The extent to which long-term climate change has influenced cultural evolution among hunter-gathe... more The extent to which long-term climate change has influenced cultural evolution among hunter-gatherers has long been debated. In the Great Salt Lake desert (USA), a detailed record of paleoenvironmental change has been developed for the last 15,000 years, but a similarly complete chronicle of human occupation and adaptation is less secure. Here, we report and analyze one of the largest datasets (n ¼ 247) of radiocarbon ages yet amassed from a single archaeological site in the Americas d Bonneville Estates Rockshelter, Nevada d to investigate human-environment interaction in this desert setting since 13,000 years ago. Results show a striking consistency in human-occupation intensity and oscillations between cool, mesic and warm, arid climate, specifically high occupation intensity during relatively cool times, and low intensity d even abandonment d during extended periods of drought. The ultimate outcome is a clear case of how long-term oscillations in climate can repeatedly motivate change in foraging societies in a marginal environmental setting.
Qinghai Lake, located on the northeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is China's largest extant cl... more Qinghai Lake, located on the northeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is China's largest extant closed-basin lake. Its position relative to major Asian climate systems, and to the high Tibetan Plateau, makes it sensitive to global climate change. The lake has been the subject of numerous paleoenvironmental investigations including dating of shoreline features around the lake basin. New age estimates of shoreline features,
The Tibetan Plateau presents great challenges for human occupation: low oxygen, high ultraviolet ... more The Tibetan Plateau presents great challenges for human occupation: low oxygen, high ultraviolet radiation, harsh seasonal climate, low overall biological productivity. How and when early humans were able to cope physiologically, genetically, and behaviorally with these extremes is important for understanding the history of human adaptive flexibility. Our investigations of prehistoric human settlement on the northeast Tibetan Plateau focus on (a) establishing well-dated evidence for occupation of altitudes >3000 m, (b) the environmental context of high altitude adaptation, and (c) relations of hunting and pastoralism to lower-altitude agrarian systems. We observe two major prehistoric settlement patterns in the Qinghai Lake area. The earliest, ~15,000-7500 yr old, consists of small isolated firehearths with sparse associated stone tools and wild mammal remains (1). Numerous hearths often occur in the same localities, indicating repeated short-duration occupations by small hunting...
ABSTRACT The identification and dating of South Temple Canyon 1 (STC 1), an Early Upper Paleolihi... more ABSTRACT The identification and dating of South Temple Canyon 1 (STC 1), an Early Upper Paleolihic (EUP) site in north-central China near Shuidonggou (SDG), helps confirm that SDG is one of the earliest EUP sites in northern Asia. Materials from STC 1 bear a strong resemblance to the early SDG core-and-blade lithic technology that includes flat-faced cores and elongate blades. We obtained a 14C age estimate of 41,070 ± 890 14C yr BP on the innermost lamina of a calcium carbonate pendant attached to one of the quartzite flakes from the site. The purity of the micrite lamina, the care taken in obtaining the carbonate sample for processing and dating, and the geomorphological setting from which the flake came suggest the age estimate represents a reasonable assessment of an accurate minimum age for STC 1. Together with recently derived age estimates of >35 14C ka for the initial EUP occupations at SDG 1 and 2, it appears that the EUP in the SDG area is as old as any of the handful of EUP sites in Mongolia and Siberia dating to about 40 14C ka, and brings into question a postulated north-to-south spread of the EUP lithic technology present at SDG. Whether or not the dispersal of this technology is associated with the spread of Anatomically Modern Humans remains unknown.
THE ACADEMIC COMMUNITY CONTINUES TO BELIEVE THAT THE FORMAL SCHOLARLY PUBLISHING process separate... more THE ACADEMIC COMMUNITY CONTINUES TO BELIEVE THAT THE FORMAL SCHOLARLY PUBLISHING process separates sound research from shoddy or biased counterparts. Unfortunately, scholarly publishing may not be able to effectively fulfill its role as a ...
ABSTRACT Da Qaidam and Xiao Qaidam are two of a number of lakes in northwestern China whose lake ... more ABSTRACT Da Qaidam and Xiao Qaidam are two of a number of lakes in northwestern China whose lake histories have been used to support the notion of a “Greatest Lakes” period in the region during marine isotope stage (MIS) 3. Reappraisal of the basins’ geomorphology, however, suggests that both lakes are highly problematic proxies for past climate. Xiao Qaidam has a low overflow threshold, only ~10–12 m above the lake surface, well below previously estimated high stands, and until about 17–23 ka BP Da Qaidam was occasionally fed by a river whose flow into the lake basin was geomorphically, rather than climatically controlled. Based on limited optically stimulated luminescence dating of shoreline and alluvial sediments it appears that highstands in the basins occurred ~100 ka BP or earlier. The two lakes are thus part of an increasing number of lake records that suggest, at least in northwestern China, (1) some lake histories may not record climate events, and (2) that the “Greatest Lakes” high stands occurred much earlier than previously recognized.
