.Extensive drilling into this sandbody reveals itssedimentology and stratigraphy, and confirms that it doesindeed represent a fluvial sand package up to 30 m thick,comprising multiple stacked channel packages. We useoptically stimulated luminescence dating techniques to

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develop an age model for the stratigraphic succession, thusproviding an independent link to the presence of Harappanarchaeological sites along the margins of the palaeochannel.To understand the sources of the Ghaggar palaeochannel inNW India we use U-Pb ages of detrital zircon grains todetermine links with modern river sediments and possiblebedrock sources in the Himalaya. This is coupled with rare-earth element analysis of bulk sediment samples whichprovides an alternative constraint on sediment provenance.We will consider how changes in the course of thepalaeochannel may have influenced settlement patterns ofthe Harappan civilisation in present day NW India. Ourstudies here will permit correlations to be made with similarstudies being conducted in other sectors of the Harappanpalaeoenvironmental realm.

Hajic, Edwin R.Geology and Geoarchaeology of the BaodunCulture Paleolandscape, Sichuan Province, ChinaHajic, Edwin R.1; Flad, Rowan K.2; Bennett, Gwen3

1. GeoArc Research, Santa Fe, NM, USA2. Department of Anthropology, Harvard University,

Cambridge, MA, USA3. Department of Anthropology, McGill University,

Montreal, QC, Canada

The Minjiang River deposited a regional fan in theSichuan Basin upon leaving the Tibetan Plateau atDujiangyan. Rice agriculture on the fan has been productivefor at least two millennia. The Baodun Culture (2500 – 1750BC) occupied the fan, leaving a modest number of walledvillages and extensive scatters of cultural debris that todayare found both on the modern land surface and in buriedcontexts. A geomorphic and geoarchaeological investigationof the contexts of Baodun cultural remains was undertakento help understand the distribution and types of Baodunsites, and reconstruct a history of landscape evolution. Thisinvestigation has shown that between drainage ways, the fansurface consists of elongated, gradually descending spursthat terminate in nose slopes above valley junctions. Thesespurs are underlain by 1.5 to 2.5 m of fine grain materialover a fan core of cobble gravel that was deposited by about16,000 C14 yrBP. Two fine grain stratigraphic units cap thefan. The lower unit consists of one or more alluvial upwardfining sequences of fine sand to silt loam and is altered by amoderately to well-drained, moderately to weakly expressedburied soil that was truncated by an episode of soil erosion.Morphologically, the soil is an alfisol. Baodun culturaldeposits are associated with the A horizon, where preserved,and uppermost B horizon of the buried soil. Walls of at leastsome villages are built atop the buried soil. The upper unitconsists of crude thin beds of clay to silty clay loam,interpreted as a rice paddy facies, altered by a very weaklydeveloped, cumulic soil with post- Baodun cultural deposits.Depending on landscape position, the upper unit can haveadditional relatively thin, very fine grain alluvial upwardfining sequences beneath the rice paddy facies. Where notburied, Baodun cultural deposits are exposed by soil erosion,

such as on shoulder slopes of spur side and nose slopes, orman-made landscape alteration. Construction of walledBaodun villages just pre-dates or is coeval with thestratigraphic discontinuity between fine grain units; anapparent shift to intensive rice agriculture on the fan occursshortly thereafter. Construction (ca. 255 BC) of a hydrologicstructure at Dujiangyan was designed to manage water andsediment caliber delivered to the fan. Walled cityconstruction, if not for defense, may reflect a response toearlier initial attempts at hydrological engineering. Theepisode of widespread soil erosion of the forested buried soilsurface may have been triggered by a significant shift inclimate that made the fan more attractive for riceagriculture. However, effects of hydrological engineering mayhave contributed to establishment of the stratigraphicdiscontinuity.

Hessl, Amy E.Fire, Land Use and Climate Change in CentralMongolia During the Last 400 YearsHessl, Amy E.1; Brown, Peter2; Nachin, Baatarbileg3;Pederson, Neil4; Saladyga, Thomas1; Suran, Byambagerel2

1. Geology and Geography, West Virginia University,Morgantown, WV, USA

2. Rocky Mountain Tree Ring Research, Fort Collins, CO,USA

3. Department of Forest Sciences, National University ofMongolia, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

4. Tree-Ring Laboratory, Lamont Doherty EarthObservatory, Palisades, NY, USA

Mean temperatures in Mongolia have increased ~1.7°Cfrom 1940 to 2001 and may be the driver of observedincreases in the frequency and aerial extent of forest andsteppe fires over the last c. 50 years. However, a longer recordof fire is necessary to put recent increases in fire into theirhistorical perspective, particularly considering the long andvaried history of land use change in Mongolia. Unlike NorthAmericans, Mongolians never practiced broad-scale firesuppression. Instead, land uses including nomadicpastoralism, collection of non-timber forest products, andsmall-scale logging have influenced local fuels and ignitionsfor millennia. Historical variability in Mongolia’s fire regimeis a counterpoint to fire regimes in arid forest systems ofNorth America where fire suppression has played animportant role in recent decades. Thus, the overall goal ofour research is to document and quantify relationshipsbetween fire regimes, climate, and human land use inMongolia for the past four+ centuries using tree-ring andhistorical data. Here, we present fire history research fromMongolia based on fire scar records from four sites spanninga 300 km north-south transect from forest-steppe to taiga.Our results suggest that: 1) an extensive natural archive offire history records exists in Mongolia suitable for testinghypotheses about climate, fire and human land use; 2) littlesynchrony in fire events occurred across sites prior to thelate 20th century indicating that local scale drivers, such ashuman land use and ignitions, may be important factors in

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constraining Mongolian fire regimes; and 3) there has beenlittle change in fire frequency in recent decades. A morecomprehensive network of fire history sites spanningvariability in human land use and climate is currently beingbuilt that will more fully test our hypotheses regardingclimate change and fire. This spatially extensive, long-termfire history network could potentially lead to newhypotheses regarding the role of land use intensity inmoderating the impacts of climate change on fire regimes.

Hong, BingChinese Civilization and Climate ChangeHong, Bing1; Hong, Yetang1; Zhu, Yongxuan1; Wang, Yu1;Cai, Chengcheng1

1. Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences,Guiyang, China

Chinese civilization (CCZ) has long history and splendidculture. One of the important characters of CCZ is thediversity of its origin. The three ancient cultures, includingthe Yellow River basin culture, Yangtze River basin cultureand northern nomadic culture, formed finally CCZ after along fusion process. The diversity leads to anotherdistinctive feature of CCZ, namely the continuity of birthand development of the civilization. During more than5000-year history the mainstream of civilization has neverbeen interrupted.The comparison between the chronology ofChinese main dynasties and the temperature record inferredfrom the Jinchuan peat cellulose 18O shows that oncentennial timescale the evolutional process of CCZ ingeneral occurred in the warmer climatic condition. Thewarmer and drier period is just the period of prosperity anddevelopment for the civilization. For instance, theestablishment time of Xia Dynasty, the first dynasty inChinese history, is 2070 BC. This time just points to aturning point from a temperature decreasing to anincreasing in the 18O record. The Shang Dynasty lastingaround 600-year generally was in the warmer and drierclimate. During this period China completed its transitionfrom the Neolithic to Bronze Age, and created the firstcharacters known as Oracle bone script. The followingaround 800-year (from the Western Zhou to the WarringStates) also had the warmer and drier climate condition. Itwas a very famous period of ideological and culturalprosperity in Chinese history. Occurrence of the differentphilosophies, including confucianism, taoism, legalism,mohism, had laid the foundation for the Chinese spiritcivilization. In the period of Qin and Han Dynasties roughlycorresponding to the Roman Warm Period the unificationof both Chinese characters and metrology had beencompleted. The world’s first movable type, compass andpowder used in war occurred in the Song Dynastiescorresponding to the Medieval Marm Epoch of Europe. It islikely that the warmer and drier climatic condition is moresuitable for the survival and cultural activity of ancientpeople, and also for agricultural production activity.Abruptly climatic deterioration seems to be often linked toagricultural failures and instability in the ancient society.The peat 18O record indicates a large-scale climate

abnormality in the period from about 3000 to 2000 BCcorresponding to the archaeological Longshan era. Itpossibly resulted in a meaningful fusion process between theChinese cultures. Both the Hongshan culture in thenorthern China and the Liangzhu culture in the lowerreaches of Yangtze River collapsed to 2200 BC. However theYellow River basin culture in the late Longshan era hadobviously contained the characteractics of both the nomadicculture and the Yangtze River basin culture, and eventuallywas developed into the unified CCZ marked by theestablishment of the Xia Dynasty. The abnormal climatevariation occurred round about 4.5 cal. ka BP appears to bean important gateway on the road of civilization evolution.Any ancient civilization would be called a halt unless it couldshow sufficient ability to resist the severe climate change inthe period.

Hu, DengkeVariation in Holocene East Asian MonsoonStrength Reflected by Deep Sea Sediment in theSouth China SeaHu, Dengke1; Clift, Peter1; Köhler, Cornelia1; Iijima, Koichi2;Böning, Philipp3

1. School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen,United Kingdom

2. Institute for Research on Earth Evolution (IFREE), JapanAgency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology(JAMSTEC), Yokosuka, Japan

3. Institute of Chemistry and Biology of the MarineEnvironment (ICBM), Carl von Ossietzky University ofOldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany

Climate has evolved since the Last Glacial Maximumsimultaneously with the development of human society, andthis is especially true in the region of the Pearl River delta insouthern China, which was an area of early settlement and isone of the most densely populated regions on the modernEarth. In southern China warming at the onset of theHolocene is linked with intensification of the summer EastAsian Monsoon (EAM). Stable isotope variations inspeleothems, together with lake records from sub-tropicalsoutheastern China have been used to provide detailedreconstruction of the regional climate conditions. However,the precise pattern of EAM intensification in this arearemains unclear and even the reliability of using 18O toidentify monsoon strength over shorter scale has recentlybeen questioned. Alternatively, monsoon strength can betraced using proxies of chemical weathering and physicalerosion. Stronger summer monsoons generate more physicalsediment transport potential in rivers, while wetter climateconditions can cause stronger chemical weathering. Theupper 10 meters of Ocean Drilling Program Site 1144 wasanalyzed for variations in the composition and volumes ofsediment flux to the northern South China Sea. Grain sizeshows no coherent response to changing monsoon intensityand is likely controlled by a number of factors, includingsealevel. Magnetic susceptibility shifts rapidly from ~5010-6

SI before 11 ka to ~20010-6 SI after that. This reflects a

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change in the composition of the sediment to increasedmagnetite contents. Ti/Ca and clastic MAR mirror sedimentdelivery. In addition, hematite/goethite, smectite/(illite+chlorite) and 87Sr/86Sr are linked to chemicalweathering intensity. All these proxies show a peak at 10 kaand then a rapid decrease to 8 ka after which these proxiesremain steady. CIA shows very little variation but K/Rb fallsduring 10–8 ka probably indicative of stronger chemicalweathering. K/Rb increases more slowly after 10 ka and thiscompares closely with the speleothem records from DonggeCave and suggests a common control by both temperatureand monsoonal rainfall. The short-lived responses of theother proxies correlate more closely with salinity recordsfrom the same area and suggest that these may be bettermonsoon rainfall proxies than the speleothems. Hence,clastic MAR and Ti/Ca values point to a period of veryintense summer monsoon at 11–8 ka, which caused rapiderosion and sediment transport, while at the same timeincreasing chemical weathering. Our K/Rb data raise thepossibility of a further gentle decrease of chemicalweathering from 8 to 5 ka that is not captured by thephysical sediment flux proxies.

Jayko, Angela S.Holocene paleoenvironments and transientindigenous occupation sites in the Owens Riverwatershed, SW Great BasinJayko, Angela S.1

1. Earth Surface Processes, U. S. Geological Survey, Bishop,CA, USA

Variation in climate since the end of the Pleistocene hasleft a record of waning springs and wetlands and increasingdesertification resulting in the hyper-arid salt flats of DeathValley and adjacent basins today. Although the ecosystemsand distribution of water in the landscape has changedsubstantially during the last 10,000 years, the region has alsobeen effectively continuously occupied. Thepaleoenvironmental record from stratigraphic sections innorthern Panamint Valley indicates that vestiges of the lastglacial lake was desiccating ~12,575 +- 40 ka and succeededby large spring complexes and wetlands that persisted until~10,050 +- 50 ka. Small village sites identified by rock ringssurrounded by abundant lithic scatter and rock alignmentsin desert pavement are present on pavemented alluvial fansurfaces adjacent to buried paleowetlands complexes that arenow covered by ~2 m of playa deposits. The closest surfacewater to these village sites is presently ~15-20 km.Archeological studies by E.L. Davis from the late 1960’s andearly 1970’s report Clovis culture (~11,500 RCYBP) pointsassociated with the early Holocene wetlands deposits innorthern Panamint Valley. Fossil mollusks from the latePleistocene-early Holocene wetlands at ~470 m studied by D.Taylor (1986) occur today in mountain springs at ~1524 m(5000’) higher elevation for the same latitude as thePanamint basin occurrences, which appears to be primarily atemperature, or mean annual temperature, controlled faunaldistribution. Paleospring complexes have been identified

throughout the Panamint basin watershed along the rangefronts and associated with active fault zones. Small villagesites along abandoned paleo-stream channels and formerlakes are found elsewhere in the region. Populationconcentrations in the arid regions appear to have been largerand more sedentary during several large Holocene pluvialevents. The modern hyper-arid basins and adjacent rangeswere sparcely occupied by small, highly mobile family groupsthat seasonally migrated between established low-land andhighland areas prior to European/American migration intothe region. Resources from the entire range of accessiblewatershed elevations were utilzed.

Jorgensen, JeffGetting into shape: a simple, rapid, and low-costmethod to identify Pacific salmonid (Oncorhynchusspp.) vertebrae to speciesJorgensen, Jeff1; Butler, Virginia L.2; Huber, Harriet R.3; Yang,Dongya4

1. Conservation Biology Division, Northwest FisheriesScience Center, Seattle, WA, USA

2. Department of Anthropology, Portland State University,Portland, WA, USA

3. National Marine Mammal Laboratory, Alaska FisheriesScience Center, Seattle, WA, USA

4. Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University,Burnaby, BC, Canada

Knowledge of historical zoogeography and patterns ofresource use by past cultures can be limited by a lack ofidentifiable physical remains. In the Pacific Northwest USA,anadromous Pacific salmonids (Oncorhynchus spp.) areimportant components of the ecosystems they inhabit. Theirlife history strategies integrate survival across bothfreshwater and marine environments. Their past and presentzoogeographic extents reflect their responses andadaptations to habitats, climate regimes, and otherimportant natural and anthropogenic drivers. Pacificsalmonids are culturally important, now and in the past.Their remains are commonly found in archaeological sites,but remains usually contain few elements that can be used toidentify them to species. Vertebrae are often present but theyaren’t readily identified beyond the genus level. AncientDNA analysis has the potential to overcome theselimitations, but it is costly and destructive. Building onprevious work, we developed a simple, rapid, and low-costmethod to identify Oncorhynchus vertebrae to the species levelwith relatively high precision and accuracy based oncharacteristics of vertebral shape (i.e., vertebra length,height, and the lengthheight-1 ratio). We assembled amodern collection of over 4,000 vertebrae from sevenanadromous US West Coast Pacific salmonids (Chinooksalmon O. tshawytscha, chum O. keta, coho O. kisutch, pink O.gorbuscha, sockeye O. nerka, coastal cutthroat O. clarki clarki,and steelhead O. mykiss). We used linear discriminantanalysis, classification and regression trees (CART) andrandom forests models to classify vertebrae to species. CARTperformed the best, with between 73-78% correct species

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assignments overall (range among individual species andacross two vertebra types, 36-100%). When we lumpedspecies into groups based on vertebral shape similarity(chum, coho, and steelhead comprised one group; pink andsockeye made up another group; Chinook salmon andcutthroat were their own distinct groups because of theirdissimilarity to each other and to the species groups),performance increased to 92-96% correct speciesassignments overall (range, 89-100%). We have begun avalidation study using ancient DNA techniques to evaluatethe performance of our classification models on ancient (ca.1,000 - 3,000 ybp) Oncorhynchus vertebrae excavated from amidden in the Wenatchee River Basin (tributary to theColumbia River, USA). These tools can assist reconstructionsof the historical biogeographic extent of salmonid speciesand can illuminate past cultural resource utilization withmore detail than has previously been available. Geographicexpansion of these tools to sites along the entire NorthPacific Rim could potentially be achieved by incorporatingspecimens from western Pacific Oncorhynchus species.

