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[Excerpt] He was always a modest man, but Ken was a genius and the toughest man we knew. He was also extraordinarily generous of spirit. The way he gave of himself, his time, and his hard-won stores of knowledge, was legendary amongst his friends and colleagues. We admired him and we loved him. Ken was a world-renowned comparative anatomist, vertebrate systematist, palaeontologist, and zooarchaeologist. He was a problem solver like few we’ve ever met, and a fieldworker and world traveller par excellence. Ken’s personal and professional outlook embraced the whole world, in all its true facets and flavours, its complexities and eccentricities—he took the world, and all of us in it, as we came. His intellectual reputation extended well beyond Australia and was known to thousands of colleagues who may never have had the chance to meet him.

The given text is a list of references and acknowledgments for a research article on the topic of human brain size and evolution. It includes various studies and papers that have explored the changes in brain size over time, as well as the factors that may have influenced these changes. The article discusses different perspectives and theories on the subject, including the impact of climate change and the transition to complex societies. The references cover a wide range of topics related to human evolution and brain morphology, providing a comprehensive overview of the current research in the field. [Extracted from the article]

Understanding the environmental significance of pollen and spores in alluvial plains is important for stratigraphic correlation and paleoenvironmental reconstruction. This paper presents palynological data from the North China Plain and explores their relationship with paleoflood records and human impacts since the Holocene. Our data reveal that pollen concentration and pollen assemblage vary in flood deposits (including overbank deposits and slackwater deposits) and inter-flood deposits (including sandy soils and lacustrine deposits). Flood deposits have higher fern percentages (28.6%) and lower herbaceous percentages (14.8%) compared to inter-flood deposits, though slackwater deposits share similar pollen concentrations and assemblages with sandy soils. Notably, overbank deposits are characterized by pollen-poor zones and aggregation of deteriorated pollen grains, especially in Unit III (755-385 cm, ca. 3.2-2.2 ka) and Unit V (190-0 cm, after ca. 0.6 ka). These findings suggest that overbank deposits correspond to strengthened hydrodynamic conditions at the flood-peak stage. Furthermore, the indicative pollen and spores provide compelling evidence for intensifying human impact in the North China Plain since the late Holocene. An aggregation of Selaginella sinensis at the depth of 640-610 cm indicates deforestation in the uplands since ca. 2.9 ka. Similarly, a sharp increase in Malvaceae percentage at the depth of 285-215 supports historical records of initial cotton planting in the Tang Dynasty (ca. 1.4-1.1 ka). The study underscores the value of palynological analysis for reconstructing paleoenvironment and human-environment interactions, providing a robust framework for understanding landscape evolution in the North China Plain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we argue for the inclusion of archaeology in discussions about how humans have contributed to and dealt with climate change, especially in the long term. We suggest Niche Construction Theory as a suitable framework to that end. In order to take into account both human and environmental variability, we also advocate for a situated perspective that includes the Global South as a source of knowledge production, and the Neotropics as a relevant case study to consider. To illustrate this, we review the mid-Holocene Hypsithermal period in the southern Puna and continental Patagonia, both in southern South America, by assessing the challenges posed by this climate period and the archaeological signatures of the time from a Niche Construction Theory perspective. Finally, we emphasize the importance of these considerations for policymaking. This article is part of the theme issue 'Climate change adaptation needs a science of culture'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Boletín del Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino is the property of Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Paleolimnology is a rapidly expanding field within the natural sciences. To date, many scientific papers have been published focusing on studies of remains from single sediment cores in specific lakes, or a few cores from the same water body. However, few previous publications have provided a comprehensive comparative analysis of taphocenosis (and maternal community) changes in different water bodies from a large geographical region during whole Holocene using multivariate statistical methods. We conducted a joined statistical analysis of data obtained as a result of the cladoceran analysis of the sediment samples from six cores taken along the North-South transect from the Kola Peninsula to the Karelian Region (North-West Russia). Our aim was