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The use of archaeological proxy records representative of population dynamics is paramount for a richer understanding of prehistoric cultural change, but its use require a dialectic assessment between proximate climatic drivers and ultimate cultural responses. Focusing on the Stone Age archaeological record of Western Norway (11,500–4300 cal. BP), this paper presents an exhaustive empirical curation and statistical testing between changing climates and demographic responses among coastal hunter-fisher-gatherers. The results connect long-term demographic fluctuations with changes in annual mean temperatures and seasonality and the results are discussed in relation changes in technology, subsistence and mobility. The paper also highlights the process of population decline and cultural loss towards the end of the Late Mesolithic (ca. 7000–6000 cal. BP) and emerging cultural novelties and population re-growth during the Early and Middle Neolithic (ca. 6000–4300 cal. BP). However, despite its strong correlation, the archaeological record of Western Norway lacks sufficient detail to ascribe an exclusive explanatory role to climate change, especially in episodes of significant population decline. This helps to emphasise that changing climates, while evidently central, form but a part of a larger system of interactions leading to demographic fluctuations and cultural change, the substantiation of which requires significant empirical improvements to the archaeological record. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detailed palaeogeographical studies of the accumulative fan in the Serteyka River valley in W Russia and underlying biogenic deposits were carried out. The base of a representative core of biogenic sediments in the distal zone is dated to 1291 BC, while its top to 1631 AD. In this paper, palynological, plant macrofossils, Chironomide and Cladocera, geochemical, geochronological and sedimentological analysis were performed. Four phases of biogenic deposition were distinguished by pollen and geochemical analyses. Two of them coincide with the climatic fluctuation during Medieval Climate Anomaly and Little Ice Age. During the formation of the fan, overbank deposits were accumulated also, indicating numerous and intense floods, which are in line with the trend observed for other sites in this region. The accumulative fan is formed by lower, middle and upper deluvia and agricultural diamicton in its top. All units have specific sedimentological and geochemical features as well as low admixture of plant macrofossils. The beginning of the formation of this relief form dates back to the second half of the 17th century AD, and the end of the accumulation falls on the second half of the 18th century AD. Our work suggests that natural conditions had an impact on the formation and development of studied accumulative fan, however, the decisive factor causing the intensification of the slope processes were related with deforestation resulted from strong human impact, which was marked in palynological and macrofossils analyses (e.g. increase in the contribution of plants macrofossils related to agriculture). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies have raised concerns regarding the reconstruction of glacier mass balance using tree-ring data. The method relies on a stable relationship between both variables and summer (June–August) or melt season (May–September) temperature. However, with recent anthropogenic climate change the stability of this relationship is challenged by both, a divergence between tree-ring and temperature, as well as mass balance and temperature data. Establishing to what extent this divergence influences the reconstruction of mass balance using tree-ring data is important to assess the future viability and applicability of the method. In this paper we analyze the relationship between the Torneträsk tree-ring and Storglaciären mass balance records, their response to climate change, and investigate changes in the relationship. We provide evidence for a sensitivity loss in the Torneträsk record and quantify its impact on the reconstruction of summer mass balance of Storglaciären. We find that by including years post 1980, the amplitude of reconstructed variability is reduced, but it remains possible to explain the variance of the record significantly. Our results suggest that for glaciers without an extensive mass balance record the applicability of the method is challenged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we explore and integrate different currencies that may underlie large-game hunting to guide a trans-Holocene analysis of variation in artiodactyl utilization using massive archaeofaunal data-sets from predominantly open-air sites from the Bonneville and Wyoming basins. The available empirical data continue to suggest that artiodactyls yield consistently higher return rates than lagomorphs allowing us to leverage predictions from both the prey choice and energetic risk-gain models that the relative importance of artiodactyl hunting should scale closely with climate-based change in their abundance on the landscape. We document with modeled climate data that seasonal variables correlated with the relative frequency of artiodactyl hunting, but that summer temperature had a significant overriding effect in both regions. Controlling for the negative relationship between summer temperature and artiodactyl abundances, we then document enhanced artiodactyl hunting in general and bison more specifically during the Fremont period that is consistent with a costly signaling hypothesis and the unique socio-ecological conditions of this context. Thus, climatic variation and its influence on artiodactyl abundances drives the overall trajectory of Holocene large game hunting variation but measurable and more subtle influences of costly signaling are also detected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glaciers and ice caps in Norway are presently undergoing mass loss, areal reduction, and frontal retreat, mainly a result of increased summer ablation due to rising summer temperatures over Scandinavia, especially after 2000 CE. In this paper, the glacier mass-balance response of 10 Norwegian glaciers with continuous mass balance observations (>10 years) to climate projections from 1971–2000 to 2071–2100 have been estimated. Projected changes in mean summer temperature and mean winter precipitation from 1971–2000 to 2071–2100, applying the RCP8.5 emission scenario for five different regions in Norway; 'Sogn og Fjordane' and 'Hordaland', now Vestland County in western Norway, 'Oppland', now part of Innlandet County in eastern Norway, and Nordland County and Finnmark County, both in Northern Norway), range between +3.5°C and +5.0°C, and between +5% and +25%, respectively. These climate projections have been converted (by linear regression with overlapping observational mass-balance data) into specific surface glacier mass balance [winter balance (B w), summer balance (B s), and annual balance (B a) for 10 glaciers in Norway with mass-balance series [Ålfotbreen, Nigardsbreen (part of Jostedalsbreen), Austdalsbreen (part of Jostedalsbreen), Rembesdalskåka (part of Hardangerjøkulen), Blomstølskardsbreen (part of Søre Folgefonna), Storbrean, Hellstugubrean, Gråsubrean, Engabreen (part of Vestre Svartisen, Langfjordjøkelen (data: http://glacier.nve.no/glacier/viewer/ci/no/) yielding a total, cumulative surface glacier mass loss from 2000 to 2100 CE in the range of -85.2 ± 4 to -197.3 ± 10 m water equivalents. The estimated changes in equilibrium-line altitudes (ELAs), in the range of 230 ± 10 to 630 ± 30 m, indicate that the mean ELA may reach the upper part of 7 of the 10 glaciers included in this study [Ålfotbreen, Austdalsbreen, Rembesdalskåka, Blomstølskardsbreen, Gråsubrean, Engabreen and Langfjordjøkelen] by the end of the 21st century. The projected glacier mass loss and ELA rise, and thus changes in glacier length, area and volume, will most likely have profound consequences for future glacier hydrology (runoff), hydropower production, wildlife, ecosystems, glacier hazards, and tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drylands are diverse and dynamic ecosystems that have been occupied by humans throughout the Holocene. Nonetheless, drylands are often conceived of as marginal, rare, and inimical to human livelihoods. This Special Issue interrogates the interactions between humans and arid and aridifying environments to investigate how drylands offer unique risks and opportunities to their resilient inhabitants. This article introduces the 11 environmental archeology papers and 1 discussion paper in this Special Issue, the proceedings of a 2021 virtual workshop on the topics of risk and resilience. Each contribution explores a different geographic and chronological context around the globe. We also introduce three subthemes of this Special Issue: "Multi-Scalar Analysis," "Abundance and Diversity," and "Cascading Risks." Collectively, a key strength of the case studies in this volume is the range of environmental archeology methods and datasets that they showcase. These authors draw out details within a multi-scalar understanding of risk and risk perception in the particular contexts in which they work. As we face compounding contemporary risks associated with the global impacts of a changing climate, it is more important than ever to recognize the range of human relationships with aridification, and the dynamic, localized socio-environmental histories of drylands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three decades of interdisciplinary research within the Sagalassos Archaeological Research Project has provided extensive archaeological, environmental and geoarchaeological datasets. This paper seeks to bring together these datasets to explore diachronic socio-ecological dynamics within the Sagalassos Study Area, SW Türkiye. For this, we will use