Kaplan, Jed O.On the Sensitivity of the Global TerrestrialBiosphere to Human-Induced Soil DegradationOver the Holocene, with Implications forSustainability and Societal ChangeKaplan, Jed O.1; Krumhardt, Kristen M.1

1. ARVE Group, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne,Lausanne, Switzerland

Much of the Earth’s land surface has been subject tolong-term impact on vegetation and soils for millennia, andthe role of human-induced soil compaction and erosion onobserved changes in vegetation over the Holocene is thesubject of lively debate. We simulated the response ofvegetation cover, the terrestrial carbon cycle, and thesuitability for cropland and pasture to changes in soilphysical properties using a state-of-the-art global vegetationmodel driven by a new global scenario of anthropogenic landuse and land cover change over the Holocene. Holding allother biotic and abiotic parameters constant, we ran aserious of simulations approximating realistic changes insoil texture, depth, and stoniness as a function of humanimpact. Our model results show that over the course of theHolocene, human-induced soil degradation led tosubstantial changes in vegetation cover, particularly insemiarid regions and at biome boundaries. Forests occur onthe deepest and least dense soils, while grasslands or desertsdevelop when soils become very shallow and/or dense.Transition states between these two extremes consist ofvarious types of open woodland and xerophytic shrubland.Both changes in forest cover, which affects abovegroundbiomass, and changes in soil physical properties, whichaffect soils’ ability to bind organic matter, have a substantialimpact on total terrestrial carbon storage. Furthermore,human impact early in the Holocene created conditionswhere degraded soils inhibited establishment of newvegetation and suppressed carbon sequestration later in

time. Degraded soils that are simulated with lower waterholding capacity and lower organic matter content result inlower suitability for crop and pasture, partly feeding back onanthropogenic land use by increasing per capita land userequirements. Our model simulations show that soildegradation leads to certain regions of the world(Mediterranean, South Asia) becoming progressively lessproductive and suitable for agriculture through theHolocene, resulting in more and more land coming underanthropogenic influence as overall land quality decreases.Early anthropogenic deforestation and soil degradationresulted in emissions of at least 350 Pg C between 8 ka andthe Industrial Revolution, an amount that implies that theearth today is much warmer than it otherwise would havebeen.

http://arve.epfl.ch

Kiwalabye, FrankVulnerability and Effects of Climate change to olderpeople in AfricaKiwalabye, Frank1

1. Youth Crime Watch Uganda, Kampala, Uganda

Climate change affects the fundamental requirementsfor health clean air, safe drinking water, sufficient food andsecure shelter. It not only affects the older people but theentire human race. The aim of this presentation is toexamine the impact of climate change on population mainlyolder people from and within Africa. It attempts to gaugethe extent of loss of livelihood in the affected areas due toclimate change. Social and economic factors are a greatfactor in increasing the vulnerability of some older peoplewho are exposed to the negative impacts of climate change.Socioeconomic disadvantages restrict the capacity ofindividuals to avoid the negative health impacts of climatechange, mitigate those impacts, or cope with them if theycannot be mitigated or avoided. Older populations areamong the most at risk due to decreased mobility, changesin physiology, and more limited access to resources, all ofwhich may limit adaptive capacity among older and morevulnerable people. Older, vulnerable populations faceadaptive challenges to their new environments, withpotentially far-reaching implications for health as well as forsocietal strategies to cope with climate change effects at boththe population and policy level.

Kondolf, G M.Sediment Yield Increases/Decreases from DirectHuman Action and Climate ChangeKondolf, G M.1

1. Univ California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

Climate change is likely to have substantial effects onrunoff and sediment yield in many areas, but in mostlandscapes the scale of these changes is dwarfed by impactsof human settlement and resource exploitation. The impactsof deforestation, agricultural expansion, mining, and othersuch human activities are well known to produce significant

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increases in erosion and sediment yield from catchments,with consequent impacts on river channels. Less widelyrecognized, but becoming more important in manylandscapes, is the loss of water storage capacity fromreservoir sedimentation, and the consequent downstream‘sediment starvation’ in rivers. In some developed countries,reduced human pressure on rural landscapes followingmigration to cities has decreased sediment yield by an orderof magnitude, not abruptly as the case below a newly-constructed dam, but over a period of decades asafforestation occurs. Ideas about ‘river restoration’ based onnotions of returning to a pre-disturbance condition becomedifficult to resolve when the earliest record of channelconditions may reflect an already strong signal of humanimpacts on sediment yield. Moreover, the classification ofsediment as a ‘pollutant’ under some environmental lawsinhibits societal response to problems of sediment starvationin rivers. The Mekong River basin presents a compelling casestudy of ongoing changes to sediment flux in a coupledhuman-natural system. Erosion and sediment yield from themountainous catchment is likely to increase due to climatechange (e.g., increased intensity of rainfalls) and fromongoing development of formerly sparsely-settled andlightly-exploited regions. These increased sediment yieldshowever, will be mostly trapped in the more than 100significant reservoirs that are recently built, underconstruction, or planned in the basin. Based on an analysisof estimated sediment yields from various parts of theMekong basin and a network analysis of cumulativesediment trapping, this extensive network of dams willreduce the sediment load in the lower river to less than 30%of its pre-dam value. Reduced suspended sediment loads andnutrient flux will undermine the river-floodplain systemthat currently supports the world’s most productive fluvialfishery and important subsistence agriculture throughoutthe floodplains of Cambodia and Vietnam. Likewise,reduced nutrient flux will likely impact the fishery offshoreof the Mekong Delta (analogous to the fishery collapseobserved in the Mediterranean Sea following closure of theAswan High Dam). Coastal erosion and flooding of theMekong Delta will be exacerbated by the combined effects ofclimate-change-induced sea level rise and dam-reducedsediment loads, as sediment deposition can no longer offsetsubsidence and marine transgression.

Kröpelin, StefanHigh-resolution evidence of Holocene climatechange in the Sahara and correlation to human-environment interactionKröpelin, Stefan1; Melles, Martin2; Karls, Jens2; Kuper,Rudolph1

1. Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology - AfricanArchaeology, University of Cologne, Köln, Germany

2. Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, University ofCologne, Köln, Germany

A recently extracted core from the bottom of Lake Yoa atOunianga Kebir in remote Northern Chad (19°N-20.5°E)

provides the first continuous record of climate variations inthe Sahara from the onset of the early Holocene humidperiod to the present (spring 2010). Due to its geographicalposition at the exit of a mountain-bound corridorfunnelling the dominant trade winds, Lake Yoa has acted asa sink for geological and biological proxies such as dust orpollen originating in the upwind regions of Northeast Africaincluding Libya, Egypt and Northern Sudan. The c. 16mlong sequence contains the most complete and detailedterrestrial climate archive in the earth’s major desert. For themost part, it features varved lamination at subannualresolution. A previous 7.5m short core provided detailed dataon the gradual desiccation of the Sahara and related aquaticecosystem change during the past 6,000 years (Kröpelin et al.2008) but did not allow, e.g., for correlation witharchaeological evidence suggesting a major climatetransition at about 7,300 years ago that caused the retreat ofhuman occupation into ecological niches and the exodus tosoutherly regions (Kuper, Kröpelin 2006). The new sequenceextends the data base to the dawn of the “Green Sahara”which followed the late Pleistocene hyperarid desert.Ongoing multiproxy analyses open up various perspectivesto correlate climate variations with socio-economictransformations of human societies from the early Holocenereoccupation of the Sahara to its possible current“regreening” as a consequence of global warming. The datawill also be used to test the terrestrial impact of proposedabrupt climate incidents such as the “8.2 ka event”; toevaluate the concept of the so-called “African Humid Period”deduced from oceanic cores (deMenocal et al. 2000); and tobetter understand cultural transitions in the prehistory ofthe Eastern Sahara and in the subsequent predynastic andPharaonic civilisations in the Nile valley. Kröpelin S. et al.(2008). Climate-Driven Ecosystem Succession in the Sahara:The Past 6000 Years. Science 320: 765-768. DOI:10.1126/science.1154913 Kuper R., Kröpelin S. (2006).Climate-Controlled Holocene Occupation in the Sahara:Motor of Africa’s Evolution. Science 313: 803-807. DOI:10.1126/science.1130989 deMenocal P. B. et al. (2000).Abrupt onset and termination of the African Humid Period :rapid climate responses to gradual insolation forcing. Quat.Sci. Rev. 19, 347-361.

Position of Lake Yoa in the Sahara and prevailing winds

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Körper, JaninaApplication of paleoclimatic simulations in ageoarchaeological framework – two case studiesalong the NileKörper, Janina1; Berking, Jonas2; Bebermeier, Wiebke2; Slaby,Maria3; Wagner, Sebastian4; Cubasch, Ulrich3; Alexanian,Nicole5, 6; Seidlmayer, Stephan5, 6

1. Institute for Space Science, Freie Universität Berlin,Berlin, Germany

2. Institute for Geographical Science, Freie UniversitätBerlin, Berlin, Germany

3. Institute for Meteorology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin,Germany

4. Helmholtz Zentrum Geesthacht, Geesthacht, Germany5. German Archaeological Institute, Cairo, Egypt6. Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Within the framework of an interdisciplinary researchcluster focusing on space and knowledge of ancientcivilizations the interactions of man and environment areinvestigated using a multi-methodological approachincluding archaeological and geographical field work as wellas modeling of environmental processes. Goals of theresearch cluster are to gain knowledge of how civilizationsreacted to changing environmental conditions and toexplain the processes leading to environmental changes. Twocase studies from the arid to hyperarid Eastern Saharanlandscapes of Egypt and Sudan will be presented. The firstcase study deals with environmental changes in Egypt. Theagriculture of the Ancient Egyptian civilization dependedalmost entirely on the Nile waters and floods and thereforeon the climatic conditions in the Ethiopian highlands,where the Nile floods mainly origin. In the late OldKingdom and after the Old Kingdom (approx. 4,300-4,000BP) agricultural land and settlements were covered by meterthick eolian sand sheets, pointing to changingenvironmental conditions, affecting the local population. Atransient simulation of the last 6000 years with the coupledocean-atmosphere model ECHO-G provides the basis for thecomparative analysis of mid to late Holocene droughtconditions in the Memphitic region and the Ethiopianhighlands. Drought indices based on simulated monthlymean precipitation and potential evaporation reveal a trendtowards drier conditions in the whole catchment area of theNile. This trend is more pronounced in the EthiopianHighland than in the Memphite region and explained by lessmoisture availability in the respective rainy seasons due togeographical shifts of the main precipitation regimes. Thesecond case study deals with environmental changes incentral Sudan. The ancient Meroitic city of Naga is located40 km south of the river Nile. The global general circulationmodel ECHAM5 is employed to investigate climatic shiftsthat may affect the rainwater availability. Time-sliceexperiments with a spectral horizontal resolution of T106,corresponding to a 1.1°x1.1° longitudinal and latitudinalgrid, were implemented to investigate the statistics of theintensity of rainfall events. Here, the reoccurrence times ofrainfall events passing a certain threshold derived from a

rainfall-runoff model is investigated. The results show thatthe frequency of the reoccurrence of rainfall events sufficientfor water harvesting and irrigation purposes wassignificantly higher 3000 years ago than for the last 2000years. These case studies show that especially theinvestigation of changes in the seasonal cycle or daily rainfallstatistics based on paleoclimatic model simulations providesan added value for geoarchaeological projects.

Lachniet, Matthew S.Climate of Central Mexico since the rise of theAztecs: testing climate hypotheses for famine anddisease epidemicsLachniet, Matthew S.1; Asmerom, Yemane2; Polyak, Victor2;Bernal, Juan Pablo3

1. Geoscience, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas,NV, USA

2. Earth and Planetary Science, University of New Mexico,Albuquerque, NM, USA

3. Centro de Geociencias, Universidad Autonoma deMexico, Juriquilla, Mexico

We present a new high resolution (<3 yr) oxygen isotopestalagmite record from the Sierra Madre del Sur thatdocuments seven centuries of climate variability in Mexico.The aragonite stalagmite is precisely dated (uncertainties10 years) by nine U-series ages over the past seven centuries.The longest sustained dry period (high 18O values) occurredbetween 1810 and 1930 A.D., peaking at ca. 1910 A.D. Amore severe but shorter dry period happened between 1630and 1650 A.D. Wettest conditions (lowest 18O values)occurred between 1380 and 1490 A.D., and again between1550 and 1595 A.D. The 1450s were a legendary time offamine in highland Mexico (the “One Rabbit” famine), andcorrespond to the longest sustained period of low 18Ovalues over the past seven centuries. Low 18O values at thistime may reflect cold and wet conditions and more frequentpolar outbreaks that reached subtropical Mexico, aninterpretation that is supported by historical data thatdocument unseasonal frosts, flooding in the basin ofMexico, and successive years of maize crop failure. Incontrast to the 1450s, the height of the Aztec empirebetween 1480 and 1519 prior to Spanish conquest wasassociated with average climate conditions within an ~60-year interval (1490-1550 A.D.) of climate stability. We testthe hypothesis that climate anomalies are correlated withpost-conquest disease epidemics (Acuña-Soto et al., 2000),but find that four out of five epidemics were associated witha near-normal climate state in Mexico. Only the “Cocolitzli”epidemic of 1576, when nearly 2 million indigenous peopleperished, was associated with wetter-than-averageconditions. Further analysis of the full 2,200-year-longstalagmite 18O record will permit additional hypothesistesting of late Holocene climate forcing on Mexican rainfalland civilizations.

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Lemmen, CarstenAre Holocene climate events irrelevant for, or arethey triggers of the Neolithic transition?Lemmen, Carsten1

1. Institute of Coastal Research, Helmholtz-ZentrumGeesthacht, Geesthacht, Germany

First farming communities established in Europebetween 7000 BC and 3000 BC; a clear spatiotemporal trendfrom older southeastern to younger northwestern dates canbe found in archaological dates. The process, however, andthe triggers of the Neolithic transition are unknown or atthe least heavily debated. Most probably, European earlyagriculture was allochtonous and introduced from the NearEast and Anatolia; but were it people who moved andoutplaced the indigenous hunter-gatherer groups oradmixed with them? Or, was it just material and informationthat moved—-the ``Neolithic Package’’—-consisting ofdomesticated plants and animals and the knowledge of itsuse? What triggered the northwestward expansion and whatcontrolled its timing and pacing? Extreme climate eventsduring the Holocene have been suggested as causal factorsfor, e.g., migration waves. I show with the Global Land Useand technological Evolution Simulator (GLUES)—-a socio-technological model for regional potential population andinnovation—-a consistent explanation of the EuropeanNeolithic. I identify regions where the onset of agriculturewas insensitive to climate variability as seen in a database ofglobally 130 high-resolution climate proxies. I quantifymigration and information flows between all 70 simulationregions which form part of the European Neolithic anddemonstrate the importance of cultural diffusion forNorthern Europe. At the same time, the sensitivity of thetiming of the regional transitions to climate variability isassessed. I conclude that climate variability merely mediatesthe Neolithic transition in Europe. It was not a trigger, it wasnot causal and certainly not a necessary precondition forthese first agricultures.

http://www.hzg.de/institute/coastal_research/structure/operational_systems/KOE/topics/topics/002162/index_0002162.html

The expansion of farming from Southeast to Northwest Europe, assimulated with the Global Land Use and technological EvolutionSimulator GLUES. For each of the highlighted regions along a linefrom the Levante to Northern Germany, the differential change inthe percentage of farming as the predominant life style is shown onthe right of the map.

Leroy, Suzanne A.Climatic and sea level changes in the south andmiddle basins of Caspian Sea at 4 cal. ka BPLeroy, Suzanne A.1

1. Institute for the Environment, Brunel University,Uxbridge, United Kingdom

Nowadays the Caspian Sea (CS) receives most of itswater from the Volga River drainage basin. However duringthe Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene, the Amu-Daria, viathe Uzboi, flew into the south basin of the CS. A sillseparates the two basins and shows signs of overspill.Reconstruction of past salinities, hence past sea levels, isdone here from dinocyst assemblages in a range of coresfrom the deep basins. The results indicate that the middlebasin underwent at 4 cal. ka BP a change from the highstands of the Late Pleistocene (Late Khvalynian) tointermediate levels, typical for a large part of the Holocene(Neocaspian). For the southern basin on the contrary, theLate Pleistocene levels were lower with the sill separating thetwo basins. The sea level rose at the beginning of theHolocene to also drop to the same Neocaspian levels at 4 cal.ka BP. The different sea levels during the Late Pleistocene areexplained by different sources of meltwater and the role ofthe sill. The rather late drop of sea level at 4 ka is suggestedto be due to a later flow of meltwater water from the Amu-Daria - Uzboy than the Volga. Indeed it is expected that theEurasian icesheet meltwater decreased drastically at thePleistocene–Holocene transition. The western Pamir Hindu-Kush region, where early Holocene glaciers are fed bymonsoon rain, produced large volumes of meltwater in thefirst part of the Holocene, via the Amu-Daria and Uzboysystem. In conclusion, first a possible flow from the middleto the south basin might have existed during the LateKhvalynian with the middle basin of the Caspian influencedby the climate of middle-high Eurasian latitudes whereas thesouth basin is under the influence of the climate over thewestern Himalayas. Secondly, the rather late drop of the CSlevel at 4 ka must have had an immense influence onregional climate. Other lakes such as the Aral Sea and LakeVan tend also to show a reduction of sea levels atapproximately the same time. A link with civilisationcollapses at 4.2 cal. ka is also examined. This global eventcaused the Harappan and the Akkadian collapses in theIndus basin and Mesopotamia.

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Liu, LuAnalyzing Past Drought and Predicting FutureDrought with Comprehensive Drought Indices forArkansas-Red River BasinLiu, Lu1; Hong, Yang1; Hocker, James E.2; Shafer, Mark A.2;Gourley, Jonathan J.3; Zhang, Yu1

1. School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science,University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA

2. Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program, OklahomaClimate Survey, Norman, OK, USA

3. NOAA/National Severe Storms Laboratory, Norman, OK,USA

This study examines the past drought for Arkansas-RedRiver Basin with Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI),Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI), and StandardizedRunoff Index (SRI), and predicts the future droughtoccurrence with the same indices for the 21st century.Historical climate data of 1900-2009 were archived to drivethe drought indices calculation, and projected A2, A1B, andB1 climate data from 16 statistically downscaled GlobalClimate Models (GCM) were applied in drought occurrencefrequency and affecting area prediction. The results showthat widespread drought took place in the 1930s, 1950s and1960s, which reconciles with the historical climate record ofthe U.S.. The three major droughts in the 20th centurygreatly impacted local agricultural production andintensified economic impacts from the Great Depression.Predictions haven’t been finished by this stage, but theupcoming results for the 21st century will have tremendousimplications in regional water management and could assistminimizing agricultural loss due to drought.

