T59 Rapid Late Quaternary Climate Changes and Human Response in Arid Central Asia (Posters)
CLIMATE CHANGE AND HUMAN ADAPTATION ALONG THE NORTHEASTERN MARGIN OF THE TIBETAN PLATEAU
Paper number: T59-4
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 1:30 PM – 4:30 PM
Authors
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Fahu ChenLanzhou Univ, Lanzhou, N/A
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P. Jeffery BrantinghamUniv of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
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David RhodeDesert Rsch Institute, Reno, NV
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Charles G. OviattKansas State Univ, Manhattan, KS
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Robert L. BettingerUniv of California-Davis, Davis, CA
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Robert G. ElstonUniveristy of Nevada-Reno, Silver City, NV
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Haizhou MaInstitute of Saline Lakes, Xining, N/A
Abstract
Archaeological surveys and test excavations in northwestern China, together with the dating of Tengger Desert lakes and spring bogs, suggests periods of dramatic cultural change are linked to periods of rapid environmental change. Sites dating from as early as 40-50,000 14C years B.P. to as late as the mid-Holocene suggest an increasing adaptation to harsh, high-elevation environments, with successively higher elevations occupied at later intervals. This adaptation to extreme environments appears to have been episodic rather than gradual, with shifts in Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic site locations, tool types, and adaptive strategies occurring in tandem with major changes in climate. Preliminary dating suggests the most intensive use of harsh environments occurred during warmer and wetter interstadials.