Archeological contributions to climate change studies: Past, present, and future
Dempsey EC and Bringelson D. 2013. Archeological contributions to climate change studies: Past, present, and future. Park Science. 30(2):16-18
Archeological research is positioned to provide useful information on human-landscape interactions during periods of dynamic climate. Several recent investigations across the mid-continent highlight the connection between climate change and archeology, informing us about various aspects of human behavior throughout the last 12,000 years of the late Pleistocene and Holocene. Deep geomorphic testing of river terrace sediments and soils at Ozark National Scenic Riverways provides landscape evolution and paleoenvironmental data, and allows for the identifi cation of landforms people may have occupied at various times. Archeological and environmental data at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore offer insights on changes in land uses through time and ways in which they correlate with environmental shifts. Archeology is a critical component of multidisciplinary studies that seek to understand past human responses to climate change.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Dempsey, Erin; Bringelson, Dawn
- Units
- APIS , MWAC , OZAR
- Keywords
- alluvial geomorphology, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Archeology, Climate Change, Current River, lake levels, Lake Superior, optically stimulated luminescence, Ozark National Scenic Riverways, Ozark plateau, Paleoclimate, stable carbon isotopes, thermoluminescence