Early human impacts and ecosystem reorganization in southern-central Africa

J.C. Thompson; D.K. Wright; S.J. Ivory; J.-H. Choi; S. Nightingale; A. Mackay; F. Schilt; E. Otárola-Castillo; J. Mercader; S.L. Forman; T. Pietsch; A.S. Cohen; J.R. Arrowsmith; M. Welling; J. Davis; B. Schiery; P. Kaliba; O. Malijani; M.W. Blome; C.A. O'Driscoll; S.M. Mentzer; C. Miller; S. Heo; J. Choi; J. Tembo; F. Mapemba; D. Simengwa; E. Gomani-Chindebvu

doi:10.1126/sciadv.abf9776

Early human impacts and ecosystem reorganization in southern-central Africa

J.C. Thompson, D.K. Wright, S.J. Ivory, J.-H. Choi, S. Nightingale, A. Mackay, F. Schilt, E. Otárola-Castillo, J. Mercader, S.L. Forman, T. Pietsch, A.S. Cohen, J.R. Arrowsmith, M. Welling, J. Davis, B. Schiery, P. Kaliba, O. Malijani, M.W. Blome, C.A. O'DriscollS.M. Mentzer, C. Miller, S. Heo, J. Choi, J. Tembo, F. Mapemba, D. Simengwa, E. Gomani-Chindebvu

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Abstract

Modern Homo sapiens engage in substantial ecosystem modification, but it is difficult to detect the origins or early consequences of these behaviors. Archaeological, geochronological, geomorphological, and paleoenvironmental data from northern Malawi document a changing relationship between forager presence, ecosystem organization, and alluvial fan formation in the Late Pleistocene. Dense concentrations of Middle Stone Age artifacts and alluvial fan systems formed after ca. 92 thousand years ago, within a paleoecological context with no analog in the preceding half-million-year record. Archaeological data and principal coordinates analysis indicate that early anthropogenic fire relaxed seasonal constraints on ignitions, influencing vegetation composition and erosion. This operated in tandem with climate-driven changes in precipitation to culminate in an ecological transition to an early, pre-agricultural anthropogenic landscape. Copyright © 2021 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC).

Original language	English (US)
Article number	eabf9776
Number of pages	13
Journal	Science Advances
Volume	7
Issue number	19
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abf9776
State	Published - May 21 2021

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Copyright © 2021 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC).

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Thompson, J. C., Wright, D. K., Ivory, S. J., Choi, J-H., Nightingale, S., Mackay, A., Schilt, F., Otárola-Castillo, E., Mercader, J., Forman, S. L., Pietsch, T., Cohen, A. S., Arrowsmith, J. R., Welling, M., Davis, J., Schiery, B., Kaliba, P., Malijani, O., Blome, M. W., ... Gomani-Chindebvu, E. (2021). Early human impacts and ecosystem reorganization in southern-central Africa. Science Advances, 7(19), [eabf9776]. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abf9776

Thompson, JC, Wright, DK, Ivory, SJ, Choi, J-H, Nightingale, S, Mackay, A, Schilt, F, Otárola-Castillo, E, Mercader, J, Forman, SL, Pietsch, T, Cohen, AS, Arrowsmith, JR, Welling, M, Davis, J, Schiery, B, Kaliba, P, Malijani, O, Blome, MW, O'Driscoll, CA, Mentzer, SM, Miller, C, Heo, S, Choi, J, Tembo, J, Mapemba, F, Simengwa, D & Gomani-Chindebvu, E 2021, 'Early human impacts and ecosystem reorganization in southern-central Africa', Science Advances, vol. 7, no. 19, eabf9776. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abf9776

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abstract = "Modern Homo sapiens engage in substantial ecosystem modification, but it is difficult to detect the origins or early consequences of these behaviors. Archaeological, geochronological, geomorphological, and paleoenvironmental data from northern Malawi document a changing relationship between forager presence, ecosystem organization, and alluvial fan formation in the Late Pleistocene. Dense concentrations of Middle Stone Age artifacts and alluvial fan systems formed after ca. 92 thousand years ago, within a paleoecological context with no analog in the preceding half-million-year record. Archaeological data and principal coordinates analysis indicate that early anthropogenic fire relaxed seasonal constraints on ignitions, influencing vegetation composition and erosion. This operated in tandem with climate-driven changes in precipitation to culminate in an ecological transition to an early, pre-agricultural anthropogenic landscape. Copyright {\textcopyright} 2021 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC).",

author = "J.C. Thompson and D.K. Wright and S.J. Ivory and J.-H. Choi and S. Nightingale and A. Mackay and F. Schilt and E. Ot{\'a}rola-Castillo and J. Mercader and S.L. Forman and T. Pietsch and A.S. Cohen and J.R. Arrowsmith and M. Welling and J. Davis and B. Schiery and P. Kaliba and O. Malijani and M.W. Blome and C.A. O'Driscoll and S.M. Mentzer and C. Miller and S. Heo and J. Choi and J. Tembo and F. Mapemba and D. Simengwa and E. Gomani-Chindebvu",

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AU - Pietsch, T.

AU - Cohen, A.S.

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AU - Schiery, B.

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AU - O'Driscoll, C.A.

AU - Mentzer, S.M.

AU - Miller, C.

AU - Heo, S.

AU - Choi, J.

AU - Tembo, J.

AU - Mapemba, F.

AU - Simengwa, D.

AU - Gomani-Chindebvu, E.

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PY - 2021/5/21

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N2 - Modern Homo sapiens engage in substantial ecosystem modification, but it is difficult to detect the origins or early consequences of these behaviors. Archaeological, geochronological, geomorphological, and paleoenvironmental data from northern Malawi document a changing relationship between forager presence, ecosystem organization, and alluvial fan formation in the Late Pleistocene. Dense concentrations of Middle Stone Age artifacts and alluvial fan systems formed after ca. 92 thousand years ago, within a paleoecological context with no analog in the preceding half-million-year record. Archaeological data and principal coordinates analysis indicate that early anthropogenic fire relaxed seasonal constraints on ignitions, influencing vegetation composition and erosion. This operated in tandem with climate-driven changes in precipitation to culminate in an ecological transition to an early, pre-agricultural anthropogenic landscape. Copyright © 2021 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC).

AB - Modern Homo sapiens engage in substantial ecosystem modification, but it is difficult to detect the origins or early consequences of these behaviors. Archaeological, geochronological, geomorphological, and paleoenvironmental data from northern Malawi document a changing relationship between forager presence, ecosystem organization, and alluvial fan formation in the Late Pleistocene. Dense concentrations of Middle Stone Age artifacts and alluvial fan systems formed after ca. 92 thousand years ago, within a paleoecological context with no analog in the preceding half-million-year record. Archaeological data and principal coordinates analysis indicate that early anthropogenic fire relaxed seasonal constraints on ignitions, influencing vegetation composition and erosion. This operated in tandem with climate-driven changes in precipitation to culminate in an ecological transition to an early, pre-agricultural anthropogenic landscape. Copyright © 2021 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC).

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ER -

Early human impacts and ecosystem reorganization in southern-central Africa

Abstract

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