Archaeological assessment reveals Earth's early transformation through land use
| Authors |
STEPHENS Lucas FULLER Dorian BOIVIN Nicole RICK Torben GAUTHIER Nicolas KAY Andrea MARWICK Ben ARMSTRONG Chelsey Geralda Denise BARTON C. Michae DENHAM Tim DOUGLASS Kristina DRIVER Jonathan JANZ Lisa ROBERTS Patrick ROGERS J. Daniel THAKAR Heather ALTAWEEL Mark JOHNSON Amber L. VATTUONE Maria Marta ALDENDERFER Mark ARCHILA Sonia ARTIOLI Gilberto BALE Martin T. BEACH Timothy BORRELL Ferran BRAJE Todd BUCKLAND Philip I. CANO Nayeli Guadalupe CAPRILES Jose M. CASTILLO Agustin Diez CILINGIROGLU Ciler CLEARY Michelle Negus CONOLLY James COUTROS Peter R. COVEY R. Alan CREMASCHI Mauro CROWTHER Alison DER Lindsay DI LERNIA Savino DOERSHUK John F. DOOLITTLE William E. EDWARDS Kevin J. ERLANDSON Jon M. EVANS Damian FAIRBAIRN Andrew FAULKNER Patrick FEINMAN Gary NEVES FERNANDES Luis Ricardo FITZPATRICK Scott M. FYFE Ralph GARCEA Elena GOLDSTEIN Steve GOODMAN Reed Charles GUEDES Jade Dalpoim HERRMANN Jason HISCOCK Peter HOMMEL Peter HORSBURGH K. Ann HRITZ Carrie IVES John W. JUNNO Aripekka KAHN Jennifer G. KAUFMAN Brett KEARNS Catherine KIDDER Tristram R. LANOE Francois LAWRENCE Dan LEE Gyoung-Ah LEVIN Maureece J. LINDSKOUG Henrik B. LOPEZ-SAEZ Jose Antonio MACRAE Scott MARCHANT Rob MARSTON John M. MCCLURE Sarah MCCOY Mark D. MILLER Alicia Ventresca MORRISON Michael MATUZEVICIUTE Giedre Motuzaite MULLER Johannes NAYAK Ayushi NOERWIDI Sofwan PERES Tanya M. PETERSON Christian E. PROCTOR Lucas RANDALL Asa R. RENETTE Steve SCHUG Gwen Robbins RYZEWSKI Krysta SAINI Rakesh SCHEINSOHN Vivian SCHMIDT Peter SEBILLAUD Pauline SEITSONEN Oula SIMPSON Ian A SOLTYSIAK Arkadiusz SPEAKMAN Robert J. SPENGLER Robert N. STEFFEN Martina L. STOROZUM Michael J. STRICKLAND Keir M. THOMPSON Jessica THURSTON T. L. ULM Sean USTUNKAYA M. Cemre WELKER Martin H. WEST Catherine WILLIAMS Patrick Ryan WRIGHT David K. WRIGHT Nathan ZAHIR Muhammad ZERBONI Andrea BEAUDOIN Ella GARCIA Santiago Munevar POWELL Jeremy THORNTON Alexa KAPLAN Jed O. GAILLARD Marie-Jose GOLDEWIJK Kees Klein ELLIS Erle |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2019 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Science |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | Journal page |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aax1192 |
| Keywords | archaeology; landuse |
| Description | Environmentally transformative human use of land accelerated with the emergence of agriculture, but the extent, trajectory, and implications of these early changes are not well understood. An empirical global assessment of land use from 10,000 years before the present (yr B.P.) to 1850 CE reveals a planet largely transformed by hunter-gatherers, farmers, and pastoralists by 3000 years ago, considerably earlier than the dates in the land-use reconstructions commonly used by Earth scientists. Synthesis of knowledge contributed by more than 250 archaeologists highlighted gaps in archaeological expertise and data quality, which peaked for 2000 yr B.P. and in traditionally studied and wealthier regions. Archaeological reconstruction of global land-use history illuminates the deep roots of Earth's transformation and challenges the emerging Anthropocene paradigm that large-scale anthropogenic global environmental change is mostly a recent phenomenon. |