climate change and cultural dynamics

CLIMATE CHANGE AND

CULTURAL DYNAMICS

A Global Perspective on Mid-Holocene Transitions

The front cover image shows Mounds G, H, and I at Caral, a Mid-Holocene ceremonial

center in Peru. (Photograph by Daniel H. Sandweiss.)

CLIMATE CHANGE AND

CULTURAL DYNAMICS

A Global Perspective on Mid-Holocene

Transitions

Edited by

David G. Anderson

Department of Anthropology, University of Tennessee

Knoxville, TN 37996, USA

Kirk A. Maasch

Climate Change Institute and Department of Earth Sciences, University of Maine

Orono, ME 04469, USA

Daniel H. Sandweiss

Department of Anthropology, Climate Change Institute, and Graduate School, University

of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA

ACADEMIC

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DEDICATION

Dedicated to the memory of Thor Heyerdahl (1914–2002), and all

those exploring relationships between climate and culture,

perhaps the greatest challenge facing our species in the

twenty-first century

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Contents

List of Contributors ix

List of Figures xiii

List of Tables xix

Preface and Acknowledgments xxi

Foreword xxiii

Thor Heyerdahl

1 Climate and culture change: exploring Holocene transitions 1

David G. Anderson, Kirk A. Maasch, Daniel H. Sandweiss, and

Paul A. Mayewski

2 Mid-Holocene climate and culture change in coastal Peru 25

Daniel H. Sandweiss, Kirk A. Maasch, C. Fred T. Andrus, Elizabeth J.

Reitz, James B. Richardson III, Melanie Riedinger-Whitmore, and

Harold B. Rollins

3 Mid-Holocene climate and culture change in the South Central Andes 51

Martin Grosjean, Calogero M. Santoro, Lonnie G. Thompson,

Lautaro Nu´n˜ez, and Vivien G. Standen

4 Mid-Holocene climate and cultural dynamics in Brazil and

the Guianas 117

Betty J. Meggers

5 Culture and climate in Mesoamerica during the Middle Holocene 157

Barbara Voorhies and Sarah E. Metcalfe

6 Middle Holocene environments of north and east Africa, with special

emphasis on the African Sahara 189

Fred Wendorf, Wibjo¨rn Karle´n, and Romuald Schild

7 Influence of Holocene marine transgression and climate change on

cultural evolution in southern Mesopotamia 229

Douglas J. Kennett and James P. Kennett

8 Mid-Holocene cultural dynamics and climatic change in the

Western Pacific 265

Atholl Anderson, Michael Gagan, and James Shulmeister

9 Mid-Holocene climate and cultural dynamics in eastern

Central China 297

Tracey L.-D. Lu

10 Mid-Holocene climatic changes and cultural dynamics in the basin of

the Sea of Japan and adjacent areas 331

Konstantin A. Lutaenko, Irina S. Zhushchikhovskaya, Yuri A. Mikishin,

and Alexander N. Popov

11 Mid-Holocene climatic and cultural dynamics in Northern Europe 407

Wibjo¨rn Karle´n and Lars Larsson

12 Mid-Holocene cultural adaptations to central Maine 435

David Sanger, Heather Almquist, and Ann Dieffenbacher-Krall

13 Mid-Holocene cultural dynamics in southeastern North America 457

David G. Anderson, Michael Russo, and Kenneth E. Sassaman

14 Mid-Holocene culture and climate on the Northwest Coast of

North America 491

Madonna L. Moss, Dorothy M. Peteet, and Cathy Whitlock

15 Middle Holocene climate change and human population dispersal

in western North America 531

Douglas J. Kennett, Brendan J. Culleton, James P. Kennett,

Jon M. Erlandson, and Kevin G. Cannariato

Subject Index 559

viii Contents

List of Contributors

Heather Almquist Department of Geography, University of Montana, Missoula,

MT 59812, USA

Atholl Anderson Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian

National University, ACT 0200, Australia

David G. Anderson Department of Anthropology, University of Tennessee,

Knoxville, TN 37996-0720, USA

C. Fred T. Andrus Department of Geological Sciences, University of Alabama,

USA

Kevin G. Cannariato Department of Earth Sciences, University of Southern

California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA

Brendan J. Culleton Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene,

OR 97403-1218, USA

Ann Dieffenbacher-Krall Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, Orono,

