Late Quaternary Environmental Change Physical and Human Perspectives

by Walker, Mike; Bell, Martin; Walker, M.J.C.

• ISBN13: 9780130333445
• ISBN10: 0130333441
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-04-08
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Late Quaternary Environmental Change : Physical and Human Perspectives Martin Bell and Michael J. C. Walker Second edition Late Quaternary Environmental Change considers the interaction between human agency and other environmental factors in the landscape. This second edition has been extensively revised, rewritten and reillustrated to take account of remarkable developments in Quaternary Science and Archaeology over the last twelve years. The book deals largely with events over the course of the last 25, 000 years during which the climate of the mid- and high-latitude regions of the world shifted from one of arctic severity to warmer regimes of the present interglacial period. The natural environmental changes of this period were accompanied by equally dramatic human social change, as environments were increasingly transformed by human activities, leading to the creation of cultural landscapes. Key features Environmental changes, particularly in the northern temperate zone, are examined at a range of temporal and spatial scales. An ecological dynamic approach is adopted in which the role of human agency is seen as part of a spectrum of interacting disturbance factors. Integration of scientific and social perspectives is given particular emphasis through consideration of the nature of environmental changes and how they were perceived. New perspectives are provided for current debates on future environmental management and the formulation of sustainable strategies and conservation policies. This text will be essential reading for students in archaeology, geography, environmental science, geology, history and environmental conservation. It will also be of interest to professional archaeologists, and anyone with an interest in the study of archaeology and environmental history. Martin Bell is Professor of Archaeological Science at the University of Reading, UK where he teaches Geoarchaeology and Environmental Archaeology. Mike Walker is Professor of Quaternary Science at the University of Wales, Lampeter, UK.