to identify, based on quantitative statistical methods, general whole-Holocene patterns in cladoceran taphocenosis changes. All taphocenoses in all cores from six lakes can be classified into six clusters based on their species composition. Our unexpected conclusion is that different taphocoenoses are formed by the same set of species, but their proportions vary significantly. This suggests that the same species may play different functional roles in different maternal communities. During whole Holocene, we observed a single taphocenosis cluster in the Holocene core from Lake Antyukh-Lambina, and four taphocenosis clusters in the Lake Medvedevskoe, with an intermediate number of clusters in the lakes between them. Furthermore, it can be asserted that the potential for cluster changes in the core is greater for the more southern studied water bodies (0–3 clusters for northern lakes vs. 4 clusters for southern lakes). Based on our data, we hypothesize that the diversity of cladoceran associations during the Holocene was lower in Arctic/Subarctic lakes, possibly due to their formation by ubiquitous species. Our study suggests that at least some Arctic lake ecosystems have remained unchanged since deglaciation times. Further studies are necessary to determine if this is a general rule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, much evidence has been presented on the 4.2 ka event. A review of 317 palaeoclimate papers shows that dry conditions were common during the event, especially from Eastern Mediterranean to India. The 4.2 ka event was not, however, a global drought event. Wet conditions were reported especially for central/northern Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. The 4.2 ka event is typically characterized either as short (4.2–4.0 ka) or long (4.4–3.8 ka) episode, possibly developing over an extended interval of time, in keeping with the North Atlantic forcing and correlating with the Bond 3 event of ice-rafted debris. This forcing is understood to drive a southward migration of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), resulting in decreased rainfall over most of the Asian monsoon region, with possibility that an interplay of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) has modulated the global circulation. Cold conditions were also reported but less frequently, in comparison to other Bond events such as the 8.2 ka event, Dark Ages Cold Period and Little Ice Age. Some high-resolution records show a double peak structure of which two anomalies are tree-ring dated to 4.14–4.05 ka and 3.97 ka. Accurately and precisely dated high-resolution records indicative of various climatic variables, especially outside of the traditional study region (Mediterranean–Middle East–India–China), including reconstructions of the ENSO and NAO histories and ITCZ migrations, are crucially needed for rigorous examination of the global scale characteristics of the 4.2 ka event and its forcings. Such research seems to be just beginning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes an approach assuming that already in the sea, based on the express analysis of visually similar cores of Arctic Holocene sediments and their comparison with dated and studied in detail cores of the regional sediments, it is possible to select a material that is promising for sequence stratigraphic correlation and paleoreconstructions. The range of lithological, colorimetric (CIE L*, CIE a*, and CIE b*), geophysical (magnetic susceptibility), and geochemical (Fe/Rb, Mn/Rb, and Ti/Rb) parameters is analyzed. The most informative characteristics include the CIE b* color coordinate, magnetic susceptibility, and Fe/Rb. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay is a personal insight based on my own experience in the Iberian Pyrenees, which addresses three situations common in paleoecological research, such as the verification of previously devised hypotheses (anticipation), the finding on unknown events in unstudied sites (discovery) and the finding of unexpected outputs in already known areas (serendipity). The account is concentrated on the value of the coring sites by themselves as generators of paleoecological knowledge, rather than on the actual findings, which are presented and discussed in the corresponding data papers. The main aim is to show that there is still much room for new findings, even in areas that have been surveyed for a long time and are supposed to be well known, from a paleoecological perspective. Finally, some general lessons are derived and conceptualized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UN's Paris Agreement goal of keeping global warming between 1.5 and 2°C is dangerously obsolete and needs to be replaced by a commitment to restore Earth's climate. We now know that continued use of fossil fuels associated with 1.5–2°C scenarios would result in hundreds of millions of pollution deaths and likely trigger multiple tipping elements in the Earth system. Unexpected advances in renewable power production and storage have radically expanded our climate response capacity. The cost of renewable technologies has plummeted at least 30‐year faster than projected, and renewables now