ME 04469, USA

Jon M. Erlandson Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene,

OR 97403-1218 USA

Michael Gagan Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University,

ACT 0200, Australia

Martin Grosjean NCCR Climate and Institute of Geography, University of Bern,

9a Erlachstrasse, 3012 Bern, Switzerland

Wibjo¨rn Karle´n Geografiska Annaler Ser. A, Institutionen fo¨r Kulturgeografi,

Box 513, 751 20 Uppsala, Sweden

Douglas J. Kennett Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene,

OR 97403-1218, USA

James P. Kennett Department of Earth Science and Marine Science Institute,

University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA

Lars Larsson University of Lund, Department of Archaeology and Ancient History,

Sandgatan 1, Lund, S-223 50, Sweden

Tracey L.-D. Lu Department of Anthropology, The Chinese University of Hong

Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong

Konstantin A. Lutaenko Institute of Marine Biology, Far East Branch of the

Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok 690041, Russia

Kirk A. Maasch Department of Earth Sciences, Climate Change Institute,

University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA

Paul A. Mayewski Department of Earth Sciences, Climate Change Institute,

University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA

Betty J. Meggers Smithsonian Institution, PO Box 37012, NMNH MRC-112,

Washington, DC 20013, USA

Sarah E. Metcalfe School of Geography, University of Nottingham, Nottingham,

NG7 2RD, UK

Yuri A. Mikishin Coastal Research Center, Far East State University, Vladivostok

690000, Russia

Madonna L. Moss Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene,

OR 97402-1218, USA

Lautaro Nu´n˜ez Instituto de Investigaciones Arqueolo´gicas y Museo, Universidad

Cato´lica del Norte, San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

Dorothy M. Peteet NASA/Goddard Institute for Space Studies, 2880 Broadway,

New York, NY 10025, USA

Alexander N. Popov Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography, Far East State

University, Vladivostok 690000, Russia

Elizabeth J. Reitz Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia, Georgia,

USA

James B. Richardson III Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh,

Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Melanie Riedinger-Whitmore Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and

Geography, University of South Florida, FL, USA

Harold B. Rollins Department of Geology and Planetary Science, University of

Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Michael Russo National Park Service, Southeastern Archeological Center,

Tallahassee, FL 32310, USA

Daniel H. Sandweiss Department of Anthropology and Graduate School, Climate

Change Institute, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA

David Sanger Department of Anthropology, University of Maine, Orono, ME

04469, USA

Calogero M. Santoro Instituto Alta Investigacio´n, Departamento de Arqueologı´a

y Museologı´a & Centro de Investigaciones del Hombre en el Desierto, Universidad

de Tarapaca´, Casilla 6-D, Arica, Chile

x List of Contributors

Kenneth E. Sassaman Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, 1112

Turlington Hall, P.O. Box 117305, Gainesville, FL 32611-7305, USA

Romuald Schild Instytut Archeologii I Ethnologii, Polskiej Akademii Nauk,

Al. Solidararnosci 105, 00–140 Warszawa, Poland

James Shulmeister Department of Geological Sciences, University of Canterbury,

Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand

Vivien G. Standen Departamento de Antropologı´a & Centro de Investigaciones

del Hombre en el Desierto, Universidad de Tarapaca´, Casilla 6-D, Arica, Chile

Lonnie G. Thompson Byrd Polar Research Center, Ohio State University, 1090

Carmack Road, Columbus, OH 43210, USA

Barbara Voorhies Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa

Barbara, CA 93106, USA

Fred Wendorf Department of Anthropology, Southern Methodist University,

Dallas, TX 75275, USA

Cathy Whitlock Department of Earth Sciences, Montana State University,

Bozeman, MT 59717, USA

Irina S. Zhushchikhovskaya Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography

of the Peoples of the Far East, Far East Branch of the Russian Academy of

Sciences, Vladivostok 690001, Russia

List of Contributors xi

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List of Figures

1.1. Calibration curve from 0 to 10000 cal yr BP for the conversion of

radiocarbon ages to calibrated (cal) ages. 4

1.2. Proxy records for middle-to-high latitude atmospheric circulation for

the last 11,500 years obtained for the Northern Hemisphere from

GISP2, Greenland, and the Southern Hemisphere from Siple Dome,

Antarctica. 6

1.3. The global distribution of changes in temperature, moisture balance,

and atmospheric circulation for the ca. 6000–5000 cal yr BP RCC

from the Holocene proxy records. 8

2.1. Map showing the location of sites mentioned in the text. 27

2.2. View from the Ostra Collecting Station SSW across the fossil bay

towards the Ostra Base Camp. 28

2.3. Plan of Caral and photo of mounds G, H, and I at Caral. 39

2.4. Dates on mollusks from the fossil bays at Santa and Salinas de Chao,

northern Peru, arranged by water temperature requirements of the taxa. 44

3.1. Map showing the South Central Andes with different habitats along

the fertile and the sterile coast, the intermediate valleys, the high

valleys, and the puna seca and puna salada. 54

3.2. View of Laguna Miscanti from Cerro Min˜iques showing the location

of the seismic profile (b) and the site of the sediment core (c). 64

3.3. Pollen profiles in the South Central Andes and adjacent areas showing

the mid-Holocene aridity. 67

3.4. Map showing the locations with mid-Holocene geomorphological and

paleosol information. 72

3.5. Map showing the locations of archaeological sites with early Holocene

human occupation between 11,000 and 8000 14C yr BP. 93

3.6. Map showing the locations of archaeological sites with

Mid-Holocene human occupation between 8000 and 4500 14C yr BP. 94

3.7. Map showing the locations of archaeological sites with late

Holocene human occupation between 4500 and 3000 14C yr BP. 95

3.8. Radiocarbon chronostratigraphy of archaeological sites in the habitat

of the fertile and the sterile coast. 96

3.9. Radiocarbon chronostratigraphy of archaeological sites in the habitat

of the intermediate valleys. 97

3.10. Radiocarbon chronostratigraphy of archaeological sites in the habitat

of the high valleys. 99

3.11. Radiocarbon chronostratigraphy of archaeological sites in the habitat

of the puna seca and puna salada. 103

4.1. Present ecological boundary between the Coastal Strip and the

Amazon Basin. 118

4.2. Locations of pollen cores and rock shelters mentioned in the text. 120

4.3. Correlation between gaps in 14C dates and discontinuities

in the stratigraphic records in cores from Cromı´nia (MG)

and Pata (AM). 121

4.4. Changes in relative sea level along the Brazilian coast since

ca. 7000 14C yr BP. 123

4.5. Rock shelters with sufficient 14C dates to identify a hiatus between

abandonment for habitation during the Pleistocene/Holocene

transition and resumption of use for burial or art. 125

4.6. Pollen profile from Lago Ararı´ in east-central Marajo´ showing

fluctuations in the extent of forest during the past 7000 years. 130

4.7. Postulated distribution of rainforest with a reduction of 40% in

annual rainfall. 133

4.8. Maximum and minimum water level of the Amazon at Manaus

between 1902 and 1985 (meters above mean sea level). 135

4.9. Locations of rock shelters and isolated projectile points in

relation to the distribution of forest vegetation during the

Late Pleistocene. 137

4.10. Discontinuities in well-dated ceramic sequences from lowland

Bolivia (Llanos de Mojos), the central Amazon (Silves/Uatuma˜

and Lower Xingu), and the mouth of the Amazon (Marajo´). 140

4.11. Present distributions of the principal lowland language phyla. 141

4.12. South American distributions of tripod and tetrapod racks for

roasting meat. 142

5.1. The geologic time scale compared with the time scale for

Mesoamerican prehistory. 159

xiv List of Figures