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Exploring prehistoric variation in human–environmental interaction is critical for understanding the historical patterns and mechanisms of long-term human–land evolution. In this paper we review the published radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) data from Late Paleolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age sites in China, analyze the spatial–temporal distribution of these sites, and compare it with the results of recent paleoclimatic and archaeological studies. We seek to study the trajectory and influencing factors of human–environmental interactions in late prehistoric China. We detect changing patterns in the relationship between humans and the environment during different phases of the prehistoric era in China. Climate change clearly affected the environment of hunter-gatherer groups between 50,000–10,000 BP (before present, defined as 1950AD), and variation in human population in Neolithic China (∼10,000–4000 BP) was likely influenced primarily by the development of agriculture, in addition to substantial climate events. The spatial scale of human settlements expanded in the Bronze Age (∼4000–2200 BP) in a period of cooling climate. During this time the impact of human activities on the environment increased significantly, primarily caused by technological innovations related to the onset of prehistoric transcontinental cultural exchange in Eurasia. [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]