Loaiciga, Hugo A.Climate variability, people, water, and energy: fromMayan to solar-thermal desalination of seawaterLoaiciga, Hugo A.1

1. Geography, UCSB, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

This paper will review and present novel methodologiesfor analyzing the complex, feedback-type, dependence ofhumans on water for agriculture and societal survival, aswell as methods to cope with natural hazards driven byclimate and water availability on land. It will be shown thatclimate-water-human interactions have hinged largely onclimatic variability at various temporal scales, protracteddroughts being a key natural hazard that has affectedhuman survival and well being. The paper will presentexamples of (a) Mayan demise by long droughts, (b) 20thcentury adaptation in parts of the United Sates to variationsin aquifer recharge due to large inter-annual variability ofprecipitation and concomitant populationgrowth,(c)adaptation strategies to mitigate coastal urbanflooding by sea-level rise in parts of Mexico, and(d)sustainable possibilities for water supply in coastalcommunities that could rely on seawater desalination bymeans of solar-flux powered distillation cells.

http://www.geog.ucsb.edu/~hugo

Macklin, Mark G.When the Nile ran dry: rethinking people river-environment interactions in Sudanese Nubia 5000BC – AD 500Macklin, Mark G.1; Woodward, Jamie C.2; Welsby, Derek A.3;Duller, Geoff A.1; Williams, Frances4; Williams, Martin A.4

1. Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, AberystwythUniversity, Aberystwyth, United Kingdom

2. Geography, School of Environment and Development,The University of Manchester, Manchester, UnitedKingdom

3. Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan, The BritishMuseum, London, United Kingdom

4. Geographical and Environmental Studies, University ofAdelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia

Joint archaeological and geomorphological researchwithin an 80 km-long reach of the Nile Valley in northernSudan, centred on the town of Dongola, has identifiedseveral former river courses along which are located manyhundreds of archaeological sites, the majority of which dateto the Kerma Period (c. 2500 to 1500 BC ). Whatdistinguishes our geoarchaeological investigations fromsimilar studies elsewhere in the Nile Valley, and also fromthose in Mesopotamia and in the Indus Valley, is theluminescence dating of river channel and floodplainsediments that adjoin archaeological sites. This has enabledchanges in settlement patterns to be precisely matched withindependently dated phases of river activity, including thoseperiods when channels ceased to flow. Contrary to muchprevious research on early agricultural societies dependenton floodwater farming in the Nile Valley and other parts ofthe Old World, the Kerma culture continued to flourishduring the environmental crisis centred at around 2000 BC –with the number of settlements actually increasing in theperiod from 2050 to 1750 BC. The Kerma culture, however,ended abruptly 500 years later, coinciding with a majoranabranch of the River Nile becoming inactive shortly before1400 BC. The continuity and success of the Kermaagriculturists in the Dongola reach was associated with afavourable combination of local alluvial landforms andhydrology that persisted for about 1000 years. Theseconditions included a network of anabranching riverchannels with well developed levees, which conveyedmoderate-sized seasonal flows ideally suited to supportfloodwater farming on an extensive scale, in some instances,more than 12 km to the east of the present course of theRiver Nile. However, when flows stopped >400 km2 offormerly irrigated farmland in the northern Dongola reachbecame unusable, probably within a few years. This wouldhave had a catastrophic impact on local farmingcommunities and the urban centres, such as the city ofKerma, they supplied. Indeed, this area was only veryrecently brought back into agricultural production in thesecond half of the 20th century with the introduction ofdiesel-powered groundwater pumps. While causal links

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between cultural and climate changes in the Nile Valley havebeen proposed, the results of this study indicate that thenature and dynamics of local alluvial environments are likelyto have been a critical factor in determining whether climaticfluctuations and associated changes in hydrologyrepresented an opportunity or a hazard for ripariancommunities and floodwater farmers.

Maemoku, HideakiWas the Ghaggar River Mighty Saraswati duringMature Harappan Period?Maemoku, Hideaki1; Shitaoka, Yorinao2; Nagatomo,Tsuneto3; Yagi, Hiroshi4

1. Graduate School of Education, Hiroshima University,Higashi-hiroshima, Japan

2. Institute for Geothermal Sciences, Kyoto University,Beppu, Japan

3. Nara University of Education, Nara, Japan4. Faculty of Education,Art and Science, Yamagata

University, Yamagata, Japan

It is well known that huge urban civilization, such asMohenjo-daro and Harappa, flourished in the Indus Valleybetween 2500 -1900 BCE, however most cities wereabandoned during the following post-urban Harappanperiod. Many reasons for the declination of Harappanculture have been estimated since 19th century, for exampleinvasion of hostile ethnic group, huge earthquake,devastative flooding, climate change etc. “The LostSaraswati” hypothesis would be one of major estimations forthe declination. The mighty Saraswati River described in the“Rig veda” as a powerful goddess of large river, is believed tohave disappeared after glorious period of Harappan culture.One of the leading candidates for present remnant of lostSaraswati is the Ghaggar-Hakra River that originates in theLower and Sub Himalayas of northwestern India. It flowswesterly in the Punjab plain and disappears into Cholisthandeseart as a dried river bed. Naruse(1974) and Yashipal etal.(1980) said the Ghaggar had used to connect with glacialarea in the Higher Himalayas through the Sutlej or YamunaRiver course, however been disconnected by piracy due tocrustal uplift or rejuvenation of adjacent river. We have triedto examine the hypothesis from the view point ofchronology of flood plains and sand dunes distributed alongthe Ghaggar River. First we compared the size of presentflood plain of large rivers originated in glacial area with thatof the Ghaggar, and got to know that the size of flood plainbecame wider in proportion to the volume of annual riverflows. It means that present size of flood plain of theGhaggar can be formed by present volume of annual riverflow. Next we measured the oldest age of sand duneslimiting the size of present flood plain by using OSL datingmethod. Finally we resulted that the Ghaggar was not themighty Saraswati during mature Harappan period becausesand dunes on either side of the Ghaggar had been formedbefore that.

http://www.chikyu.ac.jp/indus/Indus_project/index.html

Magilligan, Francis J.Sensitivity of floodplains and cultural systems toextreme events: agrarian strategies, adaptation,and geomorphic responses to El Niño floods in thePeruvian Atacama DesertMagilligan, Francis J.1; Goldstein, Paul S.2

1. Geography, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA2. Anthropology, UC-San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

Recent research highlights the links between climateand culture change in agrarian societies, especially inclimatically sensitive areas such as desert riverineenvironments. Most commonly, water availability is seen asthe dominant environmental stressor to agriculture,specifically through climatic events that cause extremedroughts or floods. The agrarian significance of changes infloodplain geomorphology, though, is often overlooked.Agricultural development in pre-Columbian Andeansocieties also had specific relationships to local geomorphicconditions within valley systems. Climate events, particularlycatastrophic El Niños, also alter floodplains and potentiallylimit the availability of arable land. Here we evaluate thecultural and settlement responses to the long-termgeomorphic evolution of the Rio Moquegua floodplain inthe Peruvian Atacama Desert. The susceptibility offloodplains to extensive re-working by large floodsassociated with El Niño events highlights the importance oferosion and regeneration of planting surfaces, especially inarid regions where the availability of arable land is limitedand floodplains are one of the critically few areas whereagriculture can exist. We assemble a paleoflood chronologyfor mainstem and tributary sections and ascertain thevariation in ENSO frequency and magnitude during the pastca. 20 ka. Because of the inherent watershed structure andregional climatology, mid-valley tributaries of the RioMoquegua only flood during El Niño episodes and thusprovide an important proxy of extreme El Niños while themainstem records both La Niña and El Niño episodes. ElNiño floods appear to have been pronounced during theLate Pleistocene and up to at least the Younger Dryas whileevidence of large El Niño floods is lacking in tributarysystems during the Mid-Holocene. Moreover, detailedmapping of streambank erosion during the 1998 El Niñoflood indicates up to 2 ha of floodplain loss per river km foran estimated 50-yr flood. Terrace chronologies alongmainstem reaches indicate that more than 70% of the valleysurfaces are younger than ~ 1-2 ka, again suggestingwidespread Late Holocene floodplain re-working. Systematicarchaeological settlement pattern survey permits detailedanalyses of agrarian strategies during the Formative (1800BC - AD 500) and Middle Horizon (AD 500-1000) periods,with distinct settlement “niches” in terms of agriculturalpractices and longitudinal position in the drainage andlateral location relative to the floodplain. Settlementpatterns suggest that the Huaracane, Wari, and Tiwanakucultures had distinct relationships to the floodplain in termsof settlement and agrarian strategies. Thus not every culturalgroup within the Valley had the same vulnerability to

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different climatic or hydrologic hazards, especially thoseassociated with large ENSO events.

Massa, CharlyQuantification of medieval and modern humandriven erosion due to agriculture on a southGreenland lake systemMassa, Charly1; Bichet, Vincent1; Gauthier, Emilie1; Perren,Bianca1; Petit, Christophe2; Richard, Hervé1; Monna,Fabrice3; Vannière, Boris1

1. Laboratoire Chrono-Environnement, UMR CNRS 6249,Université de Franche-Comté, Besançon, France

2. ArScAn, UMR CNRS 7041 Archéologies et Sciences del’Antiquité, Université de Paris 1, Paris, France

3. ARTeHIS, UMR CNRS 5594 Archéologie, cultures etsociétés, Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France

Lake deposits are widely used to study climate changesand human impact on landscapes. In the case of the Norsesettlements of Greenland (985-1450 AD) only a few studiesuse lake records to evaluate the effect of agriculturalpractices on soil erosion (Fredskild, 1973, 1978, 1992 ;Sandgren and Fredskild, 1991), the more recent worksfocusing on peat records (Edwards et al. 2008 ; Schofield etal. 2010), archaeological trench (Schofield et al. 2008) andsoil section (Buckland et al. 2009). These previous studiesindicate an increase in erosion during the Vikingcolonization which can be attributed to agropastoralactivities. But they suffer from dating bias on bulk samplesor sedimentary hiatus that do not allow reliablequantification of inflows of eroded material. Thus, theunresolved questions about the role of overgrazing and soilerosion in the collapse of the Greenland Norse society stillneed precise quantification of sediment flux from the studyof lake sequences in archaeological context. To resolve thisproblem a suite of biological and physical proxies from thesediments of Lake Igaliku (N61°00’22”, W45°26’28”) wereused to examine the environmental impact of Norse andmodern farming activities in South Greenland. Lake Igalikuis situated circa 2 km northwest from the medieval site ofGardar which is known to be the largest medieval farms ofGreenland, and was easily accessible for Norse farmers andgrazing mammals. Currently a modern sheep farm complexlies in the lake catchment. This enables an in-depth study ofthe comparative effects of medieval and modern agriculturalactivities upon an otherwise pristine sub-arctic landscape.Analyses of the sediment sequence include pollen and non-pollen palynomorphes analysis, high-resolution grain sizemeasurements, high-resolution geophysical (Multi SensorCore Logger) and geochemical core scanning (XRF corescanner), X-ray radiography, ICP-MS and organicgeochemistry. The chronology of the sequence is establishedon 14 AMS 14C measurements (including 11 dates onterrestrial macro-fossils) along the upper 125 cm of the coreand completed by lead 210 and caesium dating for the mostrecent sediment. This robust chronology allow, with astatistical bootstrap method, to estimate the sedimentationrates and its uncertainty over 3000 years. Age-depth model

derived sediment flux and independent proxies of detritismas the concentration of titanium or the Corg:N atomic ratioconfirm that the erosion caused by medieval and modernland use is significantly greater than natural erosion over thelast 3 millennia.

Matthews, ElaineNon-climatic controls on malaria: A historicalstudy of the US, Italy and Sri LankaMatthews, Elaine1

1. Goddard Institute for Space Studies, NASA, New York,NY, USA

Malaria was widely distributed throughout tropical andtemperate environments for many centuries. It waseradicated from most temperate regions by 1940 withoutaggressive antimalarial efforts and under stable climateconditions. Widespread use of DDT following its 1946introduction to subtropical and tropical countries in themid-1940s further produced striking reductions in malariacases and, by the 1960s, had resulted in the eradication orradical reduction of the disease in 37 countries where it hadbeen a serious health problem. Many tropical andsubtropical countries still or again carry high burdens ofmalaria. A suite of changing conditions conflate to providepositive feedbacks on the post-1960s spread and severity ofmalaria. 1) Drug and insecticide resistance are increasing. 2)Human migrations prompted by warfare and the search foremployment and food are increasing which can expose non-immunes to the disease. 3) Malaria-endemic areas areexpanding due to re-emergence of the disease in places whereit was previously eradicated or because malaria vectors,Anopheles mosquitoes, are returning to regions previouslycleared of the vector. 4) Urban malaria is on the rise fueledby rapid growth of poor urban populations in conjunctionwith rapid adaptation of malaria vectors to urban sites. 5)Mosquito control have declined in many countries where ithad contributed to reduction is malaria burden. 6) Manycountries are host to development projects involving water-management components, such as irrigation works, oftenresulting in the introduction or exacerbation of water-relateddiseases. Although changing mean climate, and perhapsshorter-term climate variations such as El Nino events, play arole in transmission of malaria, climate is one player in alarge and complex suite of interacting controllers that isitself in continuous transition. We report results from ahistorical study of malaria in the US, Italy and Sri Lankadesigned to identify the impact of non-climatic factors ondistribution, incidence and trends in malaria morbidity andmortality in these countries.

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Meadow, Richard H.The 4.2kya Abrupt Climatic Event and the IndusCivilizationMeadow, Richard H.1; Patel, Ajita1

1. Peabody Museum and Dept of Anthropology, HarvardUniversity, Cambridge, MA, USA

A 4.2kya calBP abrupt climatic event is attested in proxyrecords from localities across the world. The proposal ofWeiss and others (e.g., Weiss et al. 1973, Staubwasser & Weiss2006) that this event severely affected ancient civilizationshas established a research agenda throughout Eurasia for thepast 2 decades. Results from these investigations have led toa refinement in our understanding of cultural responses torapid climatic change. Habitat tracking is increasingly seenas a major factor in the rearrangement of peoples andpolitical structures, especially across regions with significantenvironmental diversity that include zones that are onlymarginally productive for agriculture and pastoralism. Oneregion that remains intractable as far as our understandingof human settlement systems and their relation to changingclimate, weather, and river regimes is that of the greaterIndus Valley. In spite of the efforts of Madella & Fuller(2006) and Prasad & Enzel (2006) to bring some order to thechaotic paleoclimatic and paleoecological evidence, progressin our understanding of the interactions between humansocieties and their changing landscapes is severely hamperedby a scarcity of high quality data, both environmental andcultural. The period of the Indus (Harappan) Civilization,that includes the 4.2kya event, is rather poorly understood indetail. From the first recognition in the 1920s that thereexisted an Indus Civilization, it has been a culturalphenomenon often conceptualized as a monolith bothspatially and temporally. As this paper underlines, it was nosuch thing. There was marked regional variability as well asimportant changes through time. These are well attestedwhere there have been excavations that have stressed theimportance of radiocarbon dating the remains of short-livedorganics from secure archaeological contexts. At ancientsettlements such as Harappa in Punjab (Pakistan), wherethere are long occupational sequences, it is increasingly clearthat past excavations overwhelmingly recovered remainsfrom ca. 4.2 and 3.9kya and that relatively little is knownabout the first 3–4 centuries of what was a 700 year dynamicand regionally differentiated cultural phenomenon. Becauselittle attention has been paid to change in material cultureduring the period of the Indus Civilization, it has beendifficult to break down the results of settlement surveys intowhen during the ca. 4.6–3.9kya period a site was occupied.Thus it is impossible to monitor changing settlement inHarappan landscapes over time and to evaluate the effects ofthe 4.2kya climatic event on the contemporary peoples ofnorthwestern South Asia. Recent excavations suggest thatthere were significant changes beginning at that time,possibly with habitat tracking into the better-buffered areasof the Indus alluvium from surrounding environmentallymarginal zones. Indeed, major sites such as Harappa appearto have reached their greatest size beginning at about 4.2kya.

Madella, M. & D.Q. Fuller, 2006. Quaternary ScienceReviews 25: 1283-1301. Prasad, S. & Y. Enzel, 2006.Quaternary Research 66: 442-453. Staubwasser, M. & H.Weiss, 2006. Quaternary Research 66: 372-387. Weiss, H. etal., 1993. Science 291: 609-610.

Mehrotra, NiveditaHolocene vegetation – climate and evidence ofearly Rice cultivation in Southern Tripura, Indiabased on Palynological analysisMehrotra, Nivedita1, 2; Bhattacharayya, Amalava2; Shah,Santosh K.2

1. Geology, Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA2. Quaternary Research Lab, Birbal Sahni Institute of

Palaeobotany, Lucknow, India

Climatic reconstruction based on various proxies wouldbe useful to understand long-term climatic changes andtheir relationships with other events. Studies related toproxies such as pollen from dated subsurface sediments ofHolocene not only aid an advantage of reconstructingclimate based on past vegetation but also provide insight tomark the advent of agriculture in the region on the basis ofsize variation among wild and cultivated grasses, ratio ofarboreal and non arboreal pollen grains and other markerpollen grains indicator of cultivation. For the present studypalynological analysis was carried out from southernmostpart of the Tripura, India in the radiocarbon dated 1.20 mdeep sediment profile. The pollen grain of mixed assemblageof angiosperm, ferns and conifers are recovered from thisprofile are good in number, except at the bottom of profilesample which is almost devoid of pollen grains. Based on therepresentation of the pollen taxa recovered, vegetation andextent of human invasion vis-à-vis climate from southernTripura was examined during the time span of last 7000-4000 yr. B.P. The results shows that during this time span,the area is occupied by moist deciduous forest under warmhumid climate with intermittent changes in precipitationregime i.e. comparatively low humidity around 6.8 kyr B.P.and 3.7-3.8 kyr B.P. Evidence of land clearance andagricultural aspect in this region during this time period wasalso examined. While a clear indication of human impact inthe documentation remains equivocal, the presence of largesized grass pollen over 50may be indication of the ricecultivation and its presence from 5.7 kyr. B.P. suggestscultivation of rice at this region from mid Holocene andthus the human impact in the region, which would havebeen one of the primary reasons for ecological changes inthis region.

