scholarly journals Settlement Abandonment

1972 ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
Nelson Riis
Keyword(s):  
Settlement Abandonment

scholarly journals Evidence of a prolonged drought ca. 4200 yr BP correlated with prehistoric settlement abandonment from the Gueldaman GLD1 Cave, N-Algeria

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 2729-2762 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Ruan ◽  
F. Kherbouche ◽  
D. Genty ◽  
D. Blamart ◽  
H. Cheng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Basin ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Carbon And Oxygen Isotopes ◽  
Proxy Records ◽  
Prolonged Drought ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Paleoclimate Records ◽  
Settlement Abandonment

Abstract. Middle Holocene cultures have been widely studied round the E-Mediterranean basin in the last 30 years and past cultural activities have been commonly linked with regional climate changes. However, in many cases such linkage is equivocal, in part due to existing climatic evidence that has been derived from areas outside the distribution of ancient settlements, leading to uncertainty from complex spatial heterogeneity in both climate and demography. A few high-resolution well-dated paleoclimate records were recently established using speleothems in the Central and E-Mediterranean basin, however, the scarcity of such records in the western part of the Mediterranean prevents us from correlating past climate evolutions across the basin and deciphering climate–culture relation at fine time scales. Here we report the first decadal-resolved Mid-Holocene climate proxy records from the W-Mediterranean basin based on the stable carbon and oxygen isotopes analyses of two U/Th dated stalagmites from the Gueldaman GLD1 Cave in N-Algeria. Comparison of our records with those from Italy and Israel reveals synchronous (multi) centennial dry phases centered at ca. 5600, ca. 5200 and ca. 4200 yr BP across the Mediterranean basin. New calibrated radiocarbon dating constrains reasonably well the age of rich anthropogenic deposits (e.g., faunal remains, pottery, charcoal) excavated inside the cave, which allows the comparison between in situ evidence of human occupation and of climate change. This approach shows that the timing of a prolonged drought at ca. 4400–3800 yr BP blankets the onset of cave abandonment shortly after ca. 4403 cal yr BP, supporting the hypothesis that a climate anomaly may have played a role in this cultural disruption.

The World’s Oldest Tsunami Victim at the Gateway to the Pacific—and Beyond

Tsunami ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 37-48
Author(s):  
James Goff ◽  
Walter Dudley
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Ocean ◽  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Mass Graves ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The World ◽  
The Pacific Ocean ◽  
Settlement Abandonment

The 1998 Papua New Guinea tsunami was a significant puzzle for scientists who finally cracked the cause, but it also marks the most recent event of many that can be dated back to at least 6,000 years ago where the skull of the oldest tsunami victim in the world was found. Papua New Guinea was also the starting point for the most remarkable navigational feat in the world, with Polynesians moving rapidly east into the Pacific Ocean, their settlement of the region being punctuated by hiatuses caused by catastrophic tsunamis approximately 3,000, 2,000, and 600 years ago. It was on isolated Pacific islands that humans first came into contact with the deadly Pacific Ring of Fire. Settlement abandonment, mass graves, and cultural collapse mark their progress.

TILTEPEC YELLOW-WARE CERAMICS FROM CERRO JAZMÍN, OAXACA: A CONTRIBUTION TO THE CERAMIC CHRONOLOGY OF THE MIXTECA ALTA

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 431-440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Verónica Pérez Rodríguez ◽  
Antonio Martínez Tuñón ◽  
Leah Minc ◽  
Laura Stiver Walsh ◽  
Mariana Navarro Rosales
Keyword(s):  
Neutron Activation Analysis ◽  
Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis ◽  
Activation Analysis ◽  
Neutron Activation ◽  
Formative Period ◽  
Classic Period ◽  
Mixteca Alta ◽  
Ceramic Chronology ◽  
Regional Settlement ◽  
Settlement Abandonment

We present new data on a class of ceramics called Tiltepec yellow wares, dated to the Late and Terminal Formative period occupations at Cerro Jazmín, Oaxaca (300 BC– AD 300). Evidence from 27 radiocarbon-dated ceramic assemblages indicates that Tiltepec yellow wares are a distinct ceramic type. Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) results further confirm the wares’ identification. Defining Tiltepec yellow wares as a type apart from Classic-period orange ceramics allows the reassessment of the regional settlement sequence, previously understood to indicate widespread settlement abandonment in the Terminal Formative period. The new data suggest that Cerro Jazmín had a more continuous urban occupation than previously thought.

scholarly journals Precise timing of abrupt increase in dust activity in the Middle East coincident with 4.2 ka social change

2018 ◽  
Vol 116 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacy A. Carolin ◽  
Richard T. Walker ◽  
Christopher C. Day ◽  
Vasile Ersek ◽  
R. Alastair Sloan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Total Duration ◽  
Abrupt Onset ◽  
Striking Similarity ◽  
Threshold Behavior ◽  
Dust Event ◽  
Start Date ◽  
Dust Flux ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Climate Event ◽  
Settlement Abandonment

The extent to which climate change causes significant societal disruption remains controversial. An important example is the decline of the Akkadian Empire in northern Mesopotamia ∼4.2 ka, for which the existence of a coincident climate event is still uncertain. Here we present an Iranian stalagmite record spanning 5.2 ka to 3.7 ka, dated with 25 U/Th ages that provide an average age uncertainty of 31 y (1σ). We find two periods of increased Mg/Ca, beginning abruptly at 4.51 and 4.26 ka, and lasting 110 and 290 y, respectively. Each of these periods coincides with slower vertical stalagmite growth and a gradual increase in stable oxygen isotope ratios. The periods of high Mg/Ca are explained by periods of increased dust flux sourced from the Mesopotamia region, and the abrupt onset of this dustiness indicates threshold behavior in response to aridity. This interpretation is consistent with existing marine and terrestrial records from the broad region, which also suggest that the later, longer event beginning at 4.26 ka is of greater regional extent and/or amplitude. The chronological precision and high resolution of our record indicates that there is no significant difference, at decadal level, between the start date of the second, larger dust event and the timing of North Mesopotamia settlement abandonment, and furthermore reveals striking similarity between the total duration of the second dust event and settlement abandonment. The Iranian record demonstrates this region’s threshold behavior in dust production, and its ability to maintain this climate state for multiple centuries naturally.

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