the Adaptive Cycles and Resilience Theory framework to explore socio-cultural development during changing climatic and environmental conditions. The paper aims to serve as an in-depth case study of these frameworks, integrating archaeological and environmental data, which – despite the increasing popularity of resilience theory – remains underdeveloped within the field of archaeology, especially within Mediterranean and Anatolian archaeology. We will explore the utility of the adaptive cycle framework for reconstructing diachronic human-environment interactions through changing settlement patterns documented during surveys conducted by the Sagalassos Project. Critical phases within the settlement record can be identified during the last 8000 years including apparent periods of ‘rupture’ during the Middle Chalcolithic, Middle-Late Bronze Age, Hellenistic and Middle-Byzantine periods; representing times of serious upheaval in ‘normal’ cultural traditions and lifeways. The adaptive cycle framework will help distinguish between the effects of environmental changes and social dynamics, as well as their potential interrelations in causing long-term social transformation in the Sagalassos Study Area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the early Holocene onward, the Indian Subcontinent has accommodated a range of diverse human cultures and associated ecological adaptations and lifestyles. Around 10 kyrs ago, the Subcontinent has witnessed the development of later Mesolithic hunter-gatherers and their subsequent regional transitions to pastoralist (Neolithic) and agricultural (Chalcolithic) lifeways. The Holocene climate records reveal discrepancies in the timing and duration of climatic events, which can be attributed to a vast geographic isolation, the influence of height, elevation, and local climatic conditions. These changing climatic patterns including the development of a geographically variable monsoon directly impacted these various cultures including the Harappans and their contemporaries as well as younger Historical and Medieval empires across India, at various levels. In some regions, environmental changes led to uneven cultural transitions, geographic migrations, and the development of regionally-distinct material cultures along with establishment of sedentary life-ways. This paper attempts to present a review broadly correlating general climatic patterns throughout the Holocene period of India with regional cultural dynamics. All geomorphic-climatic zones of the Subcontinent showed strong inter-proxy coherence between 9 and 5 kyrs in response to increased precipitation. After this warming period ends, we see a moderate dry period as a result of a weakening monsoon and an overall tendency toward aridity throughout all zones (after 4 kyrs). The temporal variation of human habitation and respective adaptive responses suggest broad linkages to the varying climatic and physiographic features at a regional scale. Learning how this shaped human eco-dynamics in the past can help us expand our understanding of human history and implement lessons for the present as well as the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When Ötzi, the Iceman, was found in a gully in the Tisenjoch pass in the Tyrolean Alps in 1991, he was a huge surprise for the archaeological community. The lead initial investigator of the find argued that it was unique, preserved by serendipitous circumstances. It was hypothesised that the mummy with associated artefacts had been quickly covered by glacier ice and stayed buried until the melt-out in 1991. It is now more than 30 years since Ötzi appeared. In this paper, we take a closer look at how the find can be understood today, benefitting from increased knowledge gained from more than two decades of investigations of other glacial archaeological sites, and from previous palaeo-biological investigations of the find assemblage. In the light of radiocarbon dates from the gully and new glaciological evidence regarding mass balance, it is likely that Ötzi was not permanently buried in ice immediately after his death, but that the gully where he lay was repeatedly exposed over the next 1500 years. We discuss the nature of the ice covering the site, which is commonly described as a basally sliding glacier. Based on the available evidence, this ice is better understood as a non-moving, stationary field of snow and ice, frozen to the bedrock. The damaged artefacts found with Ötzi were probably broken by typical postdepositional processes on glacial archaeological sites, and not, as previously claimed, during conflict prior to Ötzi's flight from the valley below. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past two decades, environmental studies in research on prehistoric China have been gaining popularity and importance. For Northwest China in particular, climate change, especially the so-called ~4.2k BP event has been seen as the main reason for an alleged collapse of Late Neolithic societies and a transition to pastoral-heavy economies and mobile lifeways. Yet, these explanatory models tend to rely on limited archaeological and environmental data and non-contemporaneous historical data, resulting in simplistic causal relationships between environmental changes and social response. This paper re-evaluates the Incipient Bronze Age in China's Northwestern region, discussing evidence for climate change and its exact dates, as well as textual and archaeological evidence. We argue that the old narratives perpetuating the image of a dichotomy between Steppe and Sown are inaccurate, while large-scale models of region-wide subsistence change in response to climate cooling tend to disregard local developments and group-specific responses as well as chronological issues. Focusing on the Xindian and Siwa archaeological phenomena, this paper provides a view into sub-regional responses to this climate event, warning against simplistic broad-brush reconstructions and calling for both a return to archaeological fundamentals and large-scale intensive fieldwork and interdisciplinary studies involving archaeologists, paleobotanists, zooarchaeologists, isotope specialists, and climate scientists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is focused on changes in biodiversity, the environment, and human activity in the Uvs Nuur Basin during the last three millennia based on biological and geochemical proxies from the lake Bayan Nuur. Regions with high biodiversity and relatively low anthropogenic pressures are typically the most vulnerable to both climate change and human activities. One such area is the Uvs Nuur Basin located on the north of the Great Lake Depression of Mongolia. The main objective of this study is to assess changes in the past biodiversity of the lake's microflora and microfauna, and surrounding vegetation biodiversity in the Uvs Nuur Basin, and to determine the main drivers of diversity change. Based on the analysis of pollen and chironomids we conclude that the most humid and afforested phase was between 1400 and 1800 CE. We assume that the Little Ice Age in the Uvs Nuur Basin was humid with mean annual precipitation ca. 305 mm/year and mean July temperature about 13°C. Conversely, the warmest and most arid period was between 650 and 1350 CE with mean annual precipitation ca. 280 mm/year and mean July temperature of about 16°C, attributed to the Medieval Warm Period. The biodiversity of terrestrial plants, chironomids, and Cladocera positive react to changes in annual precipitation and July temperature, whereas diatoms do not correlate directly to the climatic factors. The diversity and the evenness of plants are strongly correlated with the change in the leading biomes. The calculated species turnover suggests no significant changes in plant and Cladocera taxa composition, but significant changes in diatom and chironomid communities. This may be explained by the instability of lake ecology due to the fluctuation of the salinity and acidity of the water. An additional aim was to assess if dung fungi in lacustrine sediments reflect changes in human population density around the lake. We found that neither historical sources of human presence nor the influx of coprophilous fungi are correlated with the inferred climate changes. Coprophilous fungi can be used as individual or additional sources of assessment for the peopling and human-related herbivore density including overgrazing of the studied area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantifying the relative influences of anthropogenic activities and climate change on soil erosion and deposition during the Holocene, when both forces have been interacting is a complex problem. Analysis of long-term patterns in soil erosion and lake deposition in a basin can provide the basis for untangling the complexities of climate and anthropogenic forcings. In this paper, sedimentary sequences from Xingyun Lake are compared with simulated soil erosion rates in the basin to explore the relationship between river basin soil erosion and lake deposition during the Holocene in Yunnan, China. Modern soil erosion rates are calculated using RUSLE, while Holocene soil erosion rates are estimated using modern rates with reconstructed precipitation and vegetation cover sequences. Through this investigation, we found the following results. First, Holocene vegetation in the lake basin was mainly affected by climate change, and the vegetation experienced the same pattern of changes as the climate. Soil erosion and lake deposition rates, along with changes to vegetation cover, were synchronous with precipitation trends during the Holocene. Second, soil erosion and lake deposition have been exacerbated by human activities, such as deforestation and land reclamation in the Xingyun Lake basin. Finally, this study provides new insights into the effects by anthropogenic impacts and climate forcing on the processes of soil erosion and lake deposition on the millennium scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the past decades, the elongated mud belt, 1000 km length, in the inner shelf of the East China Sea (ECS), has been extensively studied. Previous studies mainly focused on the northern part of the mud belt. There are still many arguments on various issues of the mud belt, including the provenance discrimination, the formation mechanism, and its evolution response to climate and environmental changes. In this paper, a borehole acquired from the distal southern mud belt which penetrated the Holocene strata with the collected data was analyzed. According to the parameters of (La/Sm)UCC versus (Gd/Yb)UCC and the ternary diagram of smectite-illite-(kaolinite + chlorite), sediments from the top section of Core ECS1601 originated from the Yangtze River since 13.7 ka. Sediments from upper and lower reaches of the Yangtze River can be clearly distinguished by (Gd/Yb)UCC value. The provenance of the distal mud belt shifted from upper reaches to lower valley since 5 ka and returned to the upper reaches again since 2.5 ka, which was related to the asynchronous evolution of Asian monsoon system and anthropogenic activities. The high sedimentation rates occurring in the distal mud belt between 5 and 2.5 ka were related to the decreased sediment supply of the upper reaches and the strengthened Zhejiang-Fujian Coastal Current (ZFCC) caused by the intensified East Asian Winter Monsoon (EAWM). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying and explaining changes in the prehistoric material and social world is one of the greatest research interests in archaeology, palaeoclimate and environmental science. In the last two decades or so, a considerable number of studies have made significant contributions to the associated disciplines in eastern Asian archaeology. However, due to the more specialised scientific approaches and the rapid accumulation of new excavation materials, it becomes increasingly difficult for scholars to examine and correlate research outputs from different areas and achieve a holistic picture of the past. Using eastern Asian archaeology as an example, this Special Issue aims to break down the disciplinary boundaries and present the current research debate on how to correlate different climate, environmental and social changes and explain human past. One of the fundamental issues is the lack of adequate chronological resolution to order various archaeological events. To tackle this, a large number of radiocarbon dates, primarily derived from short- lived materials, are provided in the Special Issue. A great variety of changes in local environment, agricultural practice, animal husbandry, technologies, migration, demography and social organisations are revealed in the following papers but there are two profound drivers to all of these changes. One is the broad climate change since the start of the Holocene and the other is the communication between the West and the East. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Srivastava and Jovane (2020) have made several comments on our assessment of proxy data and challenged the outcome of Shukla et al. (2020) based mainly on interpretation of environmental magnetic parameters. We respond to their criticisms and re-evaluate our paper, remove ambiguities and validate our conclusions through additional proxies (grain-size and geochemistry). We welcome their comments and do not entirely rule out their interpretation for magnetic mineralogy. We highlight the importance of proxy validation for high-energy environments like Chorabari lake. However, single proxy data correlation is likely to produce biased results with no relevant meaning. The objective of our study was to understand complexities in the glacial-climate system by reconstructing late-Holocene climate variations using the glacial lake sediment records from the Mandakini River Basin, Central Himalaya, India. We presented the complexities in Shukla et al. (2020), and this was also highlighted by Srivastava and Jovane (2020). In response, we provide additional justification of proxy response and substantiate our results with present-day estimates from the Chorabari glacier valley. We disagree with the thesis put forward by Srivastava and Jovane (2020) in their conclusion as they overemphasize the interpretation of a single proxy. We maintain that the investigation of present-day glacial settings is an important precursor of paleoclimatic data interpretation and that this supports our conclusions. We will try to incorporate the important suggestions of Srivastava and Jovne (2020) relating to the interpretation of magnetic data in future work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents continuous, high resolution fossil pollen and microcharcoal records from Bo Langvlei, a lake in the Wilderness Embayment on South Africa's southern Cape coast. Spanning the past ~1300 years and encompassing the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA; c. AD 950–1250) and the Little Ice Age (LIA; c. AD 1300–1850), these records provide a rare southern African perspective on past temperature, moisture and vegetation change during these much debated periods of the recent geological past. Considered together with other records from the Wilderness Embayment, we conclude that conditions in the region during the MCA chronozone were – in the context of the last 1300 years – likely relatively dry (reduced levels of Afrotemperate forest pollen) and perhaps slightly cooler (increased percentages of Stoebe -type pollen) than present. The most significant phase of forest expansion, and more humid conditions, occurred during the transition between the MCA and the most prominent cooling phase of the LIA. The LIA is clearly identified at this locality as a period of cool, dry conditions between c. AD 1600 and 1850. The mechanisms driving the changes observed in the Bo Langvlei pollen record appear to be generally linked to changes in temperature, and changes in the influence of tropical circulation systems. During warmer periods, moisture availability was higher at Bo Langvlei, and rainfall was perhaps less seasonal. During colder periods, precipitation resulting from tropical disturbances was more restricted, resulting in drier conditions. While increased precipitation has been reported during the LIA from Verlorenvlei in the Western Cape as a result of an equatorward displacement of the westerly storm-track at this time, the opposing response at Bo Langvlei suggests that any increased influence of westerlies was insufficient to compensate for the concurrent reduction in tropical/local rainfall in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Holocene is recognised as a period through which a number of climatic fluctuations and environmental stresses occur—associated with intensifying El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) climatic conditions from c. 5000 years—contemporaneous with technological and social changes in Australian Aboriginal lifeways. In the Kimberley region of northwest Western Australia, human responses to ENSO driven climate change are most evident archaeologically in technological transformations observed in lithic records, with little research on changes in plant use during this time. Using nine archaeological sites across the Kimberley, this paper synthesises previously published macrobotanical data (Carpenter's Gap 1, Moonggaroonggoo, Mount Behn, and Riwi), reports unpublished data (Brooking Gorge 1, Djuru, and Wandjina rockshelter), and presents results of sites reanalysed for this study (Widgingarri Shelters 1 and 2) to develop a picture of localised and regional patterns of plant use during the Holocene. We conclude that food plants associated with monsoon rainforest environments dominate both mid- and late Holocene macrobotanical records and, although monsoon rainforest likely retreated to some extent because of decreased precipitation during the late Holocene, no human responses associated with ENSO driven climate change occurred in relation to human uses of plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shukla et al. explored paleoclimatic signals from a ~8 m thick profile of a moraine-dammed lake in the central Himalaya exposed due to lake burst from a flash flood in 2013. The main objective of their research work is to understand the complex glacial-climate system during late-Holocene. They attempted a novel multi proxy approach for paleoclimate reconstruction but their work suffers from misinterpretation of various proxies and erroneous/misleading discussion. We therefore report following major points in this comment article. (1) Misinterpretation of magnetic parameters : Magnetic susceptibility (χlf) has been used to interpret changes in magnetic mineralogy rather than concentration of magnetic minerals. Susceptibility of anhysteretic remanence (χARM) has been used at several places to indicate presence of superparamagnetic (SP) and multi domain (MD) ferrimagnetic particles rather than single domain (SD) ferrimagnetic (magnetite) particles. Interpreting erroneous negative values of percentage of frequency dependent susceptibility (χfd%) for climate change. (2) Poor chronology : Overlaps in ages of glacial-lake sediments. (3) References : Several statements in paper have not been referenced and some of them have out of place citations. (4) Carefree writing : Authors have shown typical example of carefree writing of a research article, for example, giving units to dimensionless parameter S-ratio, and χfd%, differences in units of χ lf in text and figure, different depths for the same age in text and figure. (5) Over interpretation : Authors at places have interpreted climatic variations based on only one sample. (6) Poor justifications : Authors did not provide any detailed justification for proxy data while interpreting climatic variations. (7) No data (results) on mineralogy and trace elements were given. Overall it is not only a problem of presentation and misinterpretation of proxy data but the study also fails to deliver the final message of climate change and glacier dynamics in the central Himalaya. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the eastern United States, existing paleo-reconstructions in fluvial environments consist primarily of site-specific investigations of climate and human impacts on riverine processes. This paper presents the first meta-analysis of fluvial reconstructions focused on regional watersheds of the eastern United States, including the Lower Mississippi, Tennessee, South Atlantic–Gulf Coast, Ohio, Mid-Atlantic, and New England regional watersheds. Chronologies of fluvial activity (i.e. alluvial deposition) and stability (i.e. landscape stability) were developed by synthesizing data from existing, published, and site-specific fluvial reconstruction studies conducted across the eastern United States. Overall, regional watersheds show variable patterns of synchronicity across watersheds and did not demonstrate cyclic behavior through the Holocene. During the last millennium, only the Lower Mississippi and Ohio regional watersheds exhibit high rates of fluvial activity active during the 'Medieval Climate Anomaly' (650–1050 yr BP), while nearly all other regional watersheds in the eastern United States were active during the 'Little Ice Age' (100–500 yr BP). These findings imply that fluvial activity may be more spatially restricted during warmer/drier climatic conditions than during cooler/wetter periods. We find an increase in fluvial activity during the era of Euro-American colonization (400 yr BP to present) in the southeastern United States but not the northeastern United States, implying a heterogeneous response of fluvial systems to human activities in the eastern United States related to climatic, cultural, and/or physiographic variability. These new insights gained from fluvial chronologies in the eastern United States demonstrate the utility of regionally synthesized paleo-records to understand large-scale climate variation effect on rivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The East Asian Monsoon (EAM) is a regional factor affecting the East Asian climate and the oceanographic processes of the marginal seas along the Western Pacific. Finding proxies for the EAM intensity and reconstructing the interannual and interdecadal variations of the EAM using high-resolution records are necessary to improve our understanding of the EAM's role in the global climate system and for predicting climate change. In this paper, high-resolution sedimentary records of sedimentary core C0702 obtained from the inner continental shelf of the East China Sea were comprehensively analyzed using a laser particle size analyzer, an ItraxTM core scanner, and a 210Pb and 137Cs radionuclide analyzer to explore potential proxies for the East Asian Winter Monsoon (EAWM). By combining the obtained results with instrumental observations of the EAM, we established a quantitative formula for the EAWM, which enables to reconstruct the evolution trend of the EAWM during the past 130 years. The sensitive grain-size component F2, with a grain-size range of 14.35–230 µm, and principal component PC1 of the sedimentary deposits of the East China Sea inner shelf can be used as EAWM proxies. The evolution of EAWM in 1880–1950 could be roughly divided into two stages: a weak EAWM period from 1882 to 1900 and a strong EAWM period from 1900 to 1945. This study improves our understanding of the variations in the EAWM on interannual and interdecadal temporal scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multidisciplinary studies in coastal systems of the eastern Mediterranean region have proven to be excellent tools in understanding paleoenvironmental, paleoecological, and paleoclimatic changes that took place during the Holocene period, and how these changes interacted with urban development and growth. This paper presents sedimentological, high-resolution x-ray fluorescence (XRF scanning), micropaleontological, and x-ray diffraction (XRD) data from three shallow sediment cores that were retrieved from Aliki (ancient Siphai or Tipha) salt pond. The study area is located in a unique, highly tectonic geographical region, at the northeast part of the Gulf of Corinth in Greece. Beachrock deposits that form a barrier between the salt pond and the marine environment seem to play an important role in the evolution of the area. The chronological framework was set at around 3100 cal. BP by four 14C radiocarbon dates, and the evolutionary model that was established indicates four different changes taking place during this period at the study area. From around 3100 to 1600 cal. BP, a transition from a closed to an open lagoonal environment was identified, interrupted by a fluvial terrestrial deposit at around 2500 cal. BP. A shift toward a closed lagoonal system at around 1600 cal. BP and the establishment of a salt pond environment seem to correlate with tectonic activity. The study provides important information about the evolution of coastal landscape in such a tectonic active region and points the interaction between regional human activity and climatic changes during the late-Holocene period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using multiple archeological and paleoenvironmental proxies, this paper makes the case for a climate-induced convergent catastrophe among the human population of terminal Stone Age Arctic Norway. We show that climatic changes correlate with the termination of the so-called Gressbakken phase (4200–3500 cal BP), and unpack the middle-range mechanisms linking the Gressbakken termination to contemporaneous changes in the biophysical environment. We show that what was a Holocene extreme, and likely volcanically-induced, climate deterioration around 3550 cal BP coincided with a population decline as reflected in the frequency of radiocarbon-dated archeological sites along with major changes in material culture and settlement pattern. Together, these proxies suggest a return to forms of social and economic organization based on lower population densities, higher residential mobility, and reduced locational investments. In establishing the middle-range ecological mechanics mediating these changes into archeologically observable patterns, the results indicate that the Gressbakken termination was the result of a particularly unstable climate period characterized by regional paludification, increased effective precipitation, forest decline, and likely impacts on reindeer populations and their migratory behavior, with drastic human implications. We argue for a convergent catastrophe-scenario in which a series of hardships between 4000 and 3500 cal BP exceeded the adaptive mitigation capabilities of the contemporaneous Arctic Norwegian population. Our study supports the notion that increased sedentism and locational investment actually increases vulnerability in the face of rapid biophysical change and contributes to the growing database of past human ecodynamics that speak to current socio-ecological concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much attention has been placed on the drivers of vegetation change on the Iberian Peninsula. While climate plays a key role in determining the species pools within different regions and exerts a strong influence on broad vegetation patterning, the role of humans, particularly during prehistory, is less clear. The aim of this paper is to assess the influence of prehistoric population change on shaping vegetation patterns in eastern Iberia and the Balearic Islands between the start of the Neolithic and the late Bronze Age. In all, 3385 radiocarbon dates have been compiled across the study area to provide a palaeodemographic proxy (radiocarbon summed probability distributions (SPDs)). Modelled trends in palaeodemographics are compared with regional-scale vegetation patterns deduced from analysis of 30 fossil pollen sequences. The pollen sequences have been standardised with count data aggregated into contiguous 200-year time windows from 11,000 cal. yr BP to the present. Samples have been classified using cluster analysis to determine the predominant regional land cover types through the Holocene. Regional human impact indices and diversity metrics have been derived for north-east and south-east Spain and the Balearic Islands. The SPDs show characteristic boom-and-bust cycles of population growth and collapse, but there is no clear synchronism between north-east and south-east Spain other than the rise of Neolithic farming. In north-east Iberia, patterns of demographic change are strongly linked to changes in vegetation diversity and human impact indicator groups. In the south-east, increases in population throughout the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Age result in more open landscapes and increased vegetation diversity. The demographic maximum occurred early in the 3rd millennium cal. BP on the Balearic Islands and is associated with the highest levels of human impact indicator groups. The results demonstrate the importance of population change in shaping the abundance and diversity of taxa within broad climatically determined biomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From AD 1048 to 1128, Yellow River flooding killed over a million people, left many more homeless and destitute, and turned parts of the once fertile North China Plain into a silted-up agricultural wasteland. Brought on in part by climate change and the Northern Song dynasty’s (AD 960–1127) mismanagement of the environment, the Yellow River floods likely hastened the collapse of the Northern Song dynasty. Despite the magnitude of this flood event, no sedimentary deposits have yet been linked to these historically recorded floods. In this research paper, we provide archaeological, sedimentary, and radiocarbon evidence of the AD 1048–1128 Yellow River floods at the Dazhanglongcun, Xidacheng, and Daguxiancun sites in Neihuang County, Henan Province. Based on our data, we argue that the AD 1048–1128 Yellow River floods deposited over 5 m of alluvium on villages in the North China Plain, radically changing both the physical and political landscape of Northern Song dynasty China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyzes the archaeobotanical and archaeozoological remains originating from the middle Holocene (i.e. Chalcolithic site of Poduri-Dealul Ghindaru, in Eastern Romania, Bacău County). Poduri-Dealul Ghindaru site is the only tell settlement known in the area of existence of the Cucuteni culture, with inhabitation levels from Neolithic to the Bronze Age. In order to better understand the diet components of the prehistoric inhabitation belonging to the Cucuteni A and Cucuteni B phases, we follow evidence from archaeozoology, carpology, and palynology. For the carpological taxa, we calculate their ubiquity, diversity, and edibility score. The two sets of taxa are then compared in their similarity. Palynological data record the presence of cereal grains in all samples. We present the archaeozoological taxa with their quantification values and we calculate for the Cucuteni A and B phases, and in comparison with the Bronze Age sample, their richness, Shannon–Weaver diversity index and equitability. A correspondence analysis is carried out in order to compare the exploitation strategies for the three assemblages. For the archaeobotanical data, we find that the Cucuteni A phase is dominated by anthropogenic activity indicators and a heavy reliance on cereals. The Cucuteni B phase seems to be characterized by a restriction of human activity. The archaeozoological data highlight a preference for large mammals (cattle, dear, boar) during Cucuteni A and BA and smaller mammals during Cucuteni B (sheep/goat, pig, hare). We conclude that although the subsistence strategies remain similar, the dietary components change during the Cucuteni A and B phases, probably in response to environmental changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of resilience has become increasingly important in ecological and socio-ecological literature. With its focus on the temporal behaviour of ecosystems, palaeoecology has an important role to play in developing a scientific understanding of ecological resilience. We provide a critical review of the ways in which resilience is being addressed by palaeoecologists. We review ~180 papers, identifying the definitions or conceptualisations of 'resilience' that they use, and analysing the ways in which palaeoecology is contributing to our understanding of ecological resilience. We identify three key areas for further development. First, the term 'resilience' is frequently defined too broadly to be meaningful without further qualification. In particular, palaeoecologists need to distinguish between 'press' vs 'pulse' disturbances, and 'ecological' vs 'engineering' resilience. Palaeoecologists are well placed to critically assess the extent to which these dichotomies apply in real (rather than theoretical) ecosystems, where climate and other environmental parameters are constantly changing. Second, defining a formal 'response model' - a statement of the anticipated relationships between proxies, disturbances and resilience properties - can help to clarify arguments, especially inferred causal links, since the difficulty of proving causation is a fundamental limitation of palaeoecology for understanding ecosystem drivers and responses. Third, there is a need for critical analysis of the role of scale in ecosystem resilience. Different palaeoenvironmental proxies are differently able to address the various temporal and spatial scales of ecological change, and these limitations, as well as methodological constraints on inherently noisy proxy data, need to be explored and addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Pleistocene-Holocene transition c. 11.5 ka cal. BP is associated with dramatic climatic changes. These events led to fundamental shifts in landscape and have, therefore, been seen as responsible for a major impact on the human ecological behavior of the last hunter-gatherers in the Western European territory. In the case of Iberian Peninsula, it is commonly assumed that these human ecological adaptations are reflected in the new settlement and subsistence patterns that characterized the Late Upper Paleolithic-Mesolithic transition. Following the argument, the main aim of this paper is to present the state-of-the-art and consider this theoretical model using zooarchaeological data of small terrestrial vertebrates and fish from SW Portugal. Archaeological data are reviewed and discussed in order to analyze the change in the exploitation of small game, birds, and aquatic resources during this period. In this paper, we reinforce the idea that in SW Iberia, subsistence intensification and diversification precede the transition itself and are more likely to be related to other long-term phenomena, cultural and/or demographical, than to the changes in settlement behavior. The state-of-the-art discussed here led to new research questions related to the role of small vertebrates on the changes in human subsistence behavior during the Pleistocene-Holocene from Western Iberia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe the career of John Birks as a pioneering scientist who has, over a career spanning five decades, transformed palaeoecology from a largely descriptive to a rigorous quantitative science relevant to contemporary questions in ecology and environmental change. We review his influence on students and colleagues not only at Cambridge and Bergen Universities, his places of primary employment, but also on individuals and research groups in Europe and North America. We also introduce the collection of papers that we have assembled in his honour. The papers are written by his former students and close colleagues and span many of the areas of palaeoecology to which John himself has made major contributions. These include the relationship between ecology and palaeoecology, late-glacial and Holocene palaeoecology, ecological succession, climate change and vegetation history, the role of palaeoecological techniques in reconstructing and understanding the impact of human activity on terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems and numerical analysis of multivariate palaeoecological data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a brief introduction to the Special Issue on Holocene Dust Dynamics, which brings together recent research on a key aspect of the Earth's changing climate through its effects on radiative balance, cloud cover and biogeochemical cycles. The aim of the Special Issue is to contribute to a better understanding of the role of dust aerosols by analysing the evolution and climatic impact of atmospheric dust over long and short timescales within the Holocene. Here, we introduce the rationale behind the Special Issue and the eight research papers, which include long-term records of dust deposition from different types of natural archive (e.g. peatlands, ice, loess and lake sediments) as well as present-day multi-annual dust trap records and process studies from various climatic regimes that have global implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most important stratified screes of the Iberian Range are found in Sierra de Albarracín. These slope deposits have been traditionally considered, without absolute datings, as having been formed during various Pleistocene cold phases. The aim of this paper is to establish the sedimentological, morphological, chronological, and paleoenvironmental characteristics of these deposits through the study of four profiles recorded in the Calomarde canyon (El Rollo, El Molino, and Royuela) and Toril. The most representative profile is that of El Rollo as it is formed by basal tufa and stratified scree layers separated by paleosoils. Radiocarbon datings obtained from paleosoil samples show that the sequence ranges between the early and middle Holocene. The profiles from El Molino and Royuela, as well as the upper levels of Toril, complete the sequence showing deposits from upper Holocene (Bronze Age and ‘Little Ice Age’). These data show the oscillations during the Holocene between colder phases, represented by the stratified screes, and warmer–wetter phases with soil development and local tufa deposits. This geomorphological and pedological response to the Holocene climatic variability shows its clearest records in the canyons. However, there are almost no Pleistocene accumulations – with the exception of that of Toril (minimum age of <43.5 ka BP). The possibility of relating this succession of Holocene environmental changes to known regional and global climatic stages converts these accumulations into the most important Holocene paleoenvironmental record from the Iberian Ranges and the most complete sequence of Holocene stratified screes from the Mediterranean area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comprehensive and integrative view of East Asian monsoon evolution during the Holocene is still under debate, and additional high-resolution proxy records from climatically sensitive locations are requisite to solve this complex issue. In this paper, we present three well-dated mud/peat cores from a paleo-pingo depression in the Sanjiang Plain, a climatically sensitive region to monsoon variation, to reveal the paleoenvironmental history of the wetland and discuss the regional impacts from monsoon evolution. A paleolake developed in the study area before 5.5 ka BP, and a peatland initiated thereafter consequent upon the gradual shrinking of the paleolake. This transition lasted until 4.5 ka BP, when the paleolake changed entirely to a wetland. Considering the prevalent monsoon climate in the Sanjiang Plain, we suggest that the lake-to-wetland transition from 5.5 to 4.5 ka BP indicates a rapid decline of the East Asian summer monsoon in addition to autogenic basin infilling processes. Such a remarkable monsoon weakening event has been documented across northern China, and we associate this with ocean–atmosphere interactions throughout low-latitude regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several late Quaternary studies have recorded cold and disturbed climates centred during the mid-first millennium AD and discussed these conditions under the term ‘Dark Ages Cold Period’ (DACP). A review of 114 palaeoclimate papers indicated that cold climates were common in the Northern Hemisphere between AD 400 and 765. There are also suggestions that some regions may have been relatively wet during the DACP, while those around the Mediterranean and the China/Tibetan Plateau indicate coinciding droughts. A set of environmental responses, however, indicate a delayed DACP interval (AD 509–865) postdating the actual climate signal. Previously, the DACP has been linked with the North Atlantic ice-rafting event at about 1400 years ago, while some evidence suggests an involvement of the North Atlantic Oscillation and/or El Niño–Southern Oscillation. More recently, another proposed phase of widespread cooling, the ‘Late Antique Little Ice Age’ (LALIA), overlaps with the DACP and has been tentatively linked with volcanic aerosol and solar irradiance variations reinforcing the climatic downturn since AD 536. Importantly, a higher number of proxy records extending over the first millennium AD is required for more rigorous assessments of climate variability and the forcing during these centuries and to disentangle the DACP and LALIA fingerprints in the proxy data, particularly to determine whether the DACP and the LALIA are distinct features. Also a richer network of both climate and environmental proxies is needed to evaluate the human–environment interactions, during the historical Migration Period, and thus through the DACP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the relative influences of climatic and anthropogenic factors in explaining environmental and societal changes in the southern Alps, Italy. We investigate a deep sediment core (LL081) from Lake Ledro (652 m a.s.l.). Environmental changes are reconstructed through multiproxy analysis, that is, pollen-based vegetation and climate reconstruction, magnetic susceptibility (MS), lake level, and flood frequency, and the paper focuses on the climate and land-use changes which occurred during the late Holocene. For this time interval, Lake Ledro records high mean water table, increasing amount of pollen-based precipitation, and more erosive conditions. Therefore, while a more humid late Holocene in the southern Alps has the potential to reinforce the forest presence, pollen evidence suggests that anthropogenic activities changed the impact of this regional scenario. Land-use activity (forest clearance for pastoralism, farming, and arboriculture) opened up the large vegetated slopes in the catchment of Lake Ledro, which in turn magnified the erosion related to the change in the precipitation pattern. The record of an almost continuous human occupation for the last 4100 cal. BP is divided into several land-use phases. On the one hand, forest redevelopments on abandoned or less cultivated areas appear to be climatically induced as they occurred in relation with well-known events such as the 2.8-kyr cold event and the ‘Little Ice Age’. On the other hand, climatically independent changes in land use or habitat modes are observed, such as the late-Bronze-Age lake-dwellings abandonment, the human population migration at c. 1600 cal. BP, and the period of the Black Death and famines at 600 cal. BP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tree rings are commonly used proxy data for past climate variability. Probably the simplest practical solution for transforming raw tree-ring data into proxy estimates and retaining information on low-frequency tree-growth forcing is the regional curve standardization (RCS). This paper reviews the RCS concept and the development of this standardization method over the past 25 years. Tree-ring based estimation of low-frequency climate variability is illuminated with a growing diversification of the original concept. The RCS-type methods are seen to remain as essential tools in palaeoclimate research while the RCS chronologies of tree-ring and other incremental proxy data remain the only source for calendar year dated short-to-long timescale climate variations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For well over a century, scholars from across the social and biological sciences have been trying to understand the origins and spread of agriculture. This debate is often intertwined with discussions of climate change and human environmental impact. Over the past decade, this debate has spread into Central Eurasia, from western China to Ukraine and southern Russia to Turkmenistan, a part of the world often thought to have been largely dominated by pastoralists. A growing interest in the prehistory of Central Eurasia has spurred a new chapter in the origins of agriculture debate; archaeobotanical research is showing how important farming practices in this region were in regard to the spread of crops across the Old World. While early people living in Central Eurasia played an influential role in shaping human history, there is still limited understanding of the trajectories of social evolution among these populations. In March 2015, 30 leading scholars from around the globe came together in Berlin, Germany, to discuss the introduction and intensification of agriculture in Central Eurasia and adjacent regions. At the German Archaeological Institute in Berlin (Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, DAI), these scholars presented novel data on topics covering East, South, and Central Asia, spanning a wide realm of methodological approaches. The present special edition volume deals with a selection of the papers given at this conference, and it marks a significant step toward recognizing the contribution of Central Eurasian populations in the spread and development of agricultural systems over the course of the Holocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present high-resolution early Holocene pollen, plant macrofossil, charcoal, diatom, biogenic silica, and loss-on-ignition records from a mountain lake in the South Carpathians in order to reveal ecosystem response to the 8.2-ka climatic oscillation. We found significant changes both in terrestrial vegetation and lake diatom assemblages in the northern slope of the Retezat Mts between c. 8300 and 8000 cal. yr BP. Rapid changes in relative frequencies and pollen accumulation rates of the major deciduous pollen types associated with peaks in microcharcoal accumulation rates suggested that vegetation disturbance mainly took place in the mixed-deciduous forest zone, where woodland fires partially destroyed the populations of Fraxinus excelsior, Quercus, and Corylus avellana and facilitated the establishment of Carpinus betulus in the forest openings. The diatom record furthermore showed the spread of a planktonic diatom species, Aulacoseira valida, at 8150 cal. yr BP, coincidently with a short-lived expansion of C. betulus. Since diatom blooms mainly occur in spring in the Retezat Mts, increased spring water depth and increased water turbulence were inferred from these data. The expansion of C. betulus against F. excelsior and C. avellana at the same time suggested a modest increase in available moisture during the growing season. Taken together, these data imply that during the 8.2-ka event, winter and spring season available moisture increased, while summers were characterized by alternating moist/cool and dry/warm conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study of past lake-level changes in Lake Xinias covering the last 40 000 years was presented in an earlier paper. In that paper, changes during the Holocene were only briefly dealt with, because of poor sedimentary representation. In this paper a supplementary transect of cores is described, in which Holocene lake-level changes are better recorded. The correlation of the cores was based on pollen and lithostratigraphic analyses, and a curve was constructed showing recorded lake-level changes. The curve from Lake Xinias was compared with an earlier compilation of lake-level changes from the Balkans, mainly from Greece. The compilation shows rising lake levels during the earlier part of the Holocene, and successively lowered levels during the later part. Most lake levels were high between about 8000 and 5500 cal. yr BP. The reconstruction from Lake Xinias indcates similar changes during the early and late Holocene. However, it differs by indicating a lowering in lake level, culminating around 7000 cal. yr BP, interrupting and dividing the period of mid-Holocene high lake-level stand. Further studies are required to show if this lowering in Lake Xinias was regionally representative and caused by climate change, or was caused by tectonic disturbance locally affecting lake level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sediment core from a lagoon in southeastern Cuba was the focus of a multi-proxy paleoenvironmental study to investigate lagoon response to sea-level change and climate change and also to infer changes in the frequency of past hurricane strikes. The proxy data examined included benthic foraminifera, fossil pollen, particle size analysis, and macrocharcoal influx values. The core was dated using 137Cs and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon methods. The results show that lagoon formation began approximately 4000 years ago and that the lagoon environment evolved through four phases: (1) from ~4000 to 2800 cal. yr BP, the lagoon was a shallow polyhaline to euryhaline system with limited mangrove coverage; (2) from ~2800 to 2000 cal. yr BP, there was a decrease in salinity which facilitated the expansion of red mangrove; (3) from ~2000 to 1000 cal. yr BP, sea-level