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Miyake, NaoVegetation changes since the middle Holocenearound Lake Rara, western NepalMiyake, Nao1; Momohara, Arata2; Nakamura, Atsunori3;Okamura, Makoto1; Matsuoka, Hiromi1; Maemoku,Hideaki4; Yagi, Hiroshi5; Dangol, Vishnu6; Osada, Toshiki7

1. Faculty of Science, Kochi University, Kochi, Japan2. Chiba University, Matsudo, Japan3. University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan4. Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima, Japan5. Yamagata University, Yamagata, Japan6. Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal7. National Institutes for the Humanities, Kyoto, Japan

Vegetation changes since the middle Holocene wereinvestigated using pollen and plant macrofossil records in acore sediment (Rara09-4) (29.5347° N, 82.0933° E and 3,000m a.s.l.) from Lake Rara in western Nepal. The pollen recordwas divided into two local pollen assemblage zones (I and II),even though it was co-dominated by Quercus and Pinus,with Abies, Picea and Betula pollen throughout the core. Inzone I (ca. 6,000 to 3,000 yr B.P.), Quercus pollen had highvalues of more than 50% of total tree pollen. On the otherhand, zone II (ca. 3,000 yr B.P. to present) is characterized bythe decrease in Quercus pollen and increase in Pinus pollen.Most of fossil Quercus and Pinus pollen grains were Q.semecarpifolia and P. wallichiana types, based on their SEMidentification. Fossil leaves of Q. semecarpifolia type werefounded frequently in the both zones. Macroscopic charcoalinflux increased progressively in zone I. Based on these fossilrecords and spatial patterns of forest vegetation in thepresent, during the mid to late Holocene, Q. semecarpifoliaand P. wallichiana predominated in the forests mainly on thesouth-facing slopes, whereas especially on the north-facingslopes evergreen conifer forests consisting of Abies and Piceawith Betula were established. The decline of Q.semecarpifolia and dominance of P. wallichiana in zone Imay have been caused by changes in fire regimes associatedwith combined effects of climate changes and intensifiedland-use activities around the lake.

Miyauchi, TakahiroLate Holocene geomorphic coastal changesaffecting the mutation of bay-facing Harappansites of the Indus civilization, Gujarat, IndiaMiyauchi, Takahiro1; Maemoku, Hideaki2; Matsuoka,Hiromi3; Osoda, Toshiki4; Kharakwal, Jeewan S.5

1. Earth Sciences, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan2. Geography, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan3. Applied Sciences, Kochi University, Kochi, Japan4. Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Kyoto,

Japan5. Archaeology, Rajasthan Studies, Udaipur, India

The Indus civilization is one of the four great ancientcivilizations, which developed around the Indus River andalong the northern coastal area of Arabian Sea ca.8500 to

3300 years ago. This age is geologically called Holocenewhich is characterized by the glacio-eustatic sea level changeafter the last glacial termination. Therefore, the mature ofbay-facing Harappan sites was significantly influenced byvertical and horizontal shifts of coastlines. We inspected lateQuaternary geomorphic developments related to the relativesea level change around two representative sites, Lothal siteand Kanmer site in Gujarat, India, analyzing geological dataand Corona satellite images together. The obtained resultsindicated that the ancient Lothal town developed on thelow-lying alluvial flood plain which appeared on tidal flatsthrough about 4 m of relative sea level fall after Holocenetransgression peak, acquiring shipping by water. Yet thesuccessive sea level fall around 2 m likely led to impossibilityof shipping, therefore the Lothal might rapidly decline as aport town. Most of about 6 m relative sea level fall in lateHolocene is probably originated from hydro-isostatic crustaluplift, and it controlled geomorphic evolution andvicissitudes of bay-facing Harappan sites.The Lothal site(ca.2500-1900 B.C.) is in the Cambay coastal plain which ischaracterized by geomorphic configuration of present andemerged tidal mud flats locally overlain by flood plains. Twolate Quaternary marine terraces (MT1 and MT2) composedof emerged tidal flats are recognizably elevated in 15m and10m. MT1 is assigned to MIS5 stage and MT2 to MIS1 stage(Prasad and Gupta, 1999). The settlement town, 12 m inelevation, is exactly founded on the artificial mound of floodplain over MT2-forming marine sediments. Thisgeomorphological condition and the dockyard adjacent tothe town imply that the ancient Lothal town had locatedand developed with marine trading by shippingtransportation, using the surrounding channel system. Asthe sea level had relatively fallen several meters afterward,shipping itself had become impossible even at high tide andthe town likely declined. The Kanmer site several thousandyears B.C. is situated on the cuesta mound (32m inelevation) about 7 km inland from the Little Rann which is abrackish marsh, especially invaded by sea water in summerwet season. Even though mid Holocene transgressionreached to inland further than the present coastline of theRann, shipping transportation was probably difficult due torelative steep river profile and horizontal distance of about 5km between Kanmer site and the mid Holocene coastline.The land and shipping transportation was probably usedtogether. As the Rann was reduced by relative successivemarine regression, the distance by land transpirationincreased and shipping trade decayed gradually. Thus,ancient Kanmer town might have been finally abandoned.

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Moss, Patrick T.Historical and Pre-Historic Human EnvironmentalImpacts on the Sub-Tropics of eastern AustraliaMoss, Patrick T.1; Tibby, John2; McGowan, Hamish1; Barr,Cameron2; Marshall, Jonathan3; McGregor, Glenn3;Petherick, Lynda1; Daus, Tamara1

1. School of Geography, Planning, & EnvironmentalManagement, The University of Queensland, Brisbane,QLD, Australia

2. Geographical and Environmental Studies, The Universityof Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia

3. Department of Environment and Resource Management,Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Profound environmental change has occurred withinthe south east Queensland region over the late Quaternaryperiod, with the most recent change being associated withEuropean settlement of the region in the 1820s that hasresulted in significant deforestation, alteration in fireregimes and increased sedimentation linked to urbanisation,agricultural and mining activities. Archaeological records ofAboriginal settlement for the region extend back to at least20,000 years and provide evidence of an increase in theintensity of occupation over the last 5,000 years. Recently, anumber of palaeoecological records (i.e. pollen, charcoal anddiatoms) have been examined from North Stradbroke Island,the second largest sand island in the world. These records,taken from a variety of perched lakes, window lakes andwetlands, provide a continuous picture of late Quaternaryenvironments for the Sub-Tropics of eastern Australia. Inparticular they offer insight into the impacts of alterationsin fire regimes and water extraction associated withEuropean settlement, as well the possible impacts ofAboriginal people on the region’s landscape and the possibledrivers for Holocene intensification of this occupation. Inaddition, a new record from the Nerang River, located on thenearby mainland, has been completed and this provides acomparison between late Holocene (last 4,000 years) withMarine Isotope Stage 5e (~130,000 to 120,000 years ago)environments, which may shed some more light into therelative impacts of natural climatic change and humanactivity on the region’s landscapes.

Nakamura, AtsunoriMid-Late Holocene Asian monsoon reconstructionusing a sediment core obtained from Lake Rara,western NepalNakamura, Atsunori1, 2; Yokoyama, Yusuke2, 1; Maemoku,Hideaki3; Yagi, Hiroshi4; Okamura, Makoto5; Matsuoka,Hiromi5; Miyake, Nao5; Osada, Toshiki6; Teramura,Hirofumi6; Yamada, Tomoki7; Adhikari, Danda P.8; Dangol,Vishnu8; Matsuzaki, Hiroyuki9

1. Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo,Tokyo, Japan

2. Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, University ofTokyo, Chiba, Japan

3. Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan4. Yamagata University, Yamagata, Japan5. Kochi University, Kochi, Japan6. National Institute for Humanitiy and Nature, Kyoto,

Japan7. Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan8. Tribhuvan University, Kathomandu, Nepal9. MALT, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

The Asian monsoon is an important component of theEarth’s climate system to understand regional and globalclimate dynamics. Geological proxies have been indicating ofgradual decrease of its intensities through the Holocene thatwas attributed as changes in insolation in the summer dueto the Earth’s orbital parameters. Although overall picturesof monsoon reconstructions are consistent among proxiesthat is stronger summer monsoon at mid-Holocene than thepresent, the detailed structures are still different from eachother. In particular, millennial to centennial structures ofmonsoon intensities record during the Holocene is stillunder debate (eg., Overpeck et al., 2007). Thereforeunderstanding mechanisms of monsoon required high-resolution paleoclimate records, and hence we present a newsediment core record from Lake Rara, western Nepal(29°32N, 82°05E). Lake Rara is located at 3,000m abovesea level and has a maximum water depth of 168m. Summerclimate is controlled by the moist southeasterly monsoonthat derives most of the annual precipitation in the region.Thus the lake is one of the ideal locations to reconstructmonsoon variability using various proxies in the sediment.We studied past monsoon intensities using major elementsvariations in the sediments. The age model of the sedimentcore is based on 14C dating on leaves using Accelerator MassSpectrometry (AMS). Concentrations of major elements weremeasured by X-ray Fluorescence Analysis (XRF). We thenreconstructed temporal variations of the chemicalweathering index (CIA) in sediment source area and thedegree of bottom-water redox conditions (MnO/Al2O3)respectively proxies of precipitations and wind strengths atthe site. The paper will present evolution and variability ofthe Asian monsoon during the Mid- to Late- Holocene.Overpeck, J. T. and Cole, J. E. (2007): Lessons from a distantmonsoon. Nature, 445, 18, 270-271

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Nicoll, KathleenA New Synthesis of Records of QuaternaryPalaeoenviromental Change and Geoarchaeologyin the NE SaharaNicoll, Kathleen1

1. University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

Is there synchroneity between the oceanic and terrestrialrealms as interpreted from various proxy records forpalaeoenvironmental and geoarchaeological change in thenortheastern Sahara? Offshore records suggest that the ~15ka cal BP onset and the ~5.5 ka cal BP termination of the“African Humid Period” was a rapid response to gradualinsolation forcing, manifested by enhanced aeolian transportoffshore. Although there is general agreement that anenhanced Afro-Asian monsoon profoundly affected thewater balance of the continental landmass, it is evident thatthe delivery and tempo varied by location. A synthesis ofavailable floral, faunal, and cultural records for the onset ofwet conditions in Egypt and Sudan includes 500+ publishedradiocarbon (Nicoll, 2004) and OSL dates (Nicoll,unpublished) from cultural contexts and various fluvio-lacustrine and aeolian stratigraphies (Haynes et al., 1997;Nicoll et al., 1999). At its wettest “monsoonal maximum”~10 - 6 ka cal BP, the interior of North Africa was a marginaldrought-prone environment, barely sustaining humanactivities and a meager steppe-shrub desert flora/fauna withsome Sudano-Sahelian elements. The Eastern Saharanrecords reflect enhanced aeolian activity ~7 ka cal BP, andthe drying out of the African interior commenced in advanceof terrigenous dust flux to the ocean. Recurrent dry phasesin the Eastern Sahara are associated with culturalabandonment, deflation, and sedimentation of aeolian sandin southern Egypt and Sudan. Stratigraphic records fromthis highly continental location reflects ascendant global,oceanic, and atmospheric changes, as well as other localfeedback mechanisms that cannot be gleaned from the oceanarchives. Abrupt hydroclimatic changes influenced resourceavailability across NE Sahara, and fostered technologicalinnovation and adaptation. The complex responses of theprehistoric Desert Peoples is apparent; their resilience ismanifested by migrations to and linkages with the emergingPharonic civilization in the Nile Valley ~ 5 ka cal BP.References Cited Nicoll, K. 2004. Records of RecentEnvironmental Change and Prehistoric Human Activity inEgypt and Northern Sudan. Quaternary Science Reviews 23:p.561-580. Nicoll, K. 2001. Radiocarbon chronologies forPrehistoric Human Occupation and Hydroclimatic Change,Egypt and Sudan. Geoarchaeology: An International Journal.v. 16: p. 47-64. Nicoll, K.; Giegengack, R.; Kleindienst, M.R.;1999. Petrogenesis of Artifact-Bearing Fossil-Spring Depositsfrom Kharga Oasis, Egypt. Geoarchaeology: An InternationalJournal. v. 14: p. 849-863. Haynes, C.V. Jr; Maxwell, T.A.; ElHawary, A.; Nicoll, K.A.; Stokes, S.; 1997. An Acheulian SiteNear Bîr Kiseiba in the Darb el Arba’in Desert, Egypt.Geoarchaeology: An International Journal, v.12: p. 819-832.

Okuno, Jun’ichiThe role of hydro-isostasy for Holocene sea-levelchanges and coastal evolution in the southernIndus region, Gujarat, IndiaOkuno, Jun’ichi1; Maemoku, Hideaki2

1. National Institute of Polar Research, Tachikawa-shi,Japan

2. Department of Education, Hiroshima University,Higashi-Hiroshima-shi, Japan

The sea-level rise of about 120 m during the lastdeglaciation had a significant impact on the development ofprehistoric human civilization, and the effect of subsequentcrustal movement also significantly constrained thedevelopment of prehistoric human society. However, thegeological environment along the southern coast of theIndus region is the result of complex interactions betweensea-level change and tectonic crustal deformation inQuaternary. On the other hand, studies of sea-level changein Holocene show major differences among curves fordifferent locations in the world punctuating the importanceof regional factors in shaping sea-level change. Local sea-levelcurves reflect global eustatic changes, regional isostaticadjustments of the crust to changing ice and ocean volumesand regional, tectonically controlled, crustal movement. Inthis study, we evaluate the relative contribution of each ofthese factors to the Holocene sea-level change along thecoast of Gujarat, India, and reconstruct the transition of thepalaeobathymetry in this region in order to consider therelationship between sea-level and the Indus civilization. Inrelatively tectonically stable areas far from former ice sheetsthe primary reason for fluctuations of sea-level through thelast deglaciation has been the exchange of mass between theice sheets and the oceans; as the Late Pleistocene ice sheetsmelted, water was added to the oceans and global rise in sea-level occurred. This is the eustatic component. Furthermore,in response to the changing surface loads of ice and water,the crust responds by uplift under the formerly ice-loadedareas, and by subsidence where the ocean load increases.Thus the total sea-level change is the sum of these eustaticand isostatic contributions. If we can simulate crustaldeformation in association with glacio-hydro isostasyaccurately, the theoretical relative sea-level curves areobtained. High-resolution numerical models that representthe spatial and temporal variability of sea-level change andshoreline evolution have been developed over recent yearsthat give good representations of sea-level change and whichhave been used to separate the tectonic contributions fromthe eustatic and isostatic factors. Our prediction that hydro-isostatic contribution of sea-level for about 7000 years at theGujarat coast is about 5 m. This value is consistent with thearchaeological and geomorphologic evidences along thecoast of Gulf of Cambay. According to predictions of sea-level curve in this region, spatial distribution of sea-levelhigh stand in Holocene is dependent on the viscosity modeland Holocene eustatic sea-level change significantly. Theseresluts indicate that the comparison between the model sea-level curve and the archaeological observations also enable to

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conclude that the viscosity structure and eustatic sea-levelchange for the last 7000 years.

Osada, Toshiki“Environmental change and the Indus civilization”:a report on the major outcome of our RIHNproject (2007-2011)Osada, Toshiki1

1. Research Institute for Humanity and Nature, Kyoto,Japan

I have been conducting the Indus project, officiallytitled “Environmental change and the Indus civilization”, atthe Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN),Kyoto, Japan, since 2007. This research project examines thesocial character and environmental context of the Induscivilization, and attempts to determine how they are relatedto the civilization’s short life and rapid decline. In particular,we aim to evaluate the impact of environmental change onthe subsistence economy and trade network that sustainedthe Indus civilization’s urban system. Our research will alsoprovide data on the long-term processes of climate change inSouth Asia. Such data will help us develop historicalperspective on, and practical understanding of,contemporary environmental problems in the region. Ourproject is divided into five research groups: (1) the Palaeo-Environmental Research Group (PERG); (2) the MaterialCulture Research Group (MCRG); (3) the SubsistenceSystem Research Group (SSRG); (4) the Inherited CultureResearch Group (ICRG); and (5) DNA Research Group(DRG). They integrate cultural and biological data obtainedfrom archaeological excavations and other field activities,palaeo-environmental data obtained from satellite imageryand field study, and original accounts obtained from ancienttexts. Important subjects of study investigated so far include:ancient climate change; avulsion of the Ghaggar River; thepalaeocoastline of Gujarat; and palaeo-seismic activity. Inthis conference I will first draw an outline of our project andpresent a brief summary of the major outcome of ourresearch. Following my introductory presentation, othermembers of our team will discuss the specific researchresults in more detail.