dominate energy investment and growth. This renewable revolution creates an opportunity and responsibility to raise our climate ambitions. Rather than aiming for climate mitigation—making things less bad—we should commit to climate restoration—a rapid return to Holocene‐like climate conditions where we know humanity and life on Earth can thrive. Based on observed and projected energy system trends, we estimate that the global economy could reach zero emissions by 2040 and potentially return atmospheric CO2 to pre‐industrial levels by 2100–2150. However, this would require an intense and sustained rollout of renewable energy and negative emissions technologies on very large scales. We describe these clean electrification scenarios and outline technical and socioeconomic strategies that would increase the likelihood of restoring a Holocene‐like climate in the next 100 years. We invite researchers, policymakers, regulators, educators, and citizens in all countries to share and promote this positive message of climate restoration for human wellbeing and planetary stability. Plain Language Summary: New research in global ecology and public health shows that the consequences of burning fossil fuels are much more severe than previously understood. Current global warming targets are not enough to protect us from sea level rise, ecosystem collapse, and hundreds of millions of human deaths from fossil fuel pollution. Thankfully, the cost of renewable energy technologies has dropped below the cost of fossil fuels decades faster than predicted. This has triggered a renewable revolution that is transforming the global energy system. Our paper considers the feasibility of accelerating this transition through policy, investment, and strategic research. We conclude that there is a viable pathway to restoring Earth's climate through clean electrification and carbon capture. We call for a global commitment to restore pre‐industrial climate conditions within a century and describe what approaches would increase our chances of success. Accelerating the renewable revolution would move us toward a sustainable civilization by eliminating air pollution, stabilizing climate, reducing energy costs, and enhancing living standards worldwide. Because there is no safe level of climate disruption or pollution death, we believe it is our responsibility to restore a Holocene‐like climate, which we know can support human civilization and other life on Earth. Key Points: Goals of 1.5–2°C are not safe given current understanding of ecosystem climate sensitivity and high social costs of fossil fuel pollutionClimate restoration‐rapidly reestablishing Holocene‐like conditions‐has not been fully considered because of socioeconomic obstaclesStrategic financing and prioritization of clean electrification could create pathways back to the Holocene within a century [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Botany is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Across a 1000‐km stretch of the River Nile, from the 1st Cataract in southern Egypt to the 4th Cataract in Sudan, many hundreds of drystone walls are located within active channels, on seasonally inundated floodplains or in now‐dry Holocene palaeochannel belts. These walls (or river groynes) functioned as flood and flow control structures and are of a type now commonly in use worldwide. In the Nile Valley, the structures have been subject only to localised investigations, and none have been radiometrically dated. Some were built within living memory to trap nutrient‐rich Nile silts for agriculture, a practice already recorded in the early 19th century C.E. However, others situated within ancient palaeochannel belts indicate construction over much longer time frames. In this paper, we map the distribution of these river groynes using remote sensing and drone survey. We then establish their probable functions and a provisional chronology using ethnoarchaeological investigation and the ground survey, excavation and radiometric dating of the structures in northern Sudan, focusing on the Holocene riverine landscape surrounding the pharaonic settlement of Amara West (c. 1300–1000 B.C.E.). Finally, we consider the historical and economic implications of this form of hydraulic engineering in the Nile Valley over the past three millennia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the hypothesis that Waun Mawn in West Wales provided the bluestone monoliths that were used at Stonehenge. Some archaeologists believe that the site supports the last remains of a giant stone circle or 'Proto Stonehenge' which was dismantled and transported to Salisbury Plain around 5000 years ago. It was claimed, after three excavation seasons at Waun Mawn in 2017, 2018 and 2021, that there is firm evidence of some standing stones which were later removed or broken up, but it has still not been demonstrated that there ever was a small stone circle here, let alone a 'giant' one. Furthermore, there have been no control studies in the neighbourhood which might demonstrate that the speculative feature has any unique characteristics. There is nothing at Waun Mawn to link this site in any way to Stonehenge, and this is confirmed by recent