Human forager response to abrupt climate change at 8.2 ka on the Atlantic coast of Europe
García-Escárzaga, Asier (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Gutiérrez-Zugasti, Igor (Universidad de Cantabria. Instituto Internacional de Investigaciones Prehistóricas de Cantabria)
Marín-Arroyo, Ana B. (University of Cambridge. Department of Archaeology)
Fernandes, Ricardo (Masaryk University)
Núñez de la Fuente, Sara (Universidad de Cantabria. Instituto Internacional de Investigaciones Prehistóricas de Cantabria)
Cuenca-Solana, David (Université de Rennes)
Iriarte, Eneko (Universidad de Burgos. Laboratorio de Evolución Humana)
Simões, Carlos (Universidade do Algarve)
Martín-Chivelet, Javier (Universidad Complutense de Madrid)
González-Morales, Manuel R. (Universidad de Cantabria. Instituto Internacional de Investigaciones Prehistóricas de Cantabria)
Roberts, Patrick (University of Queensland. School of Social Sciences)
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Prehistòria

Date:	2022
Abstract:	The cooling and drying associated with the so-called '8. 2 ka event' have long been hypothesized as having sweeping implications for human societies in the Early Holocene, including some of the last Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in Atlantic Europe. Nevertheless, detailed 'on-site' records with which the impacts of broader climate changes on human-relevant environments can be explored have been lacking. Here, we reconstruct sea surface temperatures (SST) from δ 18 O values measured on subfossil topshells Phorcus lineatus exploited by the Mesolithic human groups that lived at El Mazo cave (N Spain) between 9 and 7. 4 ka. Bayesian modelling of 65 radiocarbon dates, in combination with this δ 18 O data, provide a high-resolution seasonal record of SST, revealing that colder SST during the 8. 2 ka event led to changes in the availability of different shellfish species. Intensification in the exploitation of molluscs by humans indicates demographic growth in these Atlantic coastal settings which acted as refugia during this cold event.
Grants:	Agencia Estatal de Investigación HAR2016-75605-R Agencia Estatal de Investigación HAR2017-86262-P Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2020/BP-00240 European Commission 818299
Note:	Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Palaeoclimate ; Behavioural ecology ; Archaeology
Published in:	Scientific reports, Vol. 12 (May 2022) , art. 6481, ISSN 2045-2322

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-10135-w
PMID: 35444222

13 p, 2.5 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles