Holocene

Jones, Robert; Roberts, Amy; Westell, Craig; Moffat, Ian; Jacobsen, Geraldine; Scott Cummings, Linda; ,

2024 Holocene

doi: 10.1177/09596836241266397

This paper presents new data derived from pollen, starch and radiocarbon samples that were collected from six Aboriginal earth (oven) mounds and middens on the Calperum and Pike floodplains, Murray-Darling Basin (MDB), South Australia (SA). Analyses of these samples were undertaken in order to enhance our understanding about the Holocene lifeways of Aboriginal people living in this region. The results from these analyses, combined with published data about the mounds’ contents, relevant ethno-historical information and climate data, allow us to infer that Aboriginal people adopted, in this region, an innovative food production system about 3800 years ago. Further, we argue that the timing of the change suggests this was in response to adverse El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) related weather patterns and consequently fluctuations in both terrestrial and aquatic food resources.

Tanino, Kikuko; Hosono, Mamoru; Watanabe, Makiko

2024 Holocene

doi: 10.1177/09596836241266429

The Pacific coast of eastern Japan contains specific aeolian landforms of geomorphological interest in terms of their formation processes in humid climates and Holocene paleoenvironments. Wind erosion landforms, characterised by blowouts, were observed at the heads of coastal cliffs which consisted of marine gravel sediments, weathered volcanic ash layers (WVALs) and black soil layers (BSLs). The blowouts were accompanied by downwind tephric loess dunes. We analysed the physicochemical properties of the WVAL, BSL and dune sediment samples. The results revealed that clay and silt contents in dune sediments were 5–48% and 20–35%, respectively. The fine particles were in the form of aggregates in the WVALs, BSLs and dune sediments, with contributions from andic properties. WVAL and BSL aggregates were prone to movement in saltation, depositing into the dunes in a formation process similar to that of clay dunes in semiarid zones. The tephric loess dunes were characterised as clay dunes based on their high clay and silt contents. In addition, the dunes were characterised by durable aggregates derived from short-range-order minerals, such as allophane. The prevailing northeasterly winds caused by intense low pressures were responsible for dune formation in the study areas. Radiocarbon dating revealed two active wind periods. The first was approximately 1005–895 cal. BC to 358–281 cal. BC, and the second was 771–886 cal. AD to 1021–1155 cal. AD.

An, Ting; Zhang, Zhiheng; Zheng, Yunfei; Peng, Yu; Wang, Jiajing; Jiang, Leping; Liu, Xinyi; Jones, Martin K.

2024 Holocene

doi: 10.1177/09596836241269658

The Lower Yangtze valley is widely recognized as the earliest center of rice agriculture. The process of rice domestication, based on the morphology of spikelet bases, has been traced between 9000 and 5000 BP. However, the domestication status of rice before 9000 BP remains a subject of debate due to the near absence of macrobotanical remains in the region. This research aims to address this gap by investigating rice impressions and inclusions found in ceramic sherds from Shangshan site, the earliest Neolithic site in the Lower Yangtze valley. Utilizing microCT analysis, this study examined 184 impressions of Oryza sp. spikelet bases from ceramics sherds, generating the most extensive database of rice remains dating to the early Shangshan phase. The results offer valuable insights into the early onset of rice domestication in the Lower Yangtze during the 10th millennium BP. This study represents a pioneering use of microCT analysis of ceramic sherds with early plant impressions.

Becker, Fabian; Knitter, Daniel; Walser, Andreas Victor; Ludwig, Bernhard; Tozan, Murat; Schütt, Brigitta; Pirson, Felix

2024 Holocene

doi: 10.1177/09596836241259772

A systematic interdisciplinary approach based on the socio-ecological model of the Vienna school has been adopted to achieve a more nuanced and multifaceted understanding of the ancient metropolis of Pergamon (western Anatolia) and its micro-region. The city of Pergamon ranks among the ‘guiding fossils’ of urban culture in antiquity. We describe how the socio-ecological model is subject to adaptation and discussion to fit the needs and circumstances of archaeology. In focussing on geomorphodynamics, we use several approaches to conceptualise and model selected aspects of human-environment interactions, integrating data from physical geography, archaeology, building archaeology (Bauforschung) and ancient history. The model includes several dimensions of the social metabolism of Pergamon, first and foremost the carrying capacity of the environment and demographics, comprising population increase and labour as an active investment in nature. Geomorphodynamics are regarded as major ‘events’ in the model, related to the social metabolism (e.g. increased erosion/deposition in the micro-region in relation to urban sprawl). With the social-ecological model, it is possible – and becomes imperative – to include the perception and representation of human-environment interactions manifested in, for example, administrative patterns and religious practices or architecture and built infrastructure (such as terraces, riverbank stabilisation, substraction terraces and substraction bridges). Geomorphodynamics also involve various aspects of the perception of the environment, though these are not recorded in ancient texts on Pergamon known to date. Concurrently, the importance of the model in organising, structuring, and communicating interdisciplinary collaboration and discourse is highlighted.

