The Role of Climate in Settlement and Landscape Change in the North Atlantic Islands

An Assessment of Cumulative Deviations in High-Resolution Proxy Climate Records

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2057009
AutoresAndrew J Dugmore, Andrew Dugmore (0000-0001-6556-717X, University of Edinburgh, autor de correspondencia), Douglas M Borthwick, Douglas Borthwick (University of Aberdeen), Mike J Church (0000-0001-7908-7812, University of Edinburgh), Alastair G Dawson (0000-0003-4220-9921, University of Aberdeen), Alastair Dawson, Kevin J Edwards (0000-0002-7205-066X, University of Aberdeen), Christian Keller (0000-0003-2041-8204, University of Oslo), Paul Mayewski, Paul A Mayewski (0000-0002-3360-763X, University of Maine), Thomas H Mcgovern (City University of New York), Kerry-Anne Mairs (University of Edinburgh), Guðrún Sveinbjarnardóttir (University College London)
Año2007
Volumen35
Número2
Páginas169-178
Fecha de publicación2007-03-20
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaHuman Ecology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0300-7839 • E-ISSN: 1572-9915
EditorialSpringer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1007/s10745-006-9051-z
OpenAlexW2010555666
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas33
Referencias citadas29

In order to assess possible contributions of climate change to the human ecology of the Faroe Islands, proxy climate data from the Greenland Icesheet Project 2 (GISP2) are evaluated in relation to settlement and landscape \nchanges in the Faroes and other North Atlantic islands. Our aim is to identify \ntimes of unpredictable change in the context of cultural and environmental \n'memories'. A pan-Atlantic perspective is used to assess the utility of \ncumulative deviations from the mean, calculated for the Greenland \npalaeotemperature proxy record (GISP2 δ180), the storm frequency proxy \n(GISP2 Na+) and the extent of sea ice proxy (GISP2 Chloride excess). Key \nchanges are identified in the proxy climate records around 975/980 AD, \n1025/1040 AD, 1180 AD, 1425/1450 AD, 1520/1525 AD. These changes are \nconsistent with those inferred from new studies of the palaeoecological record \nof the Faroes. This indicates that the cumulative deviation measure could give \ngreatest prominence to the most important climate changes affecting \nlandscapes and settlement (such as the 'turnover' period of the 15th century \nand its immediate aftermath), rather than the period of the greatest cold (the 18th century

Archaeology · Climate change · Climatology · Context (archaeology · Cumulative effects · Geography · Ice core · Paleoclimatology · Physical geography · Proxy (statistics · Storm · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Environmental Science · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena · Ecology · Geology · Oceanography