cited research. No evidence has been brought forward in support of the claim that 'this was one of the great religious and political centres of Neolithic Britain'. It is concluded that at Waun Mawn and elsewhere in West Wales there has been substantial 'interpretative inflation' driven by the desire to demonstrate a Stonehenge connection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special volume considers major recent changes in southern South American animal communities. Eleven papers consider megafauna, pinnipeds, marine mammals, small terrestrial mammals and birds and are grouped under four sub-headings: (1) Isotopic insights into guanaco populations; (2) Historical sources and marine ecosystem change; (3) Changes in small mammal communities and human impacts; and (4) megafaunal extinction, domestication, avifauna and recent interactions with humans. Although some of these contributions include changes that occurred earlier in the Holocene, many highlight a current decrease in the taxonomic diversity of communities and ecosystems in different environments, which are likely to have been caused by modern human activities. The Anthropocene concept is seen as providing a useful framework for understanding and mitigation of such adverse human impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phytolith analysis is a well-established archaeobotanical tool, having provided important insights into pre-Columbian crop cultivation and domestication across Amazonia through the Holocene. Yet, its use as a palaeoecological tool is in its infancy in Amazonia and its effectiveness for reconstructing pre-Columbian land-use beyond archaeological sites (i.e., 'off-site') has so far received little critical attention. This paper examines both new and previously published soil phytolith data from SW Amazonia to assess the robustness of this proxy for reconstructing pre-Columbian land-use. We conducted the study via off-site soil pits radiating 7.5 km beyond a geoglyph in Acre state, Brazil, and 50 km beyond a ring-ditch in northern Bolivia, spanning the expected gradients in historical land-use intensity. We found that the spatio-temporal patterns in palm phytolith data across our soil-pit transects support the hypothesis that pre-Columbian peoples enriched their forests with palms over several millennia, although phytoliths are limited in their ability to capture small-scale crop cultivation and deforestation. Despite these drawbacks, we conclude that off-site soil phytolith analysis can provide novel insights into pre-Columbian land use, provided it is effectively integrated with other land-use (e.g., charcoal) and archaeological data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Azania: Archaeological Research in Africa is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Arid Land Geography is the property of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology & Geography and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Recent climate and environment over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) have undergone significant changes, dominated by variations in the Westerlies and the Indian summer monsoon. However, long‐term shifts in atmospheric circulation during the transitional seasons are still lacking. Here we investigate the modern distribution of Tsuga pollen over the central‐western TP and confirm it as an indicator of variable atmospheric circulation in spring. By combining our Tsuga record from Taro Co with existing records in the Tsuga pollen source area, we suggest that a potential particle transport pathway from the southern slope of the Himalayas to the interior of the plateau appeared in the spring of the late Holocene. Our results show that the springtime atmospheric circulation over the southwestern TP during the early and late Holocene is closely related to the substantial remnants of ice sheets at northern high latitudes and the frequency of El Niño events, respectively. Plain Language Summary: The spring climate over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) is undergoing significant changes that yield profound impacts on environmental changes such as variations in vegetation phenology and alpine treeline. Knowledge of long‐term variations in atmospheric circulation during spring can improve the understanding of current climatic and environmental change and the projection of future variability. In this paper, we use an exotic pollen grain, which can be transported long distances in the air, as an indicator to trace the variability of spring atmospheric circulation over the TP. The results indicate that the spring meridional atmospheric circulation from the southern slope of the TP to its interior has been enhanced in the last four thousand years, which is mainly influenced by the frequency of El Niño events. Key Points: Spring atmospheric circulation change over the southwestern Tibetan Plateau (TP) during Holocene is reconstructedMeridional atmospheric circulation in spring over the southwestern TP is strengthened in the late HoloceneHigh‐(low‐) latitude forcing mainly influence the variations in spring atmospheric circulation during the early (late) Holocene [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops a composite absolute paleointensity record for Holocene paleomagnetic secular variation (PSV) from central North America. Twelve full‐vector (inclination, declination, paleointensity) PSV records were assessed in order to build the composite record. Nine of the paleointensity records come from sediment paleomagnetic studies and are considered relative in intensity. Three of the paleointensity records come from absolute paleointensity measurements of archeological materials and lava flows. This paper develops a new method to normalize the sediment relative paleointensity records to the absolute intensity records. The final composite paleointensity record describes intensity variability over a region of Central North America delineated by 35°–48.6°N and 240.4–291.4°E (∼14° × 50°). This composite record shows a distinctive long‐duration (∼104 year) oscillation and a series of millennial‐scale intensity oscillations that are consistent over our study region. Plain Language Summary: This study develops a composite record of geomagnetic field intensity for the central North America for the last 8,000 years. This record is important for considering the total geomagnetic field variability I this region and its dynamo source(s). Key Points: We develop a new composite absolute paleointensity record for Holocene Central North AmericaWe develop a new renormalization technique to combine absolute paleointensity records and sediment relative paleointensity recordsThe final composite absolute paleointensity record has a distinctive long‐term trend and millennial‐scale variability [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines patterns of human–environmental interactions across northern Asia during the Holocene, in order to summarize current knowledge and identify key areas for future research. To achieve these goals, currently available chronological, cultural, and paleoenvironmental datasets from the east Russian Arctic for the last 10,000 14C years were integrated. Study regions include the Taymyr Peninsula, Lena River basin (except its southern part), northeastern Siberia, and Kamchatka Peninsula. Several broad-scale correlations between climatic fluctuations and cultural responses (e.g., subsistence strategies and occupation densities) were identified; however, these are not straightforward. For example, the increase of occupations during the warm periods in the Early–Middle Holocene are notable while the most pronounced rises coincide with a cooling trend in the Late Holocene. This shows that the human–environmental relationships in the Holocene were not linear; more interdisciplinary research will be needed to construct higher resolution data for understanding prehistoric cultural responses to past environmental changes in the Asian Arctic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the wealth of Late Pleistocene archaeology that exists across southern Africa's open landscape, it is routinely neglected in favour of rock shelter (re)excavation, biasing interpretation of human–environment interaction. This is compounded by the scarcity of open-air studies that use geoarchaeological methods to investigate the history and processes involved in their formation. The open-air archaeology of the Doring River Valley is an example of this, despite nearly a decade of dedicated study and publication. Consequently, there remains a limited and untested understanding of the valley's formation history. This paper rectifies this by providing a sedimentary context for the surface archaeology exposed across one of the Doring River Valley's artefact-baring localities, Uitspankraal 7 (UPK7). Characterisation, particle size, mineralogical, morphometric, and geophysical analysis of UPK7′s sand mantle resulted in the identification of four artefact-bearing sedimentary units, the aeolian and pedogenic processes involved in their formation, and their proposed order of deposition. This provides a stratigraphic, taphonomic, and environmental context against which chronometric dating and an analysis of the taphonomic, spatio-temporal, and technological composition of UPK7′s surface archaeology can be compared. This work is the first vital step towards understanding the depositional and behavioural history of a landscape, irrespective of context type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clues of climate change on the Alashan Plateau since the last glacial period (40 ka) are important for revealing the mechanism of desertification of middle-latitude deserts in the Northern Hemisphere (NH). Studies are still rare for the understanding of the specific relationship of climate changes between the Alashan Plateau and the global. Based on a systematic and comparative analysis of the existing research in China and the international academic community, this paper reviews the environmental evolution history of the Alashan Plateau since the last glacial period from the records of paleo-environment and geomorphological characteristics in different deserts of the plateau (e.g., Badanjilin, Tenggeli, and Wulanbuhe). From about 40 ka to the end of the last glacial maximum, the climate on the plateau was wetter than it