Panyushkina, Irina P.Climate and Siberian Scythians: Tree-ring evidenceof summer temperature variability linked tonomadic resourcesPanyushkina, Irina P.1

1. LTRR, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

Climate is an indirect but immediate factor inevitablyaffecting vitality of nomadic populations by triggeringchanges in supply of important ecosystem services (e.g.forage and water). Research on synergy of environmentalchange and behavioral adaptation of Scythian horsemeninhabiting the Eurasian steppe during the first millenniumBC (Iron Age) is not restricted to archaeological evidencealone. In the Altai Mountains, tree rings from kurgans of the

Pazyryk archaeological culture have contributed to abreakthrough in temporal precision and resolution ofabsolute dating of the Early Eurasian Nomads (Panyushkinaet al. 2007). Seemingly, floating well-replicated tree-ringchronologies used in the dating capture early-summertemperature signal based on calibration of local climate withmodern tree rings from the Altai upper tree-lines. Generally,mobile pastoralism as an economic strategy has beenemerging throughout the cooling and drying climates ofInner Eurasia since roughly 3200 BC. The Iron Age economyof the Altai was deeply grounded in seasonal migration ofhorsemen with their herds between winter lowland pasturesand summer high-mountain pastures. The verticalmovement of herds is highly dependent on when growingseason begins. Anomalies of growing-season length might beunderstood from variance assessments of the summertemperature proxies. Using statistical analysis of tree ringssensitive to June temperature from 4 sites across the AltaiMountains we estimated frequency and power of tree-ringwidth fluctuations. The results were analyzed in regard toclimate-driven change in nomadic resources and theeastward migration of the Pazyryk people between 710 BCand 240 BC. Our tree-ring records suggest a stable climateperiod occurred at 710 BC with warm summers between 570BC and 530 BC. This time is coincides with a wave ofnomadic tribes invading the Altai region (Koryakova &Epimakhov 2007). A summer cooling occurred between 550and 380 BC, showing an unstable state of climate with alarge number of outliers The last century of the records wasnot only the warmest but had two the coldest decades aswell. Tree-ring width variance was much greater than duringthe previous centuries. Spectral analysis of tree rings showschanges in frequency bands toward the end of the records.The summer temperature extremes may link to diminishingforage productivity of grasslands due to high transpiration(higher quartile) or shortened grazing season (lowerquartile). The persistent instability of the summertemperatures and changes in seasonality lead toenvironmental change that forced the horsemen to searchfor new surviving strategies. In the highest pastures of theAltai, medico-biological analysis of Ukok’s mummiesindicated great physical stress among Pazyryk people around320-280 BC (Molodin et al. 2000), which could be related topoor adaptation of the population to unfamiliarenvironment. The inferred degradation of environment mostlikely contributed to the exodus of the Pazyryk people by ca.240 BC. Thus, the results provide independent evidence forIron Age environment and human interaction indicatingclimate is a major force in pastoral migrations across theAltai.

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Pederson, NeilNeither New York City nor Atlanta are Prepared fora Return to Historical DroughtPederson, Neil1; Cook, Edward1; Vranes, Kevin2

1. Tree Ring Laboratory, Lamont-Doherty Earth Obs.,Palisades, NY, USA

2. Enterprise Energy Management Services, Boulder, CO,USA

Forecasts of drought paint a dire picture for futurecivilizations, even for cities in humid environments withsignificant and seasonally-consistent precipitation. Yet, recentstudies indicate that major population centers in the easternU.S. seem to be consuming more water than what theirsystems can supply in early-global warming conditions. Forexample, New York City (NYC) declared a series of waterrestrictions during a recent era of abundant moisture. Furtherunderscoring this paradox, there has been a reduction inwater consumption since 1979. In a more extreme case,Atlanta, GA’s (ATL) water supply was reduced to less thanthree months and other nearby population centers wereestimated to have only to 30 to 100 days of water remainingduring a recent two yr drought. The era of increased watersupply issues in both regions also coincide with increasedlitigation over water rights between competing states. Theperiod of litigation could be a harbinger of the future asmeteorological records indicate a significant reduction ofdrought in the NYC region since the early-1970s and generallymoist conditions in the ATL region from the early-1960s tomid-1990s. We update drought history for the NYC and ATLwater supply regions to put the paradox of relatively moistconditions coupled with increasing water supply threats in along-term context. Using nested reconstruction techniques,improved spatial density of tree-ring records (including thefirst tree-ring records from north Georgia, the watershedregion for ATL) and a multi-species approach, we haveproduced stronger and more stable tree-ring basedreconstructions over prior efforts for both regions.Specifically, our results indicate that the use of multiplespecies, including non-traditional species such asLiriodendron tulipifera, Betula lenta and Carya spp., improvesreconstruction skill. While the new reconstructions improveupon previous efforts in a statistical sense, they reveal similarpatterns of historical drought variation. For example, the mid-1960s drought in the NYC region and the mid-18th centurydrought in the ATL region dominate both records as the mostintense or severe droughts. However, both updates underscoremeteorological records by showing that recent decades areamong the most moisture-abundant within the last 400 years.Both records also show a higher frequency and duration ofdrought prior to the 20th century. Thus, the new droughtreconstructions give further support to the idea that therecent droughts in major cites in moisture-abundant regionsare experiencing human-triggered drought, not extraordinaryclimatological drought. Therefore, with future warming andincreased evaporation, it is likely that neither NYC nor ATLare prepared for the next significant drought resemblinganything like the pre-20th century era.

Perez, Gay JaneThe Changing Philippine Land Cover and Climateas Observed from SpacePerez, Gay Jane1, 2; Comiso, Josefino C.1

1. Hydrospheric and Biospheric Sciences Laboratory, NASAGoddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA

2. National Institute of Physics, University of thePhilippines, Quezon City, Philippines

Despite having Manila Observatory, which is one of theoldest meteorological stations in the world, there is a generalpaucity of climate data in the Philippines and available dataprovide very little information about the changing landcover and climate in the country. Point measurementssuggest trends in surface temperature and rainfall that aregreater than those from global averages but we don’t know ifthese trends represent average changes for the entire country.Also, the Philippines is among the top ten countries in theworld with high deforestation rate, with 9.8 million hectares(M Ha) of forest lost from 1934 to 1988. The remainingforest cover, as estimated in 2003, is only 7.2 M Ha, whichcomprises 24% of the total Philippine land area. This studytakes advantage of available satellite data sets to gaininsights into the interannual changes in surface parametersin the country during the last decade. Among the surfaceparameters are the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI), surface temperature, albedo, rainfall, and soilmoisture. The key sensors that we use are the ModerateResolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), whichprovides NDVI and surface temperature data and theAdvanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E), whichprovides rainfall and soil moisture data from 2002 to thepresent. Multi-year averages of NDVI during dry and wetseasons show large seasonality of vegetation as observed byTerra/MODIS during the 2000 to 2010 period. During dryseasons the NDVI values are shown to be relatively high inelevated areas. These high values represent areas that arenormally covered by trees, representing either old virginforest or relatively new forest. Highly urbanized regions showlittle seasonal change while the low-lying areas showsignificant increase from the dry to the wet season. TheNDVI averages derived from the first 5 years of MODIS datashow patterns that are very similar to averages in thefollowing 5 years. The difference in the averages, however,indicates a considerable decline in vegetation, includingforested areas, over the ten-year period. Such declinesuggests a continuation of the 3% decrease in agriculturalfarm areas estimated previously through manual surveys forthe period 1991 to 2000. Similar studies using the samesensor show significant increase in surface temperatureduring the same period. It is apparent that satellite data is apowerful tool for making spatial and temporal inventory ofnatural resources amid the changing climate. The 250-meterresolution MODIS data provide a good enough resolutionfor assessing the general characteristics of vegetation in anyregion of the world. We validate our interpretation of thedata through the use of near coincident high-resolution datasuch as those provided by Landsat and Formosat-2. For

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improved assessment of the change, the data record wasextended from 10 years to about 30 years through the use ofAVHRR 1 km data that has been available since 1981. Futurework will include similar studies for other Southeast Asiancountries to assess how the climate and land cover has beenchanging for the entire region.

Perren, Bianca B.Agriculture and climate from the Norse landnám tothe present: the biological response to humanactivities at Igaliku, South GreenlandPerren, Bianca B.1; Massa, Charly1; Bichet, Vincent1;Gauthier, Émilie1; Mathieu, Olivier2; Richard, Hervé1; Petit,Christophe3

1. UMR CNRS 6249 CHRONO-ENVIRONNEMENT,Université de Franche-Comté, Besançon, France

2. UMR/CNRS 5561 Biogeosciences, Université deBourgogne, Dijon, France

3. ArScAn, UMR CNRS 7041 Archéologies et Sciences del’Antiquité, Université de Paris 1, Paris, France

A multiproxy high-resolution record from Lake Igaliku,South Greenland, was generated to evaluate the in-lakebiological response to both Norse (950-1450 AD) andmodern (post-1920 AD) agricultural disturbance, and itspaleoclimatic context. Diatoms and C and N stable isotopesshow perturbations consistent with the timing of the latterpart of the Norse occupation of the area (after 1300 AD) andwith recent agricultural activities (after 1980 AD),superimposed upon long term climatic variations (e.g. LittleIce Age, post-1990 AD warming). While the response toNorse agriculture is subtle in nature, with slight changes todiatom phytoplankton and C:N ratios, the biologicalresponse to the last 3 decades of modern sheep farming ismarked, with drastic changes in diatom assemblages, C andN isotopes, and a sharp increase in scaled chrysophytes.Indeed, the lake environment of the last 30 years isunmatched by any of the late Holocene. The driver for recentchanges is likely a combined response to both a warmingclimate and intensification of agricultural practices. Neitherwarm temperatures nor agricultural disturbance togetherduring the Norse landnám were sufficient to create themarked changes observed in the modern lake environment.These results are in direct contrast to the notion that theGreenland Norse caused the widespread destruction of theirpastoral landscape. This study represents the first use ofdiatoms and isotopes from lake sediments to evaluate Norseimpacts in Greenland.

Persoiu, AurelA Holocene Perspective On Interactions BetweenSocial And Environmental Processes In NWRomania, Central EuropePersoiu, Aurel1; Onac, Bogdan P.1, 2; Feurdean, Angelica2;Persoiu, Ioana3; Matau, Florica4

1. Department of Geology, University of South Florida,Tampa, FL, USA

2. “Emil Racovita” Institute of Speleology, Cluj Napoca,Romania

3. Department of Geography, “Al. I. Cuza” University, Iasi,Romania

4. Department of History, “Al. I. Cuza” University, Iasi,Romania

The study of interactions between past social andenvironmental processes became increasingly important overthe past decades, especially in the context of the continuousand amplified human stress on the natural environment.Whereas the human impact upon the environment isgenerally accepted by the scientific community (at least in itsbroader outline), the reverse, i.e. the impact ofenvironmental changes upon human society is still indebate. To date, no such studies have been performed on theterritory of present-day Romania, an area of particularinterest for the dynamics of European human societies inthe Holocene, as this region was the gate to Europe for mostof the civilization advances and human migrations over thepast ca. 10000 years. In this paper, we present a multi-proxyinvestigation of the interactions between social andenvironmental processes over the past ~10000 years in NWRomania. 18O and 2H in cave ice, 18O and 13C fromspeleothemes, multi-proxy analyses on six pollen sequencesand fluvial evidences are used to reconstruct past climaticand environmental changes. Geochemical analysis of caveice, archaeological and documentary evidence provide ameasure of the dynamics of human groups and societies overthis interval. The climate of the region experienced a slowwarming from early Holocene to ~5.5 ka BP, followed by agradual cooling towards the present (interrupted by a warmand wet period at 3.2 ka BP). A series of rapid coolingsoccurred at 8.3 ka BP, 7.0 ka BP, 5.2 ka BP, 4.7 ka BP and 2.8ka BP. A warm and dry Medieval Warm Period was followedby an unstable and somewhat cooler Little Ice Age. Thepollen records indicate that humans have produced changeson the landscapes since the Neolithic (c. 8000 cal. yr BP) butan increase in pollen types associated with habitattransformation by humans i.e., rise in agriculture, grazing,enrichment of soils occurred from ~3.5 ka BP onwards andintensified over the last 1000-500 years. Archaeologicalevidence shows that human occupation was present over theentire interval, with a sharp increase in the early Holoceneand a slight drop in the late Bronze Age, followed by amoderate increase, and again interrupted during the DarkAges Cold Period. The same archeological data indicates thatenvironmental stress was not a major factor affecting socialdynamics in this area. However, as this region was on thetrack of most population invasions towards Europe, we

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consider that, although climate and environment mighthave affected the size and dynamics of population, repeatedmigrations kept the area well inhabited, with socialdynamics ultimately masking the effects of environmentalstress. This hypothesis was tested by analyzing in detail theinteractions between social and environmental processes in amarginal social group for the past 1500 years, the resultsindicating that cultural change and environmentaldeterminism both had an important role in its dynamics.

Petrie, CameronHumans, environment and the decline of the IndusCivilisation: investigating relationships betweenLand, Water and Settlement on the plains of NWIndiaPetrie, Cameron1; Singh, Ravindra N.2, 1; French, Charles A.1;Neogi, Sayantani1; Pawar, Vikas3; Parikh, Danika1

1. Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge,United Kingdom

2. Archaeology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India3. Archaeology, University of Rohtak, Rohtak, India

It is generally believed that a range of factorscontributed the collapse of the urban phase of the Induscivilisation in the 2nd millennium BC. There has beenconsiderable debate about the role of the hydrology of theplains of NW India in these processes. However, researchersare faced with a range of environmental and climaticparameters such as shifting rivers, aridification, changingrainfall patterns etcetera, that may or may not have played arole, and at present, much of the evidence is equivocal. Therehas also been relatively limited attention to the relationshipbetween the landscape of human settlement and humanresponse to that landscape. The multi-disciplinary Land,Water and Settlement project involves scholars frominstitutes in India and the UK, and has been integrating arange of archaeological and earth science basedinvestigations on the plains of NW India since 2007. Thisincludes remote sensing of archaeological sites based on theexisting databases of archaeological sites, reconnaissance ofHarappan and later period sites in western Uttar Pradesh(UP) and Haryana, excavations at several archaeological sitesand detailed archaeological and geoarchaeological surveys ofthe hinterland of the urban site of Rakhigarhi and the largetown site of Banawali. These results of these surveys andexcavations have revealed important evidence for developingsettlement dynamics, landscape formation and hydrologythat are critical for our understanding of the rise, declineand transformation of the Indus Civilisation and will bepresented.

Polyak, Victor J.Paleoamerican climate in southwestern NorthAmericaPolyak, Victor J.1; Asmerom, Yemane1; Burns, Stephen J.2

1. Earth & Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico,Albuquerque, NM, USA

2. Geosciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA,USA

Earliest well-documented human occupation of NorthAmerica (Paleoamerican cultures) occurred during thetransition from glacial to interglacial environment. Datafrom a Fort Stanton Cave stalagmite (FS2) indicate that thisclimatic transition started 1000 to 1500 years prior to theage of Clovis archeological materials in southwestern NorthAmerica. Before 15,000 years ago, southwestern NorthAmerica underwent ~40,000 years of distinctly cooler andwetter climate. The Clovis people, the earliest well-documented humans in southwestern North America, likelyexperienced the biggest shifts in climate relative to all othercultures. Growth records and geochemical data fromspeleothems of New Mexico caves suggest that a terminalPleistocene drought that included the ‘Clovis drought’ mayhave been as effectively dry or drier than some of theHolocene. The transition from glacial to interglacialenvironment was temporarily interrupted by the YoungerDryas stadial, but our data indicate that the Younger Dryas,while wetter and cooler than the middle Holocene and the~2000-year period immediately preceding this event, was stillsignificantly drier than the glacial period. The Folsom andMidland cultures were largely coincident with the YoungerDryas, and likely enjoyed climatic conditions wetter andcooler than those in the middle and much of the earlyHolocene. From roughly 12,000 to 10,000 years ago severallate Paleoamerican cultures lived during somewhat wetterclimate compared to the early to middle Holocene and theterminal Pleistocene drought. From the speleothem-basedrecords, the period in the early to middle Holocene from10,000 to 7000 years ago was the driest period insouthwestern North America in the last 55,000 years.Probably as a result, cultures changed from Paleoamerican toDesert Archaic tradition. Changes in cultures from earlyPaleoamerican to late Paleoamerican to early Archaic seem tobe coincident with and probably resultant from climaticshifts related to (1) the glacial to interglacial transitioncoincident with the Bølling-Allerød interstadial, (2) a briefinterruption of the onset of Holocene-like climate by theYounger Dryas stadial, and (3) about 1500 years of extendedwetness beyond the end of the Younger Dryas in the earliestHolocene.

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Prendergast, AmyA palaeoclimatic framework for the LatePleistocene and Early Holocene occupation ofNorth AfricaPrendergast, Amy1

1. Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge,Cambridge, United Kingdom

From the Late Pleistocene to the Holocene, remarkablechanges in human behavior and society can be gleamed fromthe North African Mediterranean archaeological record.These changes include elements that connote behavioralmodernity such as the use of personal ornamentation andthe development of complex stone tool technologies, andchanges in lifestyle such as the adoption of farming. Givenits position between Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe, NorthAfrica is also likely to have served as a vital stepping stone inthe migrations and dispersal of anatomically modernhumans to Europe. Some contend that these changes andmigrations were stimulated by major shifts in climate andenvironment. Evaluation of this hypothesis requires high-resolution analysis of local and regional climate recordspaired with well dated archaeological sequences. The HauaFteah in Libya provides an ideal laboratory to test thishypothesis as the cave contains one of the longest and mostimportant sequences of human occupation in North Africaas well as abundant material for paleoenvironmentalreconstruction. This paper presents the results of ongoingresearch on the mollusc assemblage from the Haua Fteah.This research forms part of the “Cultural transformationsand environmental transitions in North African prehistory”(TRANS-NAP) project in which re-excavation of the HauaFteah is combined with geoarchaeological studies in thewider landscape and the application of multiplepaleoclimate proxies. Marine and terrestrial molluscs areabundant throughout the sequence from the Neolithicperiod (~4500 years ago) to the Libyan Pre-Aurignacian(>90,000 years ago). So far, stable isotope analyses of thetopshell Osilinus turbinatus and the pulmonate snail Helixmelanostoma have allowed the construction of pairedmarine and terrestrial climate curves covering rapid andprofound climatic variations from the last glacial maximum,through the deglacial and into the Early Holocene. Thecombination of stable isotope analyses with shellmicromorphology has allowed monthly resolution at keyperiods within these climate curves to assess the importanceof seasonality in climate change. Furthermore, analysis ofstable isotope edge values from the shells has allowed areconstruction of changing shellfish foraging strategiesthroughout the archaeological sequence. Situating thearchaeological record of cultural change within a high-resolution framework of changes in climate andenvironment allows an examination of of how peopleresponded to these changes.

Raab, ThomasReconstructing past landscapes – The use ofmodern open-cast lignite miningRaab, Alexandra1; Raab, Thomas2; Takla, Melanie1; Nicolay,Alexander2; Rösler, Horst3; Bönisch, Eberhard3

1. Research Centre Landscape Development & MiningLandscapes, BTU, Cottbus, Germany

2. Chair of Geopedology & Landscape Development, BTU,Cottbus, Germany

3. Brandenburgisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege undArchäologisches Museum, Zossen, Germany

In the opencast mine Jänschwalde, Lower Lusatia(Brandenburg, Germany) Germany’s probably largestarchaeologically investigated charcoal production area wasdiscovered. The charcoal was presumably used nearby in theiron works of Peitz where bog iron ore was smelted since1567. Meanwhile remnants of more than 400 circularupright hearths are prospected and excavated. According torough calculations about 800 ha of woodland were necessaryto charge those piles. Charcoal burning and related activitiescertainly had tremendous environmental impacts and led toa large-scale devastation of the landscape. Remnants ofcharcoal piles and topsoils buried under up to 150 cm thickeolian sediments prove the remobilization of Quaternarysands as a consequence of clearing for charcoal production.By law large-scale surveys and excavations have to be carriedout in the forefield of the five km wide opencast mine todocument all archaeological findings. In combination withthe excellent outcrop situation the archaeologicalinvestigation offers ideal conditions to study the soils andpaleosoils. Therefore recently, a joint research project waslaunched for interdisciplinary long-term paleoenvironmentalresearch and to reconstruct the anthropogenic landscapechange in southern Brandenburg. To develop a model offormer land use different data are combined and blended,which are included step wise, using the GeographicInformation System ArcGIS (ESRI). The physio-geographicconditions (e.g., topography, soils, geology, hydrology) willbe examined with regard to the location of archaeologicalfindings, particularly the location of the charcoal hearths. Toperform a landform analysis and for visualization a DigitalElevation Model (DEM) based on airborne laser scanningdata will be used. In addition, historic maps are evaluatedwhich are available from the year 1767 onwards. The modelwill be supplemented with data from ongoinggeomorphological and pedological investigations,dendrochronological ages of the remnants of charcoalhearths, buried soils and sediments and information of pastvegetation from palynological research. Bönisch, E., Rösler,H., Schopper, F., Raab, T. & Raab, A. (accepted): Pre-industrial Charcoal Production in southern Brandenburgand its impact on the environment. – Proceedings of the 1.International Landscape Archaeology Conference, 26-28thJanuary 2010, Amsterdam. Landscape & Heritage,Amsterdam University Press.

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Raab, Thomas A.Mining as a factor of prehistoric and historiclandscapes change in Central EuropeRaab, Thomas A.1; Raab, Alexandra2

1. Chair of Geopedology & Landscape Development, BTU,Cottbus, Germany

2. Research Centre Landscape Development & MiningLandscapes, BTU, Cottbus, Germany

During the Holocene period, under the influence ofincreasing human activities and pressures, the landscape inCentral Europe changed from a natural towards a culturallandscape. Herewith, a main driving factor was mining. Here,we present a synthesis of results from several case studiescarried out in the Vils River valley, East Bavaria, Germany,which was one of the leading iron mining regions of the15th century. To supply the demand for energy and ores ofthe smelters on the floodplains, charcoal and ores had to betransported from the charcoal piles and mines located onthe plateaux to the river valley floor. The transport of thematerials on unpaved paths on the valley slopes initiatedlinear soil erosion and therewith gullies up to 5 m in depthwere formed. At the footslopes, the eroded materialaccumulated as colluvial sediments and formed alluvial fans.Further transported material reached the river and was re-deposited on the floodplain. By physical, chemical, andmineralogical parameters 3 facies of floodplain sedimentscould be distinguished. Flood loam of up to 4 m depthsforms the major part of the alluvial sequence. Agedeterminations (14C, IRSL, tree-ring analysis) prove anincreasing accumulation of flood loam in the lastmillennium which correlate with the beginning of miningactivities in the catchment. On the upper reaches of the VilsRiver, historic lead mining left behind heavy metalcontaminations in the alluvial soils of more than 20.000mg/kg. The lead distribution on the floodplain has a strongcorrelation with the location along the river of formerprocessing sites. The results prove that historic mininglandscapes are not only characterized by the visible relicts offormer human activities, such as landforms but may alsocontain ‘hidden legacies’. Hence, for a sustainable land use,there is a need to acquire more knowledge over thefloodplain histories seen in mining regions. RAAB, T. & A.RAAB (in press): Impacts of Early Land Use and Mining onRiver Landscapes. - ALBERT, M.-T. (ed.): World Heritage andCultural Diversity. RAAB, T., K. HÜRKAMP & J. VÖLKEL (inpress): Stratigraphy and chronology of Late Quaternaryfloodplain sediments in a historic mining area, Vils Rivervalley, East Bavaria, Germany. - Physical Geography.

A synthesis of mining-induced landscape changes (adapted fromRaab & Raab, in press)

Rhode, DavidClimate and its Effects on Small-Scale Societies inthe Bonneville Basin, western North AmericaRhode, David1

1. Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV, USA

Examples of dramatic effects of climate change oncomplex, hierarchical and state-level societies, such as theMoche or the Maya, have been widely reported anddiscussed. Less prominently considered are the effects ofclimate change on small-scale societies having less complexorganizational structures and smaller effective populations,such as hunter-gatherers. People in these societies, it is oftenthought, maintain generalized subsistence orientations, withlow population densities relative to carrying capacity, andare sufficiently mobile to target available resource patchesover wide home ranges, so that the effects of significantclimate change are buffered. In this view, climate change isnot a significant factor in the dynamics of human foragingsystems. Another line of thought, however, suggests thatsuch societies are significantly limited by climate-drivenenvironmental perturbations, that privation is often at thedoor, and that the characteristics of high mobility, loweffective population levels, and general or flexiblesubsistence orientations identified above are in fact aproduct of those limiting factors. Insights into the effects ofclimate change on small-scale societies are best learned fromlong-term archaeological records. Here, I consider theHolocene archaeological and paleoecological records fromthe Bonneville Basin, western North America. These recordsdocument significant climate-driven paleoenvironmentalfluctuations during the Holocene, evidence for substantialvariation in population, and shifts in subsistenceorientation. The extent to which human populations in theBonneville Basin were buffered from, and/or dramaticallyaffected by, Holocene climatic fluctuations is examined.

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Riehl, SimoneMid-late Holocene agricultural systemtransformations in the northern Fertile Crescent:archaeobotanical, geoarchaeological andphilological evidenceRiehl, Simone1, 4; Pustovoytov, Konstantin2, 3; Dornauer,Aron2

1. Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut Frankfurt, Tübingen,Germany

2. Institut für Vorderasiatische Archäologie, Freiburg,Germany

3. Institut für Bodenkunde und Standortslehre,Hohenheim, Germany

4. Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte, Tübingen, Germany

The region of the northern Fertile Crescent experienceddramatic changes in the political and cultural life of itssocieties during the period of mid-late Holocene (ca. 5000-3000 cal BP). The role of these changes in the mode ofagricultural production and land use as well as theirinterrelationship with climate still remains poorlyunderstood. In this study we use an interdisciplinaryapproach based on archaeobotanical, geoarchaeological andphilological data from a series of archaeological sites in thenorthern Fertile Crescent to highlight the transformationsof agricultural systems and their potential triggers. Thecharred seed record from cultural layers suggests change incrop cultivation at the Early Bronze Age (EBA) - MiddleBronze Age (MBA) boundary such as disappearance of flaxand wine in many places as well as a strong reduction inemmer and einkorn production. The general pattern of theMBA manifests itself also in the Late Bronze Age sites,whereas the Iron Age sites show new changes such as a widespread of free-threshing wheat and a return of flax. Thesechanges have been paralleled by fluctuations of the stablecarbon isotope composition of charred organic matter inseeds and the dynamics of irrigation networks documentedby pedosediment profiles in the field as well as by textualsources. These changes in agricultural strategies might havebeen a response to the regional climate changes, specificallyto the desiccation trend toward the end of the EBA.

Rolett, Barry V.Holocene Sea-level Change and Neolithic CulturalResponse in Southeast ChinaRolett, Barry V.1

1. Anthropology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA

Seafaring across the Taiwan Strait began approximately5,000 years ago and involved open-sea voyages over distancesof at least 130 km. Early Holocene rapid sea-level risepreceded the emergence of open-sea voyaging and greatlytransformed the coastline. What was the role of earlyHolocene environmental change in the development ofseafaring? I investigate this problem by the comparison ofNeolithic cultural response in two coastal areas of southeastChina: the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the

Fuzhou Basin. For the mouth of the Yangtze River, previousresearch by Y. Zong, Z. Chen and others suggests that theformation of a mega-delta with fertile land encouraged earlyNeolithic rice farming. However, on the Fujian coastopposite Taiwan, sea-level rise created a large estuary in theFuzhou Basin, but no deltaic plain or other land suitable forirrigated rice agriculture (Fig. 1). The estuary setting,together with the lack of land suitable for rice paddyagriculture, inhibited intensive food production but favoredthe development of seafaring. Palaeogeographicreconstruction of the Fuzhou Basin is based on the analysisof recently collected sediment cores.

Fig. 1 Map of the Fuzhou Basin (Fujian, China) showing the presentday environmental setting and a palaeogeographic reconstructionfor the time period around 6000 cal BP.

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Rosenthal, YairControls on hydrologic variability in the Indo-Pacific region during the past two millenniaRosenthal, Yair1; Oppo, Delia W.2; Linsley, Braddock K.3;Tiereny, Jessica E.4

1. Institute of Marine & Coastal Sciences, Rutgers, TheState University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

2. Department of Geology and Geophysics, WHOI, WoodsHole, MA, USA

3. Department of Atmospheric and EnvironmentalSciences, SUNY-Albany, Albany, NY, USA

4. Geology, LDEO, Palisades, NY, USA

Seasonal climate variations in the Indo-Pacific WarmPool (IPWP) and southeast Asia regions are dominated byhydrologic fluctuations due in part to migration of theIntertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and the seasonalmarch of the monsoons. However, large departures fromclimatology, linked to the interannual events (e.g., ENSO,IOD) and longer-term variability result in unexpecteddroughts and flooding, often with dire economicconsequences. On multi-decadal to centennial time scalesthese systems exhibit a very complex interplay.Understanding the controls on these mechanisms in thepast- whether caused by variations in regional sea surfacetemperatures, tropical Pacific dynamics, or remotely drivenby high latitude climate – is important not only forexamining their influence on regional landscape and humandevelopments but also for predicting their response to futureclimate change. This requires the development of high-resolution paleoclimate data sets to compare with detailedclimate model simulations assesing different mechanisms.Here we assess the hydrologic variability in the IPWP regionby reconstructing sea surface temperature and salinity inhigh-resolution sediment cores from the Indonesian seawaysusing paired 18O and Mg/Ca measurements in planktonicforaminifera. These, and additional records of hydrogenisotopic ratios of terrestrial higher plant leaf waxes (Dwax),stored marine sediments, provide detailed reconstruction ofIPWP hydrologic variability through the last two millennia.We show that hydrologic variability in the western region ofIndonesia is anti-correlated with a monsoon reconstructionfrom Southeast Asia, indicating that intervals of strong EastAsian Summer Monsoon activity are associated with aweaker Indonesian monsoon consistent with migrations ofthe ITCZ. The centennial-scale oscillations in our datafollow known changes in Northern Hemisphere climate (e.g.the Little Ice Age and Medieval Warm Period) implying adynamic link between Northern Hemisphere temperaturesand IPWP hydrology. Comparison with records to the eastand paleo-ENSO indicators suggests that the in the westernregion the influence of ENSO variability is overwhelmed byshifts in the ITCZ.

Rubin, David M.Differences In Human/Landscape/ClimateInteractions In Grand Canyon 1-2 Millennia AgoAnd The PresentRubin, David M.1; Draut, Amy E.1

1. USGS, Santa Cruz, CA, USA

People have interacted with the landscape and water ofthe Colorado River in Grand Canyon for thousands of years.We studied sediment deposits where 1000-2000 years ago,people lived along the river, farmed the floodplains, andbuilt roasting pits in the sand dunes blown inland from dryareas of the riverbed. Sedimentologic interpretation of sandand silt deposits along the river reveals evidence of thosehuman activities and interactions with the landscape.Sediment deposits record floods from snow melting in theRocky Mountains, transport of sand from river bars to dunefields at times when the river flow was low, slopewash andgullying from local monsoon rainfall, and fires built or seton the floodplains for agriculture or other purposes. Todaythe Colorado River in Grand Canyon is regulated by GlenCanyon Dam. The dam eliminates the natural seasonalvariations in river flow. Consequently, peak annualdischarges are only a fraction of those of natural floods, andbase flows are much greater than predam low flows. Thequantity of sand supplied by the Colorado River to GrandCanyon has been reduced by more than 90% by the dam,with only 10% being supplied by local tributaries betweenthe dam and Grand Canyon. As a result of the reducedsediment load, reduced peak discharges, and higher baseflows, less dry sand is accessible on the riverbed for eoliantransport. Consequently, dune fields along the river are lessactive, and gullying of river terraces is more pronounced. Asa result of these human-induced changes, the landscape ofthe present river corridor differs substantially from the past.

Couplets of fluvial and subaerially reworked deposits. Fluvialsediments are light in color and contain subaqueous ripples.Subaerial deposits include beds that are dark with charcoal andbioturbated. Scale bar is 10 cm long; radiocarbon age is 40 BC toAD 330 AD.

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Ruddiman, William F.Late Holocene CO2 And CH4 Increases: NaturalOr Anthropogenic? (INVITED)

Ruddiman, William F.1

1. Univ. of Virginia, Raphine, VA, USA

The debate over natural versus anthropogenicexplanations for late-Holocene CO2 and CH4 increasescontinues. One argument against anthropogenic control isthat too few farmers lived millennia ago to generate largeamounts of these gases, prior to the post-1500 ADpopulation explosion. Most land-use modelers implicitlyadapt this view by running simulations that assume little orno past change in per-capita land clearance, butarcheological and historical evidence refutes thisassumption. Seminal 1965 and 1981 books by Ester Boserupsynthesized evidence that per-capita land use fell by a largeamount (likely over an order of magnitude) during theHolocene as farmers moved from land-intensive shiftingcultivation to labor-intensive small plots. Historical-erasupport for Boserup’s view comes from records of land usein Europe and China that document ~4-fold decreases inper-capita clearance and cultivation during the last 2000years. For pre-historical times, Dorian Fuller and colleaguesdocumented the spread of rice irrigation across southernAsia and found that the total area of irrigated rice paddiesand their CH4 emissions increased long before the humanpopulation increase. In Europe, Jed Kaplan and colleaguesused historical land-use records that showed extensiveregional clearance by 2000 years ago. Their work alsoindicates that other areas such as southern Asia with evenhigher population densities were already extensivelydeforested by 2000 years ago and that anthropogenic CO2emissions rose long before the increase in humanpopulation. This emerging evidence from archeology andhistory invalidates the constant per-capita assumption usedby land-use modelers and thereby undercuts their argumentsagainst the anthropogenic hypothesis. Another argument isthe small size of the decrease in 13 of atmospheric CO2during the last 7000 years, which limits net pre-industrialrelease of terrestrial carbon to ~50 Gt. Based on thisconstraint, the Bern group infers very little pre-industrialCO2 input from anthropogenic deforestation, but theiranalysis assumes that just 40 Gt of carbon were withdrawnfrom the atmosphere and stored in boreal peat. In contrast, awell-respected estimate by Nevil Gorham (1991) and a newsynthesis by Zicheng Yu (2010) indicate that total carbonstorage in peat during the last 7000 years was ~300 Gt. Thislarger estimate of C burial requires much greater emissionsof terrestrial carbon to balance the 13CO2 budget than theBern group proposed. Models indicate that natural processes(carbon exchanges from changing monsoon circulations andincreased CO2 fertilization) can only supply a few tens of Gtof this carbon deficit, leaving anthropogenic emissions asthe major viable source. The evidence of large C burial (atleast 300 Gt) in boreal peat during the last 7000 yearsundermines the 13CO2 argument against theanthropogenic explanation. Mother Nature, the ultimate

arbiter, has also weighed in on this debate. Similar intervalsearly in previous interglaciations (when humans were not asignificant factor) show downward CO2 and CH4 trends.With downward gas trends prevailing in a climate systemthat was fully natural, Mother Nature’s verdict seems clear:the upward Holocene trends were anomalous, and thusanthropogenic.