The extent to which long-term climate change has influenced cultural evolution among hunter-gathe... more The extent to which long-term climate change has influenced cultural evolution among hunter-gatherers has long been debated. In the Great Salt Lake desert (USA), a detailed record of paleoenvironmental change has been developed for the last 15,000 years, but a similarly complete chronicle of human occupation and adaptation is less secure. Here, we report and analyze one of the largest datasets (n ¼ 247) of radiocarbon ages yet amassed from a single archaeological site in the Americas d Bonneville Estates Rockshelter, Nevada d to investigate human-environment interaction in this desert setting since 13,000 years ago. Results show a striking consistency in human-occupation intensity and oscillations between cool, mesic and warm, arid climate, specifically high occupation intensity during relatively cool times, and low intensity d even abandonment d during extended periods of drought. The ultimate outcome is a clear case of how long-term oscillations in climate can repeatedly motivate change in foraging societies in a marginal environmental setting.
Qinghai Lake, located on the northeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is China's largest extant cl... more Qinghai Lake, located on the northeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is China's largest extant closed-basin lake. Its position relative to major Asian climate systems, and to the high Tibetan Plateau, makes it sensitive to global climate change. The lake has been the subject of numerous paleoenvironmental investigations including dating of shoreline features around the lake basin. New age estimates of shoreline features,
The Tibetan Plateau presents great challenges for human occupation: low oxygen, high ultraviolet ... more The Tibetan Plateau presents great challenges for human occupation: low oxygen, high ultraviolet radiation, harsh seasonal climate, low overall biological productivity. How and when early humans were able to cope physiologically, genetically, and behaviorally with these extremes is important for understanding the history of human adaptive flexibility. Our investigations of prehistoric human settlement on the northeast Tibetan Plateau focus on (a) establishing well-dated evidence for occupation of altitudes >3000 m, (b) the environmental context of high altitude adaptation, and (c) relations of hunting and pastoralism to lower-altitude agrarian systems. We observe two major prehistoric settlement patterns in the Qinghai Lake area. The earliest, ~15,000-7500 yr old, consists of small isolated firehearths with sparse associated stone tools and wild mammal remains (1). Numerous hearths often occur in the same localities, indicating repeated short-duration occupations by small hunting...
ABSTRACT The identification and dating of South Temple Canyon 1 (STC 1), an Early Upper Paleolihi... more ABSTRACT The identification and dating of South Temple Canyon 1 (STC 1), an Early Upper Paleolihic (EUP) site in north-central China near Shuidonggou (SDG), helps confirm that SDG is one of the earliest EUP sites in northern Asia. Materials from STC 1 bear a strong resemblance to the early SDG core-and-blade lithic technology that includes flat-faced cores and elongate blades. We obtained a 14C age estimate of 41,070 ± 890 14C yr BP on the innermost lamina of a calcium carbonate pendant attached to one of the quartzite flakes from the site. The purity of the micrite lamina, the care taken in obtaining the carbonate sample for processing and dating, and the geomorphological setting from which the flake came suggest the age estimate represents a reasonable assessment of an accurate minimum age for STC 1. Together with recently derived age estimates of >35 14C ka for the initial EUP occupations at SDG 1 and 2, it appears that the EUP in the SDG area is as old as any of the handful of EUP sites in Mongolia and Siberia dating to about 40 14C ka, and brings into question a postulated north-to-south spread of the EUP lithic technology present at SDG. Whether or not the dispersal of this technology is associated with the spread of Anatomically Modern Humans remains unknown.
THE ACADEMIC COMMUNITY CONTINUES TO BELIEVE THAT THE FORMAL SCHOLARLY PUBLISHING process separate... more THE ACADEMIC COMMUNITY CONTINUES TO BELIEVE THAT THE FORMAL SCHOLARLY PUBLISHING process separates sound research from shoddy or biased counterparts. Unfortunately, scholarly publishing may not be able to effectively fulfill its role as a ...
ABSTRACT Da Qaidam and Xiao Qaidam are two of a number of lakes in northwestern China whose lake ... more ABSTRACT Da Qaidam and Xiao Qaidam are two of a number of lakes in northwestern China whose lake histories have been used to support the notion of a “Greatest Lakes” period in the region during marine isotope stage (MIS) 3. Reappraisal of the basins’ geomorphology, however, suggests that both lakes are highly problematic proxies for past climate. Xiao Qaidam has a low overflow threshold, only ~10–12 m above the lake surface, well below previously estimated high stands, and until about 17–23 ka BP Da Qaidam was occasionally fed by a river whose flow into the lake basin was geomorphically, rather than climatically controlled. Based on limited optically stimulated luminescence dating of shoreline and alluvial sediments it appears that highstands in the basins occurred ~100 ka BP or earlier. The two lakes are thus part of an increasing number of lake records that suggest, at least in northwestern China, (1) some lake histories may not record climate events, and (2) that the “Greatest Lakes” high stands occurred much earlier than previously recognized.
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