Human forager response to abrupt climate change at 8.2 ka on the Atlantic coast of Europe
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2022 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | SCIENTIFIC REPORTS |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-10135-w |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-10135-w |
| Keywords | Lineatus Da Costa; Pleistocene-Holocene Transition; Oxygen-isotope analysis; Northern Iberia; Younger Dryas; Cold Event; BP; Temperature; Population; Shells |
| Description | 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 delta O-18 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 delta O-18 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. |