Rushton, ElizabethPalynological evidence for climatic shifts andchanges in landscape at the Mayan city ofLamanai, Belize, ca. 1500 BC to AD 1500Rushton, Elizabeth1

1. Geography, University of Nottingham, Nottingham,United Kingdom

A core from the New River Lagoon, northern Belize wasanalysed for palynological data as well as charcoalconcentrations and presence of gastropods to reconstructchanges in landscape during the period ca. 1500 BC to AD1500. The combination of these data sets with previouslypublished diatom, stable isotope and mineralogical andmajor elemental data enabled the reconstruction of shifts inclimate from moist to drier conditions and land-use change.Moist conditions occur at the earliest point in this record,indicated by the presence of wet climate indicators, cropsand arboreal taxa, and this concurs with the record of wetconditions in the mid-Holocene from the wider region. Thepollen, gastropod and charcoal record highlights evaporativeconditions ca. 390-300 BC and a period of substantialanthropogenic building at Lamanai ca. 170 BC to ca. AD270. This period of development matches the otherpaleolimnological and archaeological records from the site.There is some evidence of drying during the Maya ‘hiatus’ca. AD 530-590 and also the Maya ‘collapse’ ca. AD 900,although the impact on the vegetation signal is limited. Thisresearch supports the assertion that Lamanai was insulatedfrom climatic shifts due to its location by the New RiverLagoon, further emphasising the need for greater geographicand temporal sensitivity when exploring the terminal-ClassicMayan ‘collapse’. Anthropogenic forest clearance and somesubsequent recovery are visible in the record from this site,as is a possible shift in agricultural practise from a focus on‘urban orchards’ to a more field based system ca. AD 1200.The record from the New River Lagoon is somewhat limitedas it does not give high resolution data for the locale ofLamanai, and is not as sensitive as the decadal resolutionsfrom other reconstructions from the region. However, it doesprovide a broad record of vegetation, land-use and climatechange over a period of three thousand years that adds detailto, and clarifies the other environmental record fromLamanai, and contributes to an to an appreciation of thecoupled cultural and environmental history of the region.

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Schlummer, ManuelaHuman Induced Hillslope Sediment Storages inCentral EuropeSchlummer, Manuela1; Hoffmann, Thomas1; Dikau,Richard1

1. Department of Geography, University of Bonn, Bonn,Germany

Soil is a major resource of past and modern civilizationsand thus a major link in human-environmental interactions.The introduction of agricultural techniques in CentralEurope during the early Neolithic (about 7500 BP)persistently affected soil erosion and thus resulted in strongsoil degradation with negative impacts on the developmentof human societies. Hillslope deposits, derived from humaninduced soil erosion, provide a valuable archive to study thehuman impact on soil erosion and soil degradation.Historical soil erosion research in Central Europe yieldednumerous small scale studies on hillslope deposits caused byagricultural land use. However, a large scale synoptic analysisof of human induced hillslope sediment storages in areasunder agricultural activity and a modelling approach for theregional distribution of these sediments are still missing.Thus the objectives of this paper are (i) to understand thelarge scale human impact on soil erosion in Central Europeduring the Holocene, (ii) to identify the major controllingfactors of soil erosion and deposition, and (iii) to modelspatial patterns of human induced hillslope deposits fordifferent cultural periods. A sediment database for CentralEurope has been compiled containing all available data frompublished local studies on human induced hillslope deposits(sediment depths, volumes, dated ages, sedimentation rates).Data from 41 catchments, slope hollows and othergeomorphometric settings (ranging from 10-3 to 103 km2)have been included in this study and compared witharchaeological information regarding the duration anddegree of human impact. Results from regression analysesshow a strong power law between storage volume (V, km3)and catchment area (A, km2)(V = bAc). The scaling exponentsfor colluvial and alluvial storage volumes reveal nodifferences. Furthermore, sediment storage in loess coveredcatchments, which are characterised by long and intenseland use, is only slightly higher compared with catchmentsdominated by other lithologies and low human impact.Based on these results, we derive the following theoreticalassumptions: (i) On hillslopes (slope face and footslope)sediment deposits produced by human induced soil erosionshow a nonlinear scaling behaviour. (ii) This scalingbehaviour is similar to that of the downstream sedimentsinks of the system (alluvial sediments). (iii) Lithology of theunderground material exerts a minor influence on sedimentstorage volumes despite large differences in land use history.Currently, DEM-based analyses are applied to understandthe influence of geomorphometric parameters on the scalingeffects of human induced soil erosion sediment storage.Further, we will determine spatial patterns of these depositsin small catchments for different cultural periods of theHolocene using historical land use data. To validate our

model we will select well studied ”key-catchments”, for whichadequate sediment budget data with high spatial andtemporal resolution are available.

Simmons, Christopher T.Investigating the role of changes in the meridionaloverturning circulation on the Holocene carboncycle and climate-vegetation dynamicsSimmons, Christopher T.1; Mysak, Lawrence A.1; Matthews,H. D.2

1. Atmospheric and Oceanic Sci., McGill University,Montreal, QC, Canada

2. Geography and Urban Planning, Concordia University,Montreal, QC, Canada

The role of natural processes and human land use in the20 ppm CO2 increase during the Holocene has been a sourceof considerable scientific debate in recent years. In order toassess the contribution of natural processes (excludingwetlands and coral reefs), the University of Victoria EarthSystem Climate Model (UVic ESCM) v. 2.9 was used toinvestigate the Holocene’s natural carbon cycle (excludingland use) from 8000 to 150 years BP. The equilibriumsimulation with prescribed forcing for 8000 BP yielded anoscillatory solution from which three sets of initialconditions were obtained with different ocean circulationstates. Furthermore, another set of initial conditions werederived from a steady-state equilibrium solution obtainedfor the model from 21000 BP. These different starting pointswere applied to transient simulations forced by time-varyingorbital parameters, land ice, and prescribed winds. A numberof sensitivity studies were also carried out. These includeforcing atmospheric carbon to follow the Taylor/Law Dometrends, using different prescribed winds, artificially injectingcarbon into the atmosphere for 1000-2000 year intervals, aswell as changing the model land ice distribution inAntarctica. The model results with freely-varyingatmospheric CO2 produce a decline in atmospheric CO2 to245-253 ppm over the course of the Holocene instead of theincrease to 280 ppm (as observed in Antarctic ice cores).However, the magnitude of the decline depends strongly oninitial conditions and the centennial and millennial-scalevariability in overturning in the Southern Ocean. Inparticular, centennial-scale changes in the Southern Oceanproduced temperature-precipitation climate feedbacks thatled to significant vegetation shifts in central Asia. If part ofthe climate system during this time period, they may haveinfluenced the human migration patterns in this region.Furthermore, their net effect is to decrease ocean uptakeefficiency of CO2, and the number of these high-frequencyevents is crucial to understanding the impact that humanland use emissions would have had on net changes inatmospheric CO2. It was also found that atmospheric CO2has a nearly 10 ppm sensitivity to changes in Antarctic landice due to the former’s influence on the meridionaloverturning circulation. Despite the importance of winds onthe meridional overturning circulation, we find that theyhave a relatively minor effect for most simulations when

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compared to using the NCEP wind climatology. However,the carbon injection experiments (roughly approximatinghuman land use) suggest that carbon initially released in theatmosphere can, through feedbacks, lead to as much as adoubling of the initial injection, depending strongly on thetiming of the release.

Singh, Ravindra N.Humans, environment and the decline of the IndusCivilisation:Investigating relationships betweenLand, Water and Settlement on the plains of NWIndiaSingh, Ravindra N.1, 2; Petrie, Cameron A.2, 1; French, CharlesI.2, 1

1. Department of AIHC & Archaeology, Banaras HinduUniversity, Varanasi, India

2. Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge,Cambridge, United Kingdom

It is generally believed that a range of factors played apart in the collapse of the urban phase of the Induscivilisation and the subsequent reappearance of urbanism inthe 1st millennium BC. There has been considerable debateabout the role of the hydrology of the plains of NW India inthese processes. However, researchers are faced with a rangeofenvironmental and climatic parameters such as shiftingrivers, aridification, changing rainfall patterns etcetera, thatmay or may not have played a role, and at present, much ofthe evidence is equivocal. There has also been relativelylimited attention to the relationship between the landscapeand human settlement. The multi-disciplinary Land, Waterand Settlement project involves scholars from a range ofinstitutes in India and the UK, and it has been incorporateda range of archaeological and earth science basedinvestigations on the plains of NW India since 2007. Thispaper will introduce the project and review thearchaeological investigations that have been carried outbetween 2007 and 2010. This includes remote sensing ofarchaeological sites based on the existing databases ofarchaeological sites, reconnaissance of Harappan and laterperiod sites in western Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Haryana,excavations at Alamgirpur, two sites close to Masudpur, andthe site of Burj, as well as detailed surveys of the hinterlandof the urban site of Rakhigarhi and the large town site ofBanawali.

Stahle, David W.Mesoamerican DendroclimatologyStahle, David W.1; Villanueva Diaz, Jose2; Burnette, DorianJ.1; Heim Jr., Richard R.3; Acuna Soto, Rodolfo4

1. Geosciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA2. CENID RASPA, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones

Forestales, Agricolas, y Pecuarias, Torreon, Mexico3. Climate Services and Monitoring Division, NOAA’s

National Climatic Data Center, Asheville, NC, USA4. Departamento Microbiologia y Parastologia,

Universidade Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico

Mesoamerica is one of the richest archaeologicaldistricts of the ancient world notable for large urban centers,monumental architecture, calendar and hieroglyphic writingsystems that in some cases describe and accurately dateconquests, dynastic succession, celestial phenomena, weatherextremes, and drought. Ancient Montezuma baldcypress(Taxodium mucronatum) trees found in Barranca deAmealco, Queretaro, have been used to develop the firstexactly dated, annually resolved paleoclimatic record inMesoamerica spanning the late Classic, post-Classic,Colonial, and modern eras. This climate-sensitive tree-ringchronology is correlated with precipitation, temperature,drought indices, and crop yields in central Mexico, and hasbeen used to reconstruct the spring-early summer moisturebalance over the heartland of the Mesoamerican culturalprovince for the past 1,238-years (i.e., the Palmer droughtseverity index for June, AD 771-2008). Spectral analysis ofthe reconstruction indicates strong and highly significantconcentrations of variance at timescales associated with theEl Nino/Southern Oscillation, and at multi-decadaltimescales potentially associated with climate forcing fromthe Atlantic Ocean sector. The reconstruction provides thefirst independent support using high resolutionpaleoclimatic data from Mexico for the Terminal Classicdrought previously identified in the Yucatan with lakesediments and in the Caribbean sector with varved marinesediments from the Cariaco Basin. The reconstruction alsodocuments severe and sustained megadrought during thedecline of the Toltec state (1149-1167), the rise of the Aztecstate in late 14th century, and during Spanish conquest(1514-1539), providing a new precisely dated climateframework for the study of Mesoamerican cultural change.

Staubwasser, MichaelHolocene Indus Drought Cycles, the 4.2 ka Event inAsia, and the Search for a MechanismStaubwasser, Michael1

1. Geologie & Mineralogie, Universitaet zu Koeln, Koeln,Germany

Previous studies from the northern Arabian Sea off theIndus delta have produced high resolution records of 18Ofrom surface dwelling foraminifera and alkenone-based seasurface temperature. The combination of the two recordsallows to calculate the 18O of surface water of the last 5000years (Fig. 1). Considering the contrast (> 10 ‰) between the

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central Arabian Sea and Indus river water, fluctuations aremost likely the result of Indus discharge changes. Thecalculated 18O values confirm the earlier interpretation ofthe foraminiferal record in terms of drought cycles. The 4.2ka drought event is particularly accentuated. This method,however, has its limits as it requires some assumptions onseasonal distribution of forams and algae, and also results inloss of resolution. Evidence for environmental and culturalchange between 4.3 and 3.8 ka BP is abundant in Asia (andelsewhere in the northern hemisphere), but the mechanisticcause of the event is not clear. The event does not appear tobe a continent wide drought. For example, no drought isindicated in the Oman stalagmite records. In the northernparts of China, peat and river bank deposits indicateflooding (NE China and Yellow river), and lacustrinesediment composition suggests rising lake levels (TianShan). The potentially emerging regional pattern of droughtand flood at 4.2 ka BP is currently spotty and blurred bychronological uncertainty. The chronologic accuracy andprecision required to obtain a significant pattern for the 4.2ka BP event is very demanding, particularly because of theapparent cyclic nature of Holocene climate change. Despitethe uncertainty, a comparison is tempting between the abovepicture, the present day long term rainfall distribution andvertical atmospheric flow pattern induced by hightropospheric Rossby waves. This may give an insight into thepotential mechanism that caused the 4.2 ka event.

Figure 1: calculated 18O of NE Arabian Sea surface water frompublished data ( 18O of Globigerinoides Ruber; sea surfacetemperature from Alkenone measurements).

Steinberger, LincolnRecent human interaction with environment in atropical rainforest mosaic, North Queensland,AustraliaSteinberger, Lincoln1; Moss, Patrick1; Haberle, Simon2;Cosgrove, Richard3; Ferrier, Åsa3

1. School of Geography, Planning & EnvironmentalManagement, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia,QLD, Australia

2. Department of Archaeology and Natural History, Collegeof Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University,Canberra, ACT, Australia

3. Archaeology Program, La Trobe University, Melbourne,VIC, Australia

Palaeoecological research has demonstrated theclimatically-driven early Holocene expansion of rainforestacross the wet tropics region of North Queensland,Australia. Subsequent mid- to late Holocene climaticvariability, specifically the intensification of the ENSOsystem after 5000BP, seems to have made these dense andrestrictive rainforest environments more favourable forhuman occupation. Archaeological evidence indicates lowlevel occupation of rainforests from around 8000BP, with anintensified and unique rainforest Aboriginal culturedeveloping from 2000BP, perhaps in response to the greaterclimatic variability of the late Holocene. Human occupationof the rainforest environment included a degree ofenvironmental modification: historical evidence suggeststhat Aboriginal life was anchored to numerous ‘openpockets’ of grassland or eucalypt woodland within therainforest matrix. A network of cleared walking tracksthroughout the dense vegetation connected these sites toeach other, as well as to the coastal lowlands to the east anddry sclerophyll woodlands to the west. The origin of theopen pockets is unclear, as is their persistence within alandscape more suited to the dominant rainforestvegetation. The human influence on these pockets,particularly through the use of fire, is a focus of currentinvestigation into the human interaction with rainforestenvironments in North Queensland. Here we presentpreliminary results from palaeoecological and archaeologicalinvestigation of several of these ‘open pocket’ sites of theAtherton Tablelands region of North Queensland.

Thurston, Tina L.The Political Ecology of Iron Age, Medieval andEarly Modern Ulster, Northern IrelandThurston, Tina L.1

1. Anthropology, SUNY Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA

The interdisciplinary, NSF-funded project ‘Environmentas Agent and Actor in Iron Age, Medieval, and Early ModernUlster’ integrates study of long-term climate change with therecord of changing human organization and livelihoodduring the last two millennia in the former polity of Ulster,now modern Northern Ireland. The Iron Age “Ulster Cycle”

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sagas and later texts describe successive waves of intrusionbetween the 5th-17th c.: Christianization, Vikingcolonization, Anglo-Norman invasion, and the EnglishPlantation. Each successive regime, as well as local rulers,had different economic and political goals. Successiveclimate shifts ran parallel to many regime changes, andenvironment was a substrate for political development:chiefdoms, kingdoms, and empires instrumentalized naturalconditions to coalesce, guide policy, and govern, but also tofalter, fragment, and reorganize in dissolution/resiliencecycles. Climate change often left socioeconomic systemsobsolete and propelled change in every sector, also affordingprotection from or vulnerability to expansionist powers.While the elite-ecological interface is studied, our primarygoal is revealing how ordinary communities navigated risingtaxation while dealing with climate/environmental changeby altering practices and implementing new ideas. Whilepast research relied too much on a distorted record ofhistoric events, archaeological work suffers from the near-zero visibility of a pasture landscape, rendering sites invisibleand ordinary prospection impossible. Shifting or persistentregional settlement landscapes often form the best basis fortheorizing economic and sociopolitical change, but only asmall, scattershot sample of ‘visible’ aboveground elitecompounds and castles are typically studied; extrapolatedmodels and interpretations are thus spurious. The projectuses geochemical, remote sensing, and paleoecologicalmethods to resolve zero-visibility issues. In cooperation withQueen’s University-Belfast’s School of Geography,Archaeology, and Paleoecology, we examine two 20 km2blocks in Armagh and Tyrone, where socioecologicalsequences can be well-monitored. In 2008-9, ground-basedgeochemical survey of ca. 2 km2 was conducted to serve asground-truthing for a planned airborne hyperspectralmission, as well as IFSAR remote sensing, palynology andmacrobotanical analysis to establish conditions surroundingstudied communities, complimenting broader extant proxydata and historical phenological observations. Sites werediscovered, tested, and AMS dated from which settlement,subsistence, and population dynamics will be deduced. Thesocioecological landscape is a proxy for and impress ofcultural processes, through which we resolve longstandingbiases to reveal ordinary livelihoods through time. Climatescholars argue that resolution of current global problemslies partly in comparative study with past responses toenvironmental turbulence. Governments cannot legislate allbehavioral and attitude changes; ordinary people play crucialroles in coping with changing milieus. We emphasizeinterplay between political efforts and people’s practicalmanagement of change - interdependence between ‘rulers’and ‘ruled’, especially under conditions relevant to thepersistent problems of contemporary postcolonial societies.