Pablo-Pablo, Marco A.; Franco-Ramos, Osvaldo; Vázquez-Selem, Lorenzo; Cerano-Paredes, Julián

2024 Holocene

doi: 10.1177/09596836241266433

Rockfall represents one of the most destructive geomorphic processes for infrastructure and settlements located at the foot of mountain slopes. Furthermore, it poses a hazard for visitors and hikers. Despite the high anthropic activity in these environments, research on the reconstruction of rockfall in the high mountains of Mexico is still scarce. We used dendrochronological, dendrogeomorphological and lichenometric approaches to study the age and rockfall dynamics in a talus slope in central Mexico. Tree- ring chronologies were constructed from 140 samples of 50 Pinus hartwegii trees, 10 Juniperus monticola shrubs and 16 Ribes ciliatum shrubs to determine the age, frequency and rockfall stability at the upper limit of the forest (~4000 m a.s.l.). 52% of the tree samples showed impact scars, 39% callus tissue, 7% growth suppression and 2% corresponded to trees killed by rockfall. The frequency of rockfalls has increased since the second half of the 20th century, with the 1990s being the period of greatest activity. The years with the greatest disturbance were 1991, 1994 and 1998, possibly due to the intense rainfall that accumulated during the summer, as well as the earthquakes recorded in central and southern Mexico with magnitudes ⩾6. For the lichenometric analysis, 231 thalli of Rhizocarpon geographicum were measured in an active rockfall area. The results suggested three areas of rockfall activity. In the first area the ages were from 61 (±5 year) to 322 years (±41 year). In the second area, the ages were from 12 (±3 year) to 50 years (±12 year). The third area corresponds to an active zone with lichen-free blocks, located near the escarpment. The combination of dendrochronological and lichenometric methods allows a better determination of the minimum ages of rockfall, frequency, spatial distribution, and their possible factor triggers.

Bal, Çağlayan; Pişkin, Evangelia

2024 Holocene

doi: 10.1177/09596836241259774

Climatic change has been called for as an explanation on many occasions of societal change. The way climatic deterioration affects societies appears to be straightforward; it causes such alterations in the environment that critical subsistence resources are not anymore available in sufficient abundance. Nevertheless, it is not clear how these alterations can be identified and verified in the archeological record, and there is not an easy way to clarify if modifications observed in subsistence patterns are the consequences of climatic change or other agents. Additionally, there is a number of problems related to paleoenvironmental data that measure the climatic fluctuations, mostly concerning the exact timing of events and their intensity which may not have been the same universally. In this research, we examine the 4.2 ka BP climatic event and its possible effects on western Anatolian societies through a set of published data. We discuss the information we have about the event from available paleoenvironmental data and the gaps in this kind of research. We examine the agropastoral economy from Troy, Küllüoba, Kanlıgeçit, and Karataş-Semayük for possible changes according to a set of criteria that we consider as indicators of responses to aridification. We found diverging strategies that may relate to the different local environments or varying societal structures unique to each site. We consider a partial turn to nomadic pastoralism as an adaptation strategy based on changes in settlement patterns. Finally, we evaluate our findings against other possible explanations since the observed patterns could have had multiple explanations.

Liu, Li; Li, Yongqiang; Chen, Ran; Cui, Yinzhi; Chen, Xingcan; Gu, Wanfa

2024 Holocene

doi: 10.1177/09596836241266422

Fiber technology, crucial to human societies for millennia, encompasses cordage and textiles. The development of fiber crops and the production of fiber-based clothing are significant components of the Neolithic Revolution. Despite China being an independent center for agriculture, the role of fiber technology in this context remains largely unexplored. In this project, we employed a comprehensive approach that combines microfossil analysis and use-wear examinations to study tools from the Peiligang site in North China. This site uniquely spans the Upper Paleolithic and early Neolithic periods, offering an ideal setting for investigating the evolution of fiber production. Our results reveal that some Paleolithic blades and scrapers were associated with fiber production, which coincided with ostrich eggshell beads and hematite during the cold and dry Last Glacial Maximum period. Responding to climatic fluctuations, fiber production played a significant role in subsistence and ritual activities. In the early Neolithic, advanced fiber production is evident. Two adjacent burials yield tools and microfossil remains representing a toolkit for fiber and possible textile production, including harvesting, retting, pounding, scraping, and sewing. Fibers recovered from human bones provide potential evidence of textile production and use. Dyeing with blue, black, and red colorants was common for textiles, cordages, and strings. These grave goods suggest the involvement of the deceased in craft production with bast fibers, possibly embodying the earliest specialization in fiber craft 8000 years ago in Neolithic China.

