Impact of Pleistocene–Holocene climate shifts on vegetation and fire dynamics and its implications for Prearchaic humans in the central Great Basin, USA

ABSTRACT The effects of climate change during the Terminal Pleistocene–Early Holocene transition on ecosystems and early Prearchaic hunter‐gatherers in the central Great Basin of North America are not well understood. We present a palynological reconstruction of regional vegetation and fire history...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of quaternary science Vol. 35; no. 8; pp. 987 - 993
Main Authors Brugger, Sandra Olivia, Rhode, David
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Chichester Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.11.2020
Subjects
Artemisia steppe
Climate and vegetation
Climate change
Climate effects
Desert vegetation
Drought
Drying
Environmental changes
Grass Valley
Holocene
Holocene climates
Hydrology
Local climates
microcharcoal
palynology
Pinus
Pinus woodlands
Pleistocene
Vegetation
Wetlands
Woodlands
Great Basin
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Summary:ABSTRACT The effects of climate change during the Terminal Pleistocene–Early Holocene transition on ecosystems and early Prearchaic hunter‐gatherers in the central Great Basin of North America are not well understood. We present a palynological reconstruction of regional vegetation and fire history in Grass Valley, central Nevada, from ~14 to ~7.5k cal a BP showing that Pinus‐dominated woodlands were replaced by dry‐adapted steppe and desert vegetation accompanied by an increase in regional fire activity at the beginning of the Holocene, in response to summer warming and a drying climate. Following a severe drought period peaking ~10.2–9.3k cal a BP, Pinus woodlands partially recovered contemporaneously with the 8.2k cal a BP climate anomaly. Local wetlands provided important resource patches for human foraging societies, and periodic declines of wetlands in response to changing local hydrological conditions may have necessitated adjustments in subsistence and settlement practices and technology.
Bibliography:The two authors contributed equally to this study.
ISSN:0267-8179
1099-1417
DOI:10.1002/jqs.3248