is today, and to the end of the Pleistocene, the climate was generally dry and the aeolian activities were enhanced. However, the climate was arid during the whole last glacial period in the Wulanbuhe Desert, evidently different from the overall pattern of the plateau. The Tenggeli Desert was characterized by an arid climate in the early Holocene. The most controversial events for the Alashan Plateau are the drought events in the middle Holocene in the Badanjilin Desert. The role and impact of the westerlies and the East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) systems on the climate change of the desert and even the whole plateau is a vexed question that brings different views in different periods. There is still a lack of definite evidence representing the events of global environmental change that occurred on the plateau during the discussed period. The distinctive morphology of dune mountains and the distribution of sand dunes are mutually indicative of the direction and energy of wind systems on the plateau. It is suggested that appropriate wind energy is the significant key to the desertification in these middle-latitude deserts on the plateau. From a global-scale review of climate change, the desertification of the modern-scale sandy desert landscapes on the Alashan Plateau is generally related to the global glacial period and the cold and dry climate during the past 40 ka. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents data on new finds of remains of Mammoth fauna mammals in the Middle Lena River basin (Lena Pillars Nature Park (Yakutia) and adjacent areas). Based on these data, a list of the main localities for large mammal species in this region was compiled. Eleven species of large mammals are identified, among which, the cave lion Panthera spelaea is reported for the first time for this region. A series of new radiocarbon dates allows us to conclude that there was a mass burial of Neopleistocene mammalian remains in this region during the Karginian interstadial (60 (55)–24 kyr ago, MIS-3). The radiocarbon dates obtained and species composition are consistent with the data that the Karginian interstadial was the most favorable for the distribution of the Mammoth fauna in the territory of Yakutia. The study results show that the ecological distribution of Ovis nivicola in the Late Pleistocene differs from its present-day habitat area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers mass materials related to the feeding of the eagle owl from three latitudinal regions of the Urals (northern and southern taiga and steppe). All collections were carried out in the same type of location of bone remains of prey from pellets at the nesting grounds of eagle owls in niches and caves at cliffs along riverbanks. The prey of the eagle owl is divided into three categories: main, alternative, and concomitant. The paper shows the degree of correspondence of the proportions of individuals of different species and their groups in the diet of the eagle owl and the population of rodents in the environs of nesting areas. The importance of separate consideration of the main and other prey of the eagle owl in reconstruction of the composition of the fauna and structure of the rodent population based on subfossil ornithogenic materials is emphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The water resource provided by lake basins in the western desert of Iraq is important for human occupation of areas outside the Tigris‐Euphrates floodplain, both in the past and into the future. This paper presents the first geomorphological and geochronological study of the date of formation of the Najaf Sea and the only such study of any lake basin to the west of Mesopotamia. Geomorphological shoreline features and a palaeochannel linking to the Euphrates were studied and dated using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and radiocarbon dating. Provenance was determined using heavy mineral analysis. Past environments in the Najaf Sea were reconstructed by molluscan analysis. The earliest OSL ages date from c. 30 000 and 22 000 years ago and seem to predate lake formation. Younger OSL ages date the highest lake level at c. 19 m asl to between 1620–1760 AD (base) to 1906–1974 AD (near surface). The radiocarbon ages are affected by a freshwater reservoir effect, but the maximum ages recorded for either of the c. 15 m and c. 17 m asl shorelines are c. 800 cal. BC. This predates the first archaeological sites in the Najaf basin and is similar to maximum ages of c. 850 and c. 1100 cal. BC from the associated palaeochannel. This timing does not seem to be linked to a humid climate event. We therefore conclude that the establishment of the Najaf Sea in the Najaf basin occurred as a result of an avulsion event within the Euphrates system that diverted flow to the basin. The trigger for this avulsion event likely related to rapid sediment accumulation and may have been either autogenic or driven by human activity. This study therefore suggests that Najaf Sea formation facilitated human expansion beyond the Tigris‐ Euphrates floodplain and occurred due to avulsion of the Euphrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]