rise resulted in an increase in water depth and possibly salinity; and (4) from ~1000 cal. yr BP to the present, water level continued to rise and the mangrove environment diversified. The shift to lower salinity conditions from ~2800 to 2000 cal. yr BP may have been climate driven as similar changes are seen at lagoons elsewhere in Cuba. The particle size data show several periods where sand-sized particles are more abundant; these periods are similar to data from Puerto Rico that document times of relatively frequent hurricanes. This paper shows that coastal lagoons are useful archives of paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental information in the Caribbean region and that they should be the focus of additional research efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on compilation of a large number of archaeological and palaeosol 14C-ages, the Summed Probability Method is used to reconstruct population history and climatic patterns on the Chinese Loess Plateau during the period 8.5–3.5 cal. ka BP. During this period, the population experienced two major expansion periods and several climatic fluctuations. The first population expansion began at around 7.8 cal. ka BP, and the second at around 5.8 cal. ka BP. During the first period, although already in combination with cultivation of broomcorn millet the population growth was supported mainly by hunting and gathering. With the switch from broomcorn millet to foxtail millet, plant cultivation became the major factor promoting a second population increase. In this paper, we demonstrate that, initially, suitable climate and agriculture both can facilitate population growth and climate events had a significant influence on demographic fluctuations. However, when reaching the threshold of land capacity, population became increasingly more sensitive towards climate fluctuations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The human-climate-ecosystem interactions in the past were valuable for today’s human beings who face the challenge of global change. The multi-proxy reconstruction of climate change impacts and social responses and the comparative study between typical periods form an effective tool for elucidating the mechanisms of the interactions. In this paper, with a reconstruction of the proxy series of famine, migration and wars, the most typical social consequences related to climate change and disasters (flood/drought) in North China in 1470–1911 were quantitatively described, and two typical periods of human-climate interaction with similar climate change backgrounds (cold periods of the ‘Little Ice Age’), which were the late Ming dynasty (1560–1644) and late Qing dynasty (1780–1911), were selected and compared. It is determined that the climate deterioration (rapid cooling and increasing extreme disasters) in the late 16th and 18th centuries both resulted in severe social consequences characterized by more famine and popular unrest. The differences were that the climatic impacts in the late Ming were much more serious, and interregional migration, which was an effective responsive measure in the late Qing, was not important in the late Ming; they were primarily influenced by three factors based on the analytical framework of the impacts of historical climate change and social responses: (1) climate deterioration in the late Ming was more severe (more rapid cooling and more extreme disasters), (2) social system were more sensitive to climate change in the late Ming because of its mode of agricultural production (especially cropping system and crop species), and (3) the capacity of social response to climate disaster, especially disaster relief and refugee settlement, was considerably greater in the late Qing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peat deposits from an ombrotrophic bog (north-eastern Poland) were analysed to reconstruct peatland development and environmental changes. This paper presents reconstructions of hydrological changes and plant succession over the last 6000 years. The methods included the high-resolution analysis of plant macrofossils, pollen and testate amoebae, supported by radiocarbon dating. Three main phases were identified in the history of the bog and surrounding woodland vegetation: 4000–400 BC, 400 BC–AD 1700 and AD 1700–2011. Except for terrestrialisation and the fen-to-bog transition phase, the development of bog vegetation was mainly dependent on the climate until approximately AD 1700. The dominant taxon in Gązwa bog was Sphagnum fuscum/rubellum. Woodland development was significantly affected by human activity at several time periods. The most visible human activity, manifested by the decline of deciduous species, occurred ca. 350 BC, ca. AD 250, ca. AD 1350 and after AD 1700. These events correspond to phases of human settlement in the area. During 400–300 BC, the decline of deciduous trees, primarily Carpinus, coincided with an increase in indicators of human activity and fire frequency. At ca. AD 200, Carpinus and Tilia abundance decreased, corresponding to an increased importance of cereals (Secale and Triticum). Since ca. AD 1350, the impact of Teutonic settlement is apparent, and after AD 1700, deciduous forests largely disappeared. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The so-called ‘Little Ice Age’ (LIA) of the 15th to 19th centuries ad is well-attested from much of Europe and from some other parts of the Northern Hemisphere. It has been attributed to solar forcing, associated with reduced solar activity, notably during the Spörer, Maunder and Dalton solar minima, although other causes have also been proposed and feature strongly in recent papers. Detection of the LIA in some proxy-climate records from the Southern Hemisphere is less clear, leading to suggestions that the LIA was perhaps not a global phenomenon. Resolving this issue requires more data from the Southern Hemisphere. We present proxy-climate data (plant macrofossils; peat humification) covering the past three millennia from an ombrotrophic mire (peat bog) in Tierra del Fuego, southern South America, but focus our discussion on the period traditionally associated with the LIA. During parts of this time, the mire surface was apparently relatively dry compared with much of its 3000-year record. It was reported earlier that a particularly dry episode in the mire coincided with the 2800 cal. BP ‘solar’ event (since identified as a Grand Solar Minimum), which was attributed to solar-driven changes in atmospheric circulation, and more specifically to a shift in position of the Westerlies. Parts of the LIA record show a similar shift to dryness, and we invoke a similar cause. The shifts to and from dry episodes are abrupt. These new data support the concept of a global LIA, and for at least the intense dry episodes might reinforce the claim for solar forcing of parts of the LIA climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ringed seal (Pusa hispida) is an early immigrant in the Baltic Basin and has since its arrival experienced substantial changes in the climate, salinity and productivity of the Basin. In this paper, we discuss the dispersal and distribution of the ringed seal during different stages of the Baltic Sea in relation to past and ongoing environmental changes. Subfossil ringed seal remains around the Baltic Sea and the Danish Straits were radiocarbon dated in order to map the distribution of the species in different time periods. The δ13C data were used in evaluating the changes in the marine character of the Baltic Basin. The sequence of the dates indicates a continuous presence of the species in the Baltic Basin. The earliest ringed seal finds come from the Skagerrak/Kattegat area (Denmark, Swedish west coast) and date to the full glacial period and Baltic Ice Lake. In the Baltic Basin, the species appears in the subfossil record during the Ancylus period, but the main part of the remains date to the Littorina stage. During the Littorina stage, the distribution of the species was at least periodically wider than today, covering also southern parts of the Baltic. The presence of breeding populations in southern parts of the Baltic during the Holocene Thermal Maximum (HTM) indicates that the winters were at least periodically cold enough for winter ice. The changes in the marine influence in the Baltic Basin can be seen in the seal collagen δ13C values, which serve as a proxy for qualitative changes in water mass salinity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The climate of Sulawesi is driven by the monsoon system as well as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Until now, mechanisms and long-term variations of these complex interacting climate processes have been poorly understood. This paper uses a sediment record from Lake Kalimpaa to investigate long-term rainfall trends of the past ~1500 years. Granulometric and geochemical data provide indications for an increasingly wetter climate (higher rainfall intensities and/or mean rainfall) on centennial to millennial time scales from approximately ad 560 to the 20th century. Highest rainfall intensities probably occurred at the end of the ‘Little Ice Age’ (LIA). The trend towards wetter conditions during this time could also be detected in other palaeoclimatic studies from the region. A plausible explanation for these observations is the southward displacement of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) associated with changes in monsoon dynamics. However, comparison of the results with other proxy and model data indicates that the long-term rainfall variability in Central Sulawesi is also determined by variations in ENSO. During the 20th century, the climate signal in the Kalimpaa record is superimposed by human impact. Moreover, the data suggest that two periods of disturbance occurred within the lake catchment between about ad 1090–1190 and ad 1450–1620. Comparison with fire frequency derived from macro-charcoal analysis indicates