Human responses to early Holocene climate variability in eastern Fennoscandia

Type Article
Date 2018-01
Language English
Author(s) Manninen Mikael A.ORCID1, Tallavaara Miikka2, Seppa HeikkiORCID2
Affiliation(s) 1 : Univ Oslo, Dept Archaeol, Museum Cultural Hist, POB 6762, NO-0130 Oslo, Norway.
2 : Univ Helsinki, Dept Geosci & Geog, POB 64, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland.
Source Quaternary International (1040-6182) (Pergamon-elsevier Science Ltd), 2018-01 , Vol. 465 , N. Part B , P. 287-297
DOI 10.1016/j.quaint.2017.08.043
WOS© Times Cited 15
Note Part of special issue: Impacts of gradual and abrupt environmental changes on Late glacial to Middle Holocene cultural changes in Europe
Abstract

In eastern Fennoscandia numerous biological and physical proxy records provide ample evidence of Holocene climate-environment dynamics. The region therefore has great promise for studies concentrating on the impacts of past climate change on human populations in the early Holocene, that is, in the period that saw the beginning of postglacial human dispersal into the area. Here we provide a brief overview of the high and low frequency climate changes indicated by different proxy records in Finland and nearby areas in eastern Fennoscandia, and discuss the archaeological evidence for human responses to abrupt climate-related environmental change and low-frequency climate trends. The clearest archaeologically visible event-like responses seem to derive from ecotonal regions, i.e., the forestetundra or coastal regions and suggest a correlation between ecological "hinge-regions" and the archaeologically clearest signs of hunter-gatherer responses to climate stress. However, the evidence of the abrupt climate events is often ambiguous and their influence on early Holocene human populations remains equivocal.

Full Text
File Pages Size Access
11 1 MB Access on demand
Author's final draft 22 2 MB Open access
Top of the page