Climate induced human demographic and cultural change in northern Europe during the mid-Holocene
Warden, L.; Moros, M.; Neumann, T.; Shennan, S.; Timpson, A.; Manning, K.; Sollai, M.; Wacker, L.; Perner, K.; Häusler, K.; Leipe, T.; Zillén, L.; Kotilainen, A.; Jansen, E.; Schneider, R.R.; Oeberst, R.; Arz, H.; Sinninghe Damste, J.S. (2017). Climate induced human demographic and cultural change in northern Europe during the mid-Holocene. NPG Scientific Reports 7(1): 15251. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-14353-5
Additional data:
In: Scientific Reports (Nature Publishing Group). Nature Publishing Group: London. ISSN 2045-2322; e-ISSN 2045-2322, more
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| Authors | | Top |
- Warden, L., more
- Moros, M.
- Neumann, T.
- Shennan, S.
- Timpson, A.
- Manning, K.
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- Sollai, M., more
- Wacker, L.
- Perner, K.
- Häusler, K.
- Leipe, T.
- Zillén, L.
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- Kotilainen, A.
- Jansen, E.
- Schneider, R.R.
- Oeberst, R.
- Arz, H.
- Sinninghe Damste, J.S., more
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| Abstract |
The transition from hunter-gatherer-fisher groups to agrarian societies is arguably the most significantchange in human prehistory. In the European plain there is evidence for fully developed agrariansocieties by 7,500 cal. yr BP, yet a well-established agrarian society does not appear in the north until6,000 cal. yr BP for unknown reasons. Here we show a sudden increase in summer temperature at6,000 cal. yr BP in northern Europe using a well-dated, high resolution record of sea surface temperature(SST) from the Baltic Sea. This temperature rise resulted in hypoxic conditions across the entire Balticsea as revealed by multiple sedimentary records and supported by marine ecosystem modeling.Comparison with summed probability distributions of radiocarbon dates from archaeological sitesindicate that this temperature rise coincided with both the introduction of farming, and a dramaticpopulation increase. The evidence supports the hypothesis that the boundary of farming rapidlyextended north at 6,000 cal. yr BP because terrestrial conditions in a previously marginal regionimproved. |
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