that these events were caused by forest fires which likely took place during periods of drought. Broadly simultaneous drought periods have been detected in records from East Java suggesting a regional drought occurrence affecting at least East Java and Sulawesi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an integrated approach to assess Holocene environmental changes in the Sperchios delta, Sperchios rift, central Greece. A multidisciplinary study was carried out applying established analytical methods as well as exploring new techniques to detect past environmental conditions in a fluvio-deltaic depositional system. A series of six deep boreholes, up to 50 m long, and four shallow cores, up to 6 m long, from across the delta plain, were studied in detail. Sedimentary facies were defined by changes in grain size and macro- and microfaunal composition. Variability in mineral magnetic composition documented by changes in bulk magnetic susceptibility (χ and χ77K/χ293K) and remanence parameters (S−300 and σARM/σSIRM ratios), as well as down-core elemental variations obtained by scanning micro-x-ray fluorescence (µ-XRF), provide constraints on the depositional changes related to the evolution of the Sperchios delta. Correlations between elemental data derived by µ-XRF analyses and grain size were also analyzed and used to further constrain the facies interpretation. Overall, these Holocene sediments reveal a transgressive–regressive succession overlying pre-transgressive terrestrial deposits of Late Pleistocene–Early Holocene age. Furthermore, 13 new 14C radiocarbon dates constrain the transgression rate to be ~3.5 m/yr for the Early Holocene and the regression rate to be ~1 m/yr for the Late Holocene. The Sperchios delta plain developed when the rate of sea-level rise decreased ~6000 cal. yr BP as it has been proposed for the broader area of Aegean Sea. This study demonstrates that the combination of techniques used here provides a powerful way to map out paleoenvironmental changes and thus the 3D stratigraphic architecture of Holocene sedimentary successions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transformation of natural landscapes in Middle Europe began in the Neolithic as a result of the introduction of food-producing economies. This paper examines the relation between land-cover and demographic change in a regionally restricted case study. The study area is the Western Lake Constance area which has very detailed palynological as well as archaeological records. We compare land-cover change derived from nine pollen records using a pseudo-biomisation approach with 14C date probability density functions from archaeological sites which serve as a demographic proxy. We chose the Lake Constance area as a regional example where the pollen signal integrates a larger spatial pattern. The land-cover reconstructions for this region show first notable impacts at the Middle to Young Neolithic transition. The beginning of the Bronze Age is characterised by increases of arable land and pasture/meadow, whereas the deciduous woodland decreases dramatically. Changes in the land-cover classes show a correlation with the 14C density curve: the correlation is best with secondary woodland in the Young Neolithic which reflects the lake shore settlement dynamics. In the Early Bronze Age, the radiocarbon density correlates with open land-cover classes, such as pasture, meadow and arable land, reflecting a change in the land-use strategy. The close overall correspondence between the two archives implies that population dynamics and land-cover change were intrinsically linked. We therefore see human impact as a key driver for vegetation change in the Neolithic. Climate might have an influence on vegetation development, but the changes caused by human land use are clearly detectable from Neolithic times, at least in these densely settled, mid-altitude landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern pollen-rain studies are crucial for the calibration and interpretation of fossil pollen records. In East Africa, numerous pollen records provide important insights into the impact of human populations and climate change on tropical ecosystems. However, the confident use of fossil pollen data to reconstruct vegetation and climate dynamics requires well-founded knowledge regarding the relationship between pollen deposition and modern-day vegetation, which is still deficient for large parts of the African continent and non-existent for the tropical East African Mountains. In this study, we investigated the relationship between vegetation and modern pollen-rain along the elevational gradient of Kilimanjaro. We apply multivariate data analysis to assess the relationship between vegetation and modern pollen-rain and quantify the representativeness of forest zones. We further assessed the taxonomic level needed for differentiation between forest zones based on the modern pollen-rain assemblage, biodiversity patterns and pollen and spore drift. In the montane vegetation of Kilimanjaro, it is sufficient to analyse the pollen-rain on plant family level in order to derive the forest zone of the surrounding vegetation. Along this elevational gradient, pollen and spore dispersal is strongly influenced by regional wind patterns, but their deposition reflects the diversity patterns of the surrounding vegetation. This study represents the first statistical analysis of pollen vegetation relationship along an elevational gradient in Africa. Hence, this paper improves confidence in interpretation of palynological records from the tropical East African Mountains and may refine past climate reconstructions for a more accurate comparison of data and modelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bay of Quiberon (NW France), which is protected by the Quiberon Peninsula, provides well-preserved sedimentary archives for high-resolution reconstruction of Holocene climate variability. Very-high-resolution seismic profiles were obtained from two Seistec boomer seismic campaigns conducted in the bay. The seismic surveys reveal the deposition of five distinct sedimentary units. This succession is correlated with radiocarbon-dated sediments sampled in a long CASQ core (MD08-3204CQ). The analysis of the sediments shows significant changes in grain size, indicating a complex series of palaeo-climate events dated at 8800, 8600, 4270, 3860, 2470 and 1060 cal. yr BP. These may be correlated with millennial timescale climate variability corresponding to the phases of Holocene rapid climate changes (RCCs), associated with negative North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index and usually characterized by weaker winter storms. On the contrary, periods between RCCs are characterized by the predominance of westerly winds and stormy conditions for Brittany (i.e. positive NAO). However, only storm events occurring during the RCCs have been preserved in the Bay of Quiberon. This paper aims to reconstruct the Holocene sedimentary infill of the bay, highlighting the role of episodic acceleration phases of the sea-level rise on the preservation of sedimentary archives. Thus, the Bay of Quiberon provides substantially a complete sedimentation record of the last 10,000 years characterized by a series of complex palaeo-environmental changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From ad 711 to 1492, several regions in Iberia were under Muslim ruling. This Al-Andalus civilization generated a large amount of documentation during those centuries. Unfortunately, most of the documents are lost. The surviving Arabic documentary sources have never been studied from a climate perspective. In this paper, we present the first attempt to retrieve climate evidence from them. We studied all the Islamic chronicles (documents written by Islamic historians that narrate the social, political and religious history) available for the period ad 711–1010. It is shown that these sources recorded extreme events with a high temporal and spatial resolution. We identified three severe droughts, ad 748–754, ad 812–823 and ad 867–879, affecting Al-Andalus. We also noticed that the weather in Cordoba during the period ad 971–975 showed a higher frequency of snow and hail than current climate. The possibility of obtaining long continuous series from this type of source seems highly difficult. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to evaluate the possible relationships between erosion intensity and changes in climate and land use during the past 5.5 cal. k years at Lake Lehmilampi, eastern Finland. In this study we compare a detailed geochemical sediment record with (1) forest and land use history inferred from the first pollen and charcoal records from Lake Lehmilampi, and (2) existing archaeological surveys and independent proxy-records of climate change in the study region. The physical and geochemical sediment parameters examined include grain size analysis data and 23 chemical elements, determined with four selective extractions and ICP-MS. There are indications of possible human impact in the lake catchment as early as the Neolithic period, c. 3000–2550 bc, but the first undisputable signs are dated to 1800–100 bc. Cereal pollen reappears at c. ad 1700 and increases rapidly until c. ad 1950. The Holocene Thermal Maximum, its end c. 2000 bc, and the ‘Medieval Climate Anomaly’ were major climate events that had a prominent effect on erosion intensity, while human impact was a more significant factor during the period 3000 bc–ad 800 and from ad 1500 onwards. Although signs of changes in erosion intensity found in the sediment were small in this small catchment, they were significant enough to have a clear impact on the fraction of potentially mobile element species. This fraction increases with decreasing erosion intensity, which is probably related to a higher degree of chemical weathering and leaching during periods of decreased erosion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]