Table of Contents

Preface to Second Edition	xi
Acknowledgements	xii
Environmental change and human activity	1	(16)
Introduction	1	(1)
Earth science, geography and archaeology	2	(3)
Changing perspectives in science	5	(1)
The causes of environmental change: cycles, pattern and chance	6	(3)
Questions of scale: space and time	9	(2)
Environmental change and human perception	11	(3)
Scope and structure of the book	14	(2)
Note on dates	16	(1)
Evidence for environmental change	17	(47)
Introduction	17	(1)
Scientific methodology	17	(5)
Inductivism	17	(2)
Falsification	19	(1)
Multiple working hypotheses	20	(1)
Chaos theory	20	(1)
Uniformitarianism	21	(1)
Fossil evidence	22	(9)
Macrofossils	23	(1)
Plant remains	23	(1)
Mollusca	24	(1)
Fossil insects	24	(2)
Mammalian remains	26	(1)
Microfossils	27	(1)
Pollen and spores	27	(1)
Rhizopods or testate amoebae	27	(1)
Diatoms	28	(1)
Chironomids	29	(1)
Cladocera	30	(1)
Ostracods	30	(1)
Foraminifera	30	(1)
Charred particles (charcoal)	30	(1)
Sedimentary evidence	31	(11)
Peat	32	(1)
Lake sediments	32	(1)
Cave sediments	33	(2)
Glacial sediments	35	(1)
Periglacial deposits	35	(1)
Slope deposits	36	(1)
Alluvial deposits	36	(2)
Aeolian deposits	38	(1)
Palaeosols	39	(1)
Coastal deposits and landforms	39	(1)
Marine sediments	40	(1)
Ice cores	41	(1)
Isotopic evidence	42	(4)
Microfossils in deep-ocean sediments	42	(1)
Ice cores	43	(1)
Speleothems	43	(1)
Tree rings	43	(1)
Peat	44	(1)
Lake sediments and other isotopic studies	45	(1)
Historical evidence	46	(2)
Weather records	46	(1)
Weather-dependent natural phenomena	47	(1)
Phenological records	47	(1)
Instrumental records	48	(1)
Assessment of proxy data sources	49	(3)
Uniformitarianism	50	(1)
Equifinality	50	(1)
Taphonomy	50	(1)
Preservation and contamination	51	(1)
Climatic inferences from historical data	51	(1)
Climatic inferences from other proxy data	52	(1)
Dating of proxy records	52	(11)
Radiometric dating	53	(1)
Radiocarbon dating	53	(1)
Uranium-series dating	54	(1)
Optical dating	55	(1)
Other radiometric methods	56	(1)
Incremental dating	57	(1)
Dendrochronology	57	(1)
Lichenometry	58	(1)
Laminated lake sediments	58	(1)
Annual layers in glacier ice	59	(1)
Age equivalence	60	(1)
Tephrochronology	60	(1)
Palaeomagnetism	60	(1)
Oxygen isotope chronology	61	(1)
Artefact dating	61	(2)
Notes	63	(1)
Natural environmental change	64	(45)
Introduction	64	(1)
Patterns of long-term climatic change	64	(1)
Evidence for long-term climatic change	65	(2)
The nature of long-term climatic change	67	(2)
Climatic changes in the North Atlantic region during the last cold stage	69	(6)
Greenland	70	(2)
North Atlantic	72	(1)
Europe	72	(1)
The British Isles	73	(1)
Northern United States, Canada and the Arctic	74	(1)
Causes of long-term climatic change	75	(10)
The astronomical theory	77	(1)
Elements of the astronomical theory	78	(1)
The precession of the equinoxes	78	(1)
The obliquity of the ecliptic	79	(1)
The eccentricity of the orbit	79	(1)
Evidence in support of the astronomical theory	80	(1)
Deep-sea cores	80	(1)
Coral reef sequences	81	(1)
Pollen data	81	(1)
Loess/palaeosol sequences	81	(1)
Ice-core data	81	(1)
Tropical lake data	82	(1)
Lake sediment data	82	(1)
Modifications to the astronomical theory	82	(3)
Patterns of short-term climatic change	85	(10)
The Lateglacial climatic oscillation	85	(3)
The early Holocene amelioration	88	(1)
The Climatic Optimum (the Hypsithermal)	89	(2)
The late Holocene deterioration	91	(2)
The historical period	93	(2)
Cyclical climatic change during the Holocene	95	(1)
Causes of short-term climatic change	95	(12)
Solar output variations	96	(1)
Quantitative changes in solar output	96	(3)
Qualitative changes in solar output	99	(1)
Volcanic aerosols	100	(2)
Geomagnetism	102	(1)
Ocean circulation	103	(4)
Atmospheric trace gases	107	(1)
Notes	107	(2)
Consequences of climatic change	109	(31)
Introduction	109	(1)
The last glaciers in the northern temperate zone	109	(4)
Europe	109	(1)
The British Isles	109	(1)
North America	110	(1)
Iceland and Greenland	111	(1)
Deglaciation: the ocean record	111	(1)
The Lateglacial: Europe	112	(1)
The Lateglacial: North America	113	(1)
Holocene glacier activity	113	(1)
Periglacial activity	113	(3)
Europe	114	(1)
North America	115	(1)
Sea-level change	116	(7)
Components of sea-level change	116	(1)
Glacio-isostatic changes	117	(3)
Glacio-eustatic changes	120	(3)
Vegetational and pedological changes	123	(8)
Models of vegetational and pedological change	124	(1)
The `cryocratic' phase	125	(1)
The `protocratic' phase	126	(4)
The `mesocratic' phase	130	(1)
The `oligocratic' phase	130	(1)
Palaeohydrological changes	131	(9)
The fluvial record	131	(2)
Glaciofluvial deposits	133	(1)
Glacial lakes	133	(2)
Periglacial palaeohydrology	135	(1)
Lateglacial palaeohydrology	136	(1)
Holocene palaeohydrology	137	(3)
People in a world of constant change	140	(42)
Introduction	140	(1)
How people cope	140	(4)
Environmental change and human evolution	144	(3)
People and the Lateglacial/Holocene transition	147	(3)
The origins of agriculture	150	(9)
Introduction	150	(2)
South-west Asia	152	(4)
America	156	(1)
Mesoamerica	156	(2)
South America	158	(1)
North America	158	(1)
Coastal wetlands	159	(9)
The Baltic	159	(2)
`Doggerland', the Netherlands and north Germany	161	(3)
The Severn Estuary and Somerset Levels	164	(2)
Coastal change: causes and consequences	166	(2)
Geohazards	168	(5)
Volcanism	169	(3)
Tsunamis and earthquakes	172	(1)
Asteroids, comets and meteorites	173	(1)
Coping with the cold	174	(3)
The Little Optimum and Little Ice Age	177	(5)
Vinland and Greenland	177	(2)
Iceland	179	(1)
Britain and European mainland	180	(2)
Cultural landscapes, human agency and environmental change	182	(44)
Introduction	182	(1)
Environmental disturbance factors	183	(3)
Late Pleistocene extinctions	186	(5)
Holocene island extinctions	191	(2)
Burning by hunter-gatherers	193	(1)
Mesolithic forest clearance in the British Isles and continental Europe	194	(3)
The transition to agriculture in central and north-west Europe	197	(2)
The elm decline	199	(4)
Clearance by early farmers	203	(9)
Early farmers in the circum-Alpine zone	205	(1)
Woodland management	205	(2)
Woodland clearance in the Americas	207	(3)
Biological consequences of clearance and farming	210	(2)
Holocene pedogenesis	212	(4)
Blanket bogs and raised mires	216	(3)
The development of moorland	219	(2)
The development of heathland	221	(2)
The origins of grasslands	223	(1)
Disturbance, human agency and the structuration of landscape	224	(2)
People, climate and erosion	226	(18)
Introduction	226	(4)
Valley sediments in North America	230	(2)
Mediterranean valleys	232	(2)
Central and eastern continental Europe	234	(1)
British Isles: colluviation in chalk landscapes	235	(2)
British Isles: river valleys	237	(2)
Aeolian sediments	239	(1)
Lakes	240	(3)
Erosion and flood: perception and response	243	(1)
The role of the past in a sustainable future: environment and heritage conservation	244	(15)
Introduction	244	(1)
A time perspective for sustainability and biodiversity	244	(1)
Archaeological sites in the landscape	245	(1)
Palaeoenvironmental studies and nature conservation	246	(3)
Environmental management and archaeological assessment	249	(1)
In situ preservation	250	(1)
National strategies for conservation	251	(1)
International dimensions and World Heritage	252	(2)
Wetland conservation	254	(2)
Presenting the past	256	(1)
Integrated perspectives	257	(1)
Notes	258	(1)
The impact of people on climate	259	(18)
Introduction	259	(1)
The greenhouse effect	259	(7)
Atmospheric carbon dioxide	260	(2)
Other atmospheric trace gases	262	(1)
Methane	263	(1)
Nitrous oxide	264	(1)
Ozone	265	(1)
Halocarbons and halogenated compounds	265	(1)
The role of aerosols	266	(1)
Consequences of the greenhouse effect	266	(8)
Global temperature changes	267	(2)
Global precipitation changes	269	(1)
Sea-level changes	270	(2)
Hydrological changes	272	(1)
Effects on agriculture	273	(1)
Effects on forest ecosystems	273	(1)
The ozone layer	274	(1)
Acid deposition	275	(2)
Bibliography	277	(60)
Index	337