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This paper is a review article focussing on the research on past environments of Zimbabwe. The paper synthesises the current knowledge on palaeo-climates and other environmental parameters that inform debates and discussions on climate change and human adaptation. The study of palaeoenvironments provides environmental knowledge that chronologically goes beyond the range of written climatic records that are available in the country. The palaeoenvironmental data now available shows that our human ancestors in Zimbabwe have survived numerous climatic upheavals since the beginning of the Stone Age. However, limited research in the Stone Age and the variety of proxy data available creates a less coherent record. Extrapolation of evidence from the region makes the data less reliable for archaeological interpretations. The paper shows conflicting signals across the region at some specific periods. There are numerous gaps in the record. The paper concludes by calling for multidisciplinary research on the past environments of Zimbabwe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The island of Zakynthos is one of the most seismically active areas in the Mediterranean region because it is located very close to the convergent boundary between the African and Eurasian plates. Its evolution during the Holocene has been influenced by tectonic activity, catastrophic events and relative sea level changes. The scope of the present paper is to examine the Holocene palaeoenvironmental changes of the coastal areas of Zakynthos Island using a multidisciplinary approach, combining sedimentological and palaeontological data with 14 C and OSL dating from four cores of a maximum depth of ~ 30 m. The integrated results reveal that sea level and tectonic activity have brought significant modifications in the coastal geomorphic settings of the island during the past ~ 10,000 yr B.P. The depositional environments and the palaeontological biofacies document four main geomorphological evolutionary stages of the island. We identified fully marine and lagoonal deposits with marine influence (before 4100 yr B.P.), as well as brackish and freshwater limnic depositional environments (around 4100 yr B.P. to present). The interpretation of our data indicates that Zakynthos island was separated into two main parts before the middle Neolithic period (around 7500 yr B.P.) with Vasilikos peninsula in the SE being isolated from the main island. The fact that Zakynthos Island was a divided Mediterranean island for a significant period of time in its prehistory is of great importance to understand better the archaeological landscapes of Zakynthos and the other Ionian Islands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The delta region of the Amu-dar'ya has a complex history of shifting river channels that has impacted extensively on the Aral Sea and on the areas of the delta that saw human settlement from prehistoric times onwards. This paper explores evidence drawn from archeological, historical and environmental data relating to lakes that formed in the south of the delta on the east bank of the river and their impact on settlement patterns in this area, in particular the potential impact of variable flooding on the major fortified site of Akchakhan-kala. Testing of the area around the sites showed that the site had not been flooded but was founded on riverine or lacustrine clays. Shortly after the initial abandonment of the site, the immediate environment was covered by dune fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new palynological record from a 146 cm long finely laminated sediment core obtained in 2009 from the deep-water meromictic Lake Shira (54°30′38″N, 90°12″09′E; ca. 353 m a.s.l.) situated in the Khakassian steppe region of southern Siberia between the rivers Ob' and Yenisei. The area is rich in lakes and represents an exceptionally well preserved sequence of Bronze and Iron Age archeological cultures. Little is known about the changes in vegetation and climate of the region during the Holocene. The palynological analysis of the core allows us to partly fill up this gap in current knowledge. The record of pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs presented here covers the past 2450 year interval with an average resolution of 22 years. The results obtained support the interpretation that the late Holocene vegetation changes around Lake Shira are mainly associated with large-scale atmospheric circulation processes controlling the regional water balance rather than with human activities. An attempt to trace human impact in the pollen assemblages provides no clear evidence for anthropogenic activity, except for the last few decades since ca. 1955, though the region has a long history of mobile pastoralists. For explanation of decadal-scale changes in the regional vegetation cover, the Artemisia /Chenopodiaceae (A/C) pollen ratio proved to be a reliable indicator of effective moisture availability. Using available fossil and published instrumental data our study suggests a link between the North Atlantic warmer/colder temperatures and higher/lower atmospheric precipitation (or moisture availability) in southern Siberia at multi-decadal to centennial scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interactions between human societies and the environment that they inhabit have been a controversial topic in archaeology for at least the past fifty years. Currently, modern theoretical approaches take this subject as a key issue in their research agenda. This paper presents a review of the main outcomes of several archaeological and multidisciplinary South American projects related to this theme. The case-studies discussed here are all located within arid settings, and can be grouped into three broad geographic areas: Puna (or Altiplano) of northwestern Argentina, Cuyo (west-central Argentina), and southern Patagonia. These regions cover a wide latitudinal range extending from 22° to 52° S. They were selected for comparison due to environmental similarities, and a common record of past climate impacts mainly related to the Medieval Climatic Anomaly (MCA) and the Little Ice Age (LIA). Although the impacts of these climatic changes were locally heterogeneous in their intensity and the quality of the available information is regionally variable, they provide a base-line for comparison and supra-regional integration. The integration of archaeological and palaeoenvironmental data on this broad supra-regional spatial scale allows us to identify interesting historical trajectories associated with particular time periods. As an example, there are some spatial rearrangements of large populations during the MCA, in the three areas. Additionally, there are variable patterns in the changes associated with the different social contexts that impose specific demographic and economic constraints. Finally, this study sets the basis for new questions and provides a guide to the methodological and theoretical issues that we need to address in order to answer them. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper investigates changes in the vegetation and hydrology at Ljubljansko barje (Slovenia) using a multi-proxy approach (pollen, diatoms, geochemical and stable isotope analysis). During the Lateglacial Ljubljansko barje was a deep, oligotrophic lake surrounded by open woodland comprised predominantly of Pinus and Betula which in the early Holocene, when the lake became shallower and mesotrophic (Fragilaria pinnata, δ 15N~3.3‰, δ 13C~−33.7‰, C/N~7.9), was replaced by broadleaved tree taxa (Tilia, Ulmus, Quercus, Corylus) and Picea. This was followed by the spread of Fagus and after ~9200 cal yr BP Abies and planktonic and oligotrophic diatom taxa (Aulacoseira italica, Gomphonema angustum) as well as an increased allochthonous influx (silt, SiO2, Al2O3). Between ca. 6750 and 6000 cal yr BP the diatom data suggest shallower and oligotrophic conditions, whereas the stable isotope record (increased δ 13C and decreased δ 15N) indicates terrestrial input. Changes in forest composition (increase of Quercus, Alnus, Corylus) and the spread of herb taxa were probably advanced by human impact on the environment. The beginning of organic sedimentation, dated to 6000 cal yr BP, was followed by an increase of Fagus and Abies and by eutrophication and peat growth at ~5200 cal yr BP. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The global warming at the end of the last glacial period led to a sea level rise, which induced substantial long-term landscape changes in the southwestern Baltic Sea. During the Preboreal and Boreal periods, this region, bordering on the Ancylus Lake in the east, was dry land with numerous lakes and rivers. However, with the beginning of the Littorina Transgression around 6700BC, during the Atlantic period, the area became connected to the ocean. People settling along the coast of the former Ancylus Lake, Mesolithic hunter–gatherers, continuously had to adapt to rapid changes. The Littorina Transgression made a new source available to man: the young Baltic Sea. Important settlement sites were founded in the coastal regions, and were consumed one by one by the constantly rising sea level. At the time of the decline of the sea level rise and the beginning consolidation of the coast lines, a socially motivated turn towards a productive economy started. Hunting and fishery were widely replaced by agriculture and stock farming. To understand the interplay between all of these developments, it is necessary that scientists from a variety of disciplines undertake collective investigations. This paper presents first culture-historical, palaeozoological, palaeobotanical, palaeoecological and palaeogeographical results yielded by from the multidisciplinary research group SINCOS (Sinking Coasts) and uses these to create a new comprehensive picture of the development of the south-western Baltic Sea region during the Ancylus Lake and Littorina Sea stages. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper explores some of the new perspectives resulting from re-examination of the pollen data from my 1978 comprehensive analysis of 100 coprolites from one of the earliest identified prehistoric latrines in North America. Of particular interest are the empirical results of previously unavailable pollen concentration calculations for some of the prehistoric specimens as well as a time-series of 82 modern fecal specimens produced during an experiment yielding data on the rate of elimination of specific pollen grains from the human system. Experimental data of all sorts are needed to extend coprolite analyses and interpretations, particularly from pollen-ingestion studies conducted with more volunteers over long periods of time. Parasitological studies of human coprolites will benefit from experimental data to determine the fate of the constituents of human feces ingested by dogs. The application of specialized techniques at the microscope, such as Intensive Systematic Microscopy ([Dean, G., 1998. Finding a needle in a palynological haystack. In: Bryant, V.M., Wrenn, J.H. (Eds.), New Developments in Palynomorph Sampling, Extraction, and Analysis. Am. Assoc. of Stratigraphic Palynologists Foundation., Contribs Series No. 33, pp. 53–59]), to locate and quantify rare pollen types needs to be explored. Easy and useful ways to express the abundance of macroremains in a coprolite are also needed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Along the Peruvian coast, standard paleoclimatic archives such as pollen cores or corals are absent or undeveloped. However, anthropogenic deposits offer paleoclimatic information for the last 13 000 years at temporal scales ranging from centennial for long-term records to seasonal for short-term records. This paper summarizes archaeologically based paleoclimatic data for the Peruvian coast from the Terminal Pleistocene through the Middle Holocene. South of 12°S, coastal waters have been cool–temperate and terrestrial conditions have been hyperarid for the entire period. Between 8000 and 3600 cal BP, the highland precipitation supplying runoff to the south coast may have diminished sufficiently to restrict human occupation of ephemeral streams. North of ∼10°S, sea surface temperatures were warmer and seasonal precipitation may have been greater from prior to 13 000 to 5800 cal BP. From 9000 to 5800 cal BP, El Nin˜o was absent or very infrequent. After 5800 cal BP, the northern coastal waters cooled and El Nin˜o was present but with a lower frequency than seen in the historical and instrumental record. El Nin˜o frequencies in the modern and historical range were established ∼3000 cal BP. Cultural changes correlate temporally with these major climatic transitions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]