Ulm, SeanNaïve Island Landscapes: People andEnvironmental Change in the South WellesleyArchipelago, Gulf of Carpentaria, AustraliaUlm, Sean1; Shulmeister, James2; Wallis, Lynley3; Moss,Patrick2; Sloss, Craig4

1. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit, TheUniversity of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

2. School of Geography, Planning and EnvironmentalManagement, The University of Queensland, Brisbane,QLD, Australia

3. Aboriginal Environments Research Centre, TheUniversity of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

4. Faculty of Science, Queensland University of Technology,Brisbane, QLD, Australia

When humans enter new landscapes they profoundlychange the natural order. These impacts are particularlymarked on previously uninhabited islands. It follows thatthe arrival of people in Australia, the world’s largest island,would have inevitably altered the environment. Yet there hasbeen a surprising absence of systematic research aimed atidentifying and measuring the impacts of human arrivals onthe Australian environment. Obtaining a detailedunderstanding of the fundamental controls (i.e. human orclimatic) on ecosystem processes in relatively spatially andenvironmentally restricted island environments around theAustralian continent provides a basis for approaching theanalysis of more complex ecosystems that occur oncontinents. Here we present preliminary results from therich archaeological and palaeoenvironmental records of theWellesley Archipelago in the southern Gulf of Carpentaria toproduce integrated models of human-environmentinteraction over the last 10,000 years. Like other islandsacross northern Australia, the Wellesley Islands wereunoccupied prior to about 4,000 years ago. Three sets ofenvironmental changes affected these islands during theHolocene: (1) rapid eustatic sea-levels rise during the earlyHolocene with rates of coastal recession in the order ofhundreds of metres per year on the gently sloping Gulf ofCarpentaria shelf; (2) marked sea-level regression in the lastfew thousand years due to hydro-isostatic loading of theouter shelf and consequent uplift on the inner margin; and(3) the movement from a relatively stable early Holoceneclimatic phase to a highly variable El Nino-dominatedclimate after about 5 ka. Here we investigate the relative rolesof coastal dynamics, climate change and culture in the lateoccupation and mode of use of islands in the archipelago.

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VanLaningham, SamHolocene Indus River Pathways Inferred from NdIsotopes and the relationship between the FluvialLandscape and the HarappansVanLaningham, Sam1; Clift, Peter D.2; Giosan, Liviu3; Alizai,Anwar2; Durcan, Julie4; Macklin, Mark V.4; Duller, Geoff4

1. School of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University ofAlaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA

2. School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen,ABERDEEN, United Kingdom

3. Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods HoleOceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, MA, USA

4. Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, AberystwythUniversity, Aberystwyth, United Kingdom

Abandoned river channels in the Indus floodplain seenfrom remote sensing imagery are associated with the mostdense cluster of ancient Harappan Civilization sites. Thisspatial linkage suggests the Bronze Age civilization lived onthe banks of a substantial river system that once flowedparallel and to the east of the present-day Indus River. Thispostulated river fits the description of the mythicalSaraswati River mentioned in the Hindu Rig Veda text,although the location of Saraswati remains contentious. It isalso not known why the Harappan civilization vanishedfrom the Indus Valley ~4 ka. Thus our research group seeksto determine if the now failed drainages in the Indusfloodplain were active at the time of the Harappanoccupation and whether drainage reorganization or climatechanges led to the Harappan demise. This work specificallyaddresses what the sources of sediment to the abandonedriver were using bulk sediment Nd isotopes (Nd), which areexcellent Himalayan source tracers. Preliminary data fromthe Marrot core site (29.21°N, 72.34°E) indicate thatsediments from the abandoned river were initially derivedfrom the Lesser Himalayas (possibly via a larger Sutlej Riversystem) between 10 ka and 5 ka (Nd = -16). Neodymiumisotopic composition shifted to less negative Nd valuessome time between 5 ka and 3 ka (Nd = -13), suggestingreduced input from the Lesser Himalayas or increased inputfrom Greater Himalaya/Kohistan Arc sources. Dune sandswith Nd = -11 are also another possible source of lessnegative fluvial Nd values (zircon U-Pb data support this).Because the change in Nd isotopes is small (but detectable),it suggests drainage capture is an unlikely culprit.These dataare more consistent with the hypothesis that reduction inthe Asian Monsoon led to a decrease in river discharge (anderosion of the Lesser Himalayas). Incorporation of dunesands is also consistent with aridification and reducedriverine flow in the eastern side of the Indus basin. Thus, theHarappans may have abandoned the lower Indus floodplainfor other areas closer to water sources, consistent withprevious archaeological findings. Overall, more detailedanalyses using Nd isotopes will provide importantconstraints on the role of monsoon change vs. drainagereorganization and the Harappan exit from the Indusfloodplain.

Vanwalleghem, TomInterpreting climatic and anthropogenic effects onsoils and sediments: coupling soil formation andsoil erosionVanwalleghem, Tom1; Minasny, Budiman2; McBratney, Alex2

1. Agronomy, University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain2. University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

The development of landscapes and soilscapes isconditioned by the spatial and temporal interaction betweensoil erosion and soil formation. While soil formation ratesare mainly controlled by climate, soil erosion rates dependboth of climatic and anthropogenic factors. The balancebetween both will control agricultural sustainability. Whilethis is well-known, it remains hard to make long termpredictions on agricultural sustainability. Apart fromdifficulties with respect to correctly assessing erosion andsoil formation rates, most standard models used for long-term landscape evolution do not consider variation of thesoil parameters. On the other hand, soil erosion anddeposition patterns will control the development andcharacteristics of soil profiles. This complex interactionlimits the use of soils and sediment archives to drawconclusions on past environmental changes. To fullyunderstand the interaction between soil profile formationand landscape evolution, and herewith contribute to theirinterpretation for reconstructing past environmentalchanges, there is an urgent need for integrated modelling ofboth processes. A framework is presented here. Based on amass-balance approach, a model with 4 layers was developed.The model incorporates the main soil formation processes,like physical and chemical weathering, neoformation,translocation of clays and bioturbation. Soil erosion andredistribution is modelled through a cellular automataapproach, with feedbacks for vegetations growth and rockcover. The model is applied to scenarios with differentcombinations of erosion intensity and soil formationintensity. The results illustrate the complex interactionsbetween both and show how sediment export not onlydepends on climatic or anthropogenic drivers that controlerosion rates, but also from the state of the soils. In areaswhere soils have been depleted, the sediment archive canshow decreases in soil erosion rates which do not correspondto real changes in population pressure or climate. Figure 1shows contrasting sediment export from two scenarios: (a)moderate soil erosion rate and (b) high soil erosion rate. Thetop graph shows cumulative sediment export per size classand the bottom graph shows yearly rates.

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Veres, DanielA Six Thousand Year Geochemical Record ofAtmospheric Metal Deposition in an Ice Core fromScarisoara Cave, Apuseni Mountains, RomaniaVeres, Daniel1; Onac, Bogdan P.2, 3; Persoiu, Aurel2; Atlas,Zachary D.2; Polyak, Victor4; Asmerom, Yemane4

1. “Emil Racovita” Institute of Speleology, RomanianAcademy, Cluj Napoca, Romania

2. Department of Geology, University of South Florida,Tampa, FL, USA

3. Department of Geology, Babes-Bolyai University/”EmilRacovita” Institute of Speleology, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

4. Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, University ofNew Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA

Independent sedimentary records of air-borne metalpollution could provide a strong basis for understanding thedevelopment of mining and metallurgy through time.Although the mining region of Transylvania in westernRomania represents one of the oldest and productive miningfields of Europe (especially gold), little is known about theextent of mining activities through time (excepting perhapsthe widespread field evidence for ore exploitation during therule of the Roman Empire). Here we present initialgeochemical results from a detailed investigation of an ice-core section, approximately six thousand year old, from theice block contained within Scarisoara Cave, in ApuseniMountains, Romania. The concentration of metals (ie., Cu,Pb, As, Sb, Sn, Au, Te, Pd, Pt, Rh, Hg) that could be relevantfor defining mining activities in the region were determinedby ICP-MS techniques, at high resolution. The resultsindicate that the ice deposit from Scarisoara Cave archives adetailed record of elements representing atmosphericdeposition of volatized metals, fly ashes and otherparticulates related to mining and smelting activities. Thesepollutants seem to have been derived mostly from the nearbymining fields of Metaliferi Mountains, where polymetallicores with high contents of copper, gold, silver and lead arewidespread. Lead isotope studies are on-going and the newdata are expected to provide an accurate evaluation of metalores and emission source regions, as well as clear insightsinto the developments of metallurgy in one of the oldestmining regions of Europe. The new data are likely to provideone of the first long records of anthropogenic pollution inRomania and Eastern Europe. Compared with archeologicaldata, the new results could have immediate implications inbetter constraining the timing, magnitude and extent ofmining activities and anthropogenic impact in the miningdistricts of Transylvania. This work is part of on-goingefforts by our working group to explicitly document theanthropogenic impact and the long-term mining andmetallurgical history of this region in a securely dated,multi-proxy approach.

Weiss, HarveyQuantifying Collapse: Abrupt Climate Change,Regional Abandonments, Habitat-Tracking, andthe Humean Counterfactual (INVITED)

Weiss, Harvey1; Guilderson, Tom2; Manning, Sturt3;Kaniewski, David4; Van Campo, Elise4

1. Environmental Studies Program, Yale University, NewHaven, CT, USA

2. Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, LawrenceLivermore National Laboratories, Livermore, CA, USA

3. Wiener Laboratory for Aegean and Near EasternDendrochronology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

4. ECOLAB, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France

Abrupt climate changes, century-scale spikes ofaridification and cooling, affected West Asia and theMediterranean at almost millennial intervals: 8.2. 5.2, 4.2,and 3.2 ka BP. The 3.2 ka BP event apart, each abruptclimate change was global, with the visibility of social effectsand adaptations a function of the availability and resolutionof archaeological records. A multi-proxy paleoclimate stackfor the Eastern Mediterranean and West Asia is presented(Figure 1). The 5.2-5.0 ka BP abrupt aridification andcooling event affected the consolidation and collapse of theearliest state-level complex societies in Mesopotamia andEgypt. The 3.2 - 2.9 ka BP abrupt aridification disruptedMediterranean and Mesopotamian dry-farming andengendered the collapse of the ancient East Mediterraneanworld. The 4.2-3.9 ka BP abrupt climate change initiated the300-year drought that generated societal collapses acrossEast and West Asia and the Mediterranean. These includedthe collapse of the Akkadian Empire and the Old Kingdom,region-wide abandonments and nomadization, and habitat-tracking to riparian, paludal and karstic-spring refugia.High-precision dating and regional settlement surveyspermit quantification of the collapse, abandonment,habitat-tracking, and resettlement processes. Moreover,alongside the new paleoclimate proxy records, theyilluminate the counterfactual linkage between Holoceneabrupt climate changes and adaptive societal collapses: “If Chad not occurred, E would not have occurred.” Holocenepaleoclimatology thereby revises the causal andadaptationist paradigms of anthropological archaeology.

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Figure 1. Multi-proxy paleoclimate stack, 5.2, 4.2 and 3.2 ka BPabrupt climate change events, Mediterranean westerlies andKilimanjaro (H. Weiss and M. Besonen 2009).

Wright, Rita P.Human Geography and the Impact of ClimateChange in the Upper Indus Valley: Convergent Datafrom Stable Isotopes, CORONA Imagery, and thePaleobotanical RecordWright, Rita P.1; Schuldenrein, Joseph2; Weber, Steven3;Hritz, Carrie4

1. Anthropology, New York University, New York City, NY,USA

2. President, Geoarchaeology Research Associates, Riverdale,NY, USA

3. Anthropology, Washington State University, Vancouver,WA, USA

4. Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, StateCollege, PA, USA

New evidence from a regional study of settlements onthe Beas River, a now dry riverbed near the major Induscenter of Harappa, complements our earlier publications onclimate change and the human ecology of Late Holoceneenvironmental dynamics. These new data include stableisotope analyses, Corona declassified imagery, land use/soilmaps, and agricultural cropping patterns. In our earlierpublications, we linked global and local climatic cycles of thelate third, early second millennia BC, to a period ofsettlement decline and even abandonment. While globalproxy data for the region remain inconsistent with respect tothe timing of early and later Holocene conditions and showmonsoon weakening at 3500 BC and some differences inearly and late Holocene conditions, other indicators thatinclude pollen studies from lakes in northwestern India andrelative thicknesses of turbidite varves from coastal coresargue for enhanced winter precipitation during the Indusperiod with a spike in the record at 2000-1750 cal BC. Initialcorrelations between settlement geography and climaticsignals were based upon deep testing and radiometric datingcalibrated to soil formation chronologies, depositionalhistories of the Beas floodplains and terraces, and thecultural sequences of the Indus mounds. These integratedsequences were then tied to a baseline climatic model(Wright et al, 2008) that considered regional circulationsystems and localized variability at gauging stations in thevicinity of the primary sites. These data underscored a trendto relatively stable and moister climates at the onset ofsettlement in the region, accelerations of channel migrationand realignments of the Beas during the peak period ofurbanization, and drastic realignments in precipitation andriver discharge in the later stages of the civilization.Threshold transitions in the precipitation balance causeddisruptions of the drainage net and hydrography that wouldhave produced destabilization of landscapes tied torelocation of populations and abandonments of previouslysustained settlements. In this study we consolidate theresults of additional methodologies to test thesettlement/environmental interpretations that were initiallygenerated by first run field work, sequence chronologies,geomorphic analysis and climatic models. New data setsinclude higher resolution of relict channel configurations

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(observable on Corona declassified imagery and landuse/soil maps), shifts in C4 to C3 stable isotope ratiosattesting to transitions in vegetation covers (consistent withthe passage from semi-arid to arid climatic phases), andpaleobotanical successions based on cropping patternsedfsdfand proportions of summer and winter crops.Convergent global and local trends in the data sets bolsterarguments for the impacts of climatic dynamics in therealignment of settlements in the Indus civilization duringlater stages of occupation and the importance of modelingthe complexity of climate change, adaptive systems andhuman responses.

Zackova, PavlaMACROFOSSIL EVIDENCE OF HUMAN IMPACTON VEGETATION DURING THE LATE GLACIAL-HOLOCENE FROM EXTINCT LAKEŠVARCENBERK, SOUTHERN BOHEMIA, CZECHREPUBLICZackova, Pavla1; Pokorny, Petr1, 2; Kunes, Petr1, 3

1. Botany, Charles University in Prague, Faculty of NatureScience, Prague, Czech Republic

2. Historical ecology and archaeobotany, Institute ofArchaeology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic,Prague, Czech Republic

3. Earth Sciences, Arhus University, Arhus, Denmark

The results presented here are mainly based on theanalyses of plant macrofossils collected from sediments ofthe extinct Lake Svarcenberk. This work is a part of themulti-proxy project on the Late Glacial and Early Holoceneenvironmental history of the cultural landscape, whichconsider co-evolution of human impacts and naturalprocesses. The first organic deposits began to form duringLate-Pleniglacial (ca 16 ka). Macrofossils record consistmainly of oospores of Chara spp. (include Chara strigosa –an indicator of oligothrophic cold water). Salix wood,Potamogeton gramineus fruits were also recorded. Thepollen spectra give the evidence of treeless vegetation with anaqatic and wetland species (Myriophyllum verticilatum-type,Potamogeton-type, Sparganium) (POKORNÝ 2002). Duringthe Late Glacial Interstadial (ca 13 ka) organic productionincreased. Macroscopic remains of oligothrophicmacrophytic vegetation (oospores of Charophyta, seeds ofBatrachium sp., Potamogeton cf. gramineus) are recognized.The other plant remains suggest reed and tall-sedge bedsvegetation (Carex rostrata/vesicaria, Carex cf. diandra, Typhaangustifolia/latifolia, Menyanthes trifoliata) in the littoralzone of the lake. Subsequently, decline of plant macrofossilsand occurrence of cold water species (Potamogetonpraelongus, P. perfoliatus) give an evidence of climaticdeterioration. It may correspond to the Younger Dryas.Beginning of the Holocene is well detected by the rapiddevelopment of macrophytic vegetation (Batrachium sp.,Najas marina, N. minor, Nuphar pumila, Myriophyllumspicatum, Potamogenton filiformis, P. alpinus). The presenceof some palatable terrestrial plants macrofossils (Rubussaxatilis, R. idaeus, Trapa natans) may indicate that the

Mesolithic settlement existed around this lake. This is alsosupported by the occurrence of some anthropogenic pollenindicators (Calluna vulgaris, Plantago lanceolata,Cannabis/Humulus-type, Pteridium aquilinum, Corylusavellana) and by the evidence of enhanced influx of charcoalparticles (KUNEŠ ET AL. 2008), which also suggestsprobably use of fire in land clearance. Archaeologicalexcavation give the evidence of chestnut (Trapa natans),hazel (Corylus avellana) and pine wood artifacts (shaftfragment) in around 950050 BP. Presence of these taxasupport the presumption of introduction by man. Duringthe middle of the Holocene (ca 4 ka) organic productionincreased rapidly. Recorded macro-remains of Carexechinata, Menyanthes trifoliata indicate that the lake turn apeat bog. Presence of other plant remains, Alnus glutinosa,Frangula alnus, Carex acutiformis, suggest that area wassurrounded by Alder Carr. References: KUNEŠ P., POKORNÝP., ŠÍDA P., 2008: Detection of the impact of early Holocenehunter-gatherers on vegetation in the Czech Republic, usingmultivariate analysis of pollen data. Vegetation history andArchaeobotany 17:269-287 POKORNÝ P., 2002: A high-resolution record of Late-Glacial and Early-Holoceneclimatic and environmental change in the Czech Republic.Quaternary International 91:101-122

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