Climates, Landscapes, and Civilizations

Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Geophysical Monograph Series, Volume 198.Climates, Landscapes, and Civilizations brings together a collection of studies on the history of complex interrelationships between humans and their environment by integrating Earth science with archeology and anthropology. At a time when climate change, overpopulation, and scarcity of resources are increasingly affecting our ways of life, the lessons of the past provide multiple reference frames that are valuable for informing our future decisions and action plans. Volume highlights include discussions of multiple connotations of the Anthropocene, landscapes as a link between climate and humans, synoptic approaches to explore large-scale cultural patterns, regional studies for contextualizing cultural complexity, and environmental determinism and social theory. Straddling the fields of Earth sciences, anthropology, and archaeology and presenting research from across several continents, Climates, Landscapes, and Civilizations will appeal to a wide readership among scientists, scholars, and the public at large.

Auteur

Liviu Giosan is a Romanian and American marine geologist studying the interactions between climate, landscapes and humans. Dorian Q. Fuller is the editor of Climates, Landscapes, and Civilizations, published by Wiley.

Contenu
Preface

Liviu Giosan, Dorian Q. Fuller, Kathleen Nicoll, Rowan K. Flad,
and Peter D. Clift vii

Bridging a Disciplinary Gap

William F. Ruddiman 1

Section I: Americas

Arguments and Evidence Against a Younger Dryas Impact
Event

M. Boslough, K. Nicoll, V. Holliday, T. L. Daulton, D. Meltzer,
N. Pinter, A. C. Scott, T. Surovell, P. Claeys, J. Gill, F. Paquay,
J. Marlon, P. Bartlein, C. Whitlock, D. Grayson, and A. J. T.
Jull 13

Environment and Agency in the Ancient Maya Collapse

James J. Aimers 27

Rainfall Variability and the Rise and Collapse of the
Mississippian Chiefdoms: Evidence From a DeSoto Caverns
Stalagmite

Paul Aharon, David Aldridge, and John Hellstrom 35

Building Resilience in Island Communities: A
Paleotempestological Perspective

Jago Cooper 43

Recent Seasonal Variations in Arid Landscape Cover and Aeolian
Sand Mobility, Navajo Nation, Southwestern United States

Amy E. Draut, Margaret Hiza Redsteer, and Lee Amoroso 51

Section II: Asia

Utilization of Distal Tephra Records for Understanding Climatic
and Environmental Consequences of the Youngest Toba Tuff

Emma Gatti and Clive Oppenheimer 63

An Abrupt Shift in the Indian Monsoon 4000 Years Ago

M. Berkelhammer, A. Sinha, L. Stott, H. Cheng, F. S. R. Pausata,
and K. Yoshimura 75

Late Holocene Drought Pattern Over West Asia

Michael Staubwasser 89

Geomorphological Constraints on the Ghaggar River Regime During
the Mature Harappan Period

Hideaki Maemoku, Yorinao Shitaoka, Tsuneto Nagatomo, and Hiroshi
Yagi 97

A Simulation of the Neolithic Transition in the Indus
Valley

Carsten Lemmen and Aurangzeb Khan 107

Mid-to-Late Holocene Agricultural System Transformations in the
Northern Fertile Crescent: A Review of the Archaeobotanical,
Geoarchaeological, and Philological Evidence

Simone Riehl, Konstantin Pustovoytov, Aron Dornauer, and Walther
Sallaberger 115

Late Holocene Evolution of the Fuzhou Basin (Fujian, China) and
the Spread of Rice Farming

Barry V. Rolett 137

Climate-Induced Changes in Population Dynamics of Siberian
Scythians (700-250 B.C.)

Irina P. Panyushkina 145

Section III: Africa

Geoarchaeological Perspectives on Holocene Climate Change as a
Civilizing Factor in the Egyptian Sahara

Kathleen Nicoll 157

Heavy Rainfalls in a Desert(ed) City: A Climate-Archaeological
Case Study From Sudan

Jonas Berking, Janina Körper, Sebastian Wagner, Ulrich
Cubasch, and Brigitta Schütt 163

Section IV: Europe

The Influence of Transgressive Paleogeography on the Development
and Decline of Cardium Pottery Culture (Mediterranean
Neolithic)

A. Amorosi and A. Morelli 171

A Dynamic Human Socioecology of Prehistoric and Protohistoric
Ulster

Tina Thurston and Gill Plunkett 177

Section V: New Approaches and Discussions

Influences of Active Tectonism on Human Development: A Review
and Neolithic Example

Eric R. Force and Bruce G. McFadgen 195

Irragric Anthrosols--Artifacts of Human Adaptation to Arid
Conditions: Examples From the High Himalaya and the Coastal Desert
of Peru

J. Baade 203

Hunter-Gatherers, Agriculturalists, and Climate: Insights From a
Cross-Disciplinary Review

Daniel M. Cadzow 209

AGU Category Index 217

Index 219