Vélez, Maria I; Salgado, Jorge; Delgado, Miguel; Patiño, Luisa F; Bird, Broxton; Escobar, Jaime H; Fajardo, Sebastian

2024 Holocene

doi: 10.1177/09596836241266408

Tota is an Andean lake located in the Altiplano of the Eastern Andes of Colombia where socio-politically hierarchical societies of the Herrera and Muisca, flourished for millennia. To them, the lake and surrounding forest were places used for diverse of activities including religious rituals. In this study we produced a multi-proxy paleolimnological reconstruction using diatoms, isotopes, and geochemistry, to try to understand the lake’s pathways of change in response to natural climatic variations and anthropogenic activities. The diatom record is dominated by tychoplanktonic Staurosirella dubia and planktonic Aulacoseira species including species A. cf lirata, A. granulata, A. distans, and A. ambigua. Diatoms were grouped into functional groups and used to infer limnological changes that were further complemented with the geochemistry of the sediments to reconstruct the past environment. Results show three main periods in which the lake changed significantly, these are dated from ~800 to 1200, 1200 to 1500, and 1500 to 1900 CE. A correlation with the archeological record of the region, ethnohistoric accounts and climate suggests that these changes occurred simultaneously with changes in archeological stages, the Spanish arrival, and more recently by the industrial revolution, and the Little Ice Age.

Tindall, JM; Holmes, J; Candy, I; Leng, MJ; Langdon, P; Fonville, T; Sear, DA

2024 Holocene

doi: 10.1177/09596836241266435

Historical climate change in southern England was investigated using ostracod oxygen-isotope (δ18O) records from two anthropogenic lakes in Hampshire, southern England. A strong relationship is observed between δ18Oostracod, δ18Oprecipitation and δ18Olake_water in the contemporary environment and therefore δ18Oostracod from the sedimentary record of these systems has the potential to reflect past climate variability. The possibility of these sites to act as archives of climate change through δ18Oostracod analysis is explored through the study of lake sediment cores that cover the period from the early 20th century onwards. Both lakes showed similar directionality of shifts in δ18Oostracod over this period, suggesting common driving mechanisms. Comparing δ18Oostracod timeseries to meteorological data is challenging in part because of the complexity with which climate parameters are recorded in the δ18Olake_water and consequently within lacustrine carbonates. Our findings highlight the potential of sediments from anthropogenic lakes to act as archives of past climate and indicate they may be an important resource for generating climatic reconstructions across the medieval to instrumental period, which the sediments of many anthropogenic lakes cover. Such climate reconstructions would greatly improve our spatial and temporal understanding of climate variability where instrumental data are unavailable and other natural archives are scarce.

Golitko, Mark; Power, Mitchell J; Kariwiga, Jason; Miamba, Kenneth

2024 Holocene

doi: 10.1177/09596836241274989

The coastlines of the southwestern Pacific are dynamic environments that have been repeatedly reshaped by tectonic forces as well as changing global climate and sea level. It has been theorized that much of the north coast of New Guinea was sparsely inhabited until stabilization of coastal flats fallowing the Mid-Holocene Thermal Maximum and resulting marine high stand. We report on environmental proxy indicators measured in core samples taken near modern day Aitape, Papua New Guinea. These cores record the formation of a large lagoonal system on the modern coastal flats by 5800 cal BP. This lagoon infilled over the next several 1000 years as sea level dropped, with the modern coastal flats stabilizing by 1400 cal BP. A charcoal record spanning the period between 6200 and 1400 cal BP documents substantial increases in influx between ~6200 and 6000 cal BP and particularly from ~3000 to 2600 cal BP. Comparison to regional charcoal and ENSO records suggests that increasing aridity and ENSO intensity may drive regional patterning in fire records, however, localized charcoal records are also heavily influenced by human activity. Between 3000 and 2600 cal BP, forest management practices in the Aitape area, currently focused on tree crops and horticulture characterized by long fallowing and limited burning, shifted to a regime characterized by large scale forest clearance and shorter fallowing. We hypothesize that increasing population driven by abundant Mid-Holocene lagoonal resources may have been difficult to maintain as lagoons infilled and climate became more variable, leading to horticultural intensification.