Book contents
- Quaternary of the Levant
- Quaternary of the Levant
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- 1 The Quaternary of the Levant
- Part I: The Evolution of Current Landscapes and Basins
- Part II: Palaeoclimates
- Part III: Archaeology of Human Evolution
- Part IV: Palaeoecology
- Part V: Quaternary Geomorphology
- Part VI: Humans in the Levant
- 59 The Acheulian of the Levant
- 60 The Palaeolithic Sequence in Southeast Turkey
- 61 Lower and Middle Palaeolithic of Lebanon
- 62 The Lower Palaeolithic of Syria
- 63 The Lower Palaeolithic of Jordan
- 64 The Middle Palaeolithic of Southern Jordan
- 65 Middle Palaeolithic Open-Air Sites
- 66 A Hominid ‘Archetype’
- 67 Neanderthals and Modern Humans in the Levant: An Overview
- 68 Human Fossils from the Upper Palaeolithic through the Early Holocene
- 69 The Initial Upper Palaeolithic in the Levant
- 70 The Upper Palaeolithic in Cisjordan
- 71 The Early and Middle Epipalaeolithic of Cisjordan
- 72 The Early Epipalaeolithic in the Eastern Levant
- 73 The Upper and Epipalaeolithic of Southern Jordan
- 74 The Upper and Epipalaeolithic of the Azraq Basin, Jordan
- 75 Late Quaternary Refugia, Aggregations, and Palaeoenvironments in the Azraq Basin, Jordan
- 76 The Epipalaeolithic and Pre-Pottery Neolithic of Lebanon
- 77 The Natufian Culture
- 78 The Natufian Period in Syria
- 79 Natufian and Early Neolithic in the Black Desert, Eastern Jordan
- 80 The Archaeology of Early Farming in Southeast Turkey
- 81 Early Agriculture in the Southern Levant
- 82 Domesticating Plants in the Near East
- 83 The Neolithic of Southern Jordan
- 84 The Beginning of Animal Domestication and Husbandry in Southwest Asia
- 85 Environmental Change and Society in Holocene Prehistory
- Index
- Plate section
- References
85 - Environmental Change and Society in Holocene Prehistory
from Part VI: - Humans in the Levant
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 May 2017
Book contents
- Quaternary of the Levant
- Quaternary of the Levant
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- 1 The Quaternary of the Levant
- Part I: The Evolution of Current Landscapes and Basins
- Part II: Palaeoclimates
- Part III: Archaeology of Human Evolution
- Part IV: Palaeoecology
- Part V: Quaternary Geomorphology
- Part VI: Humans in the Levant
- 59 The Acheulian of the Levant
- 60 The Palaeolithic Sequence in Southeast Turkey
- 61 Lower and Middle Palaeolithic of Lebanon
- 62 The Lower Palaeolithic of Syria
- 63 The Lower Palaeolithic of Jordan
- 64 The Middle Palaeolithic of Southern Jordan
- 65 Middle Palaeolithic Open-Air Sites
- 66 A Hominid ‘Archetype’
- 67 Neanderthals and Modern Humans in the Levant: An Overview
- 68 Human Fossils from the Upper Palaeolithic through the Early Holocene
- 69 The Initial Upper Palaeolithic in the Levant
- 70 The Upper Palaeolithic in Cisjordan
- 71 The Early and Middle Epipalaeolithic of Cisjordan
- 72 The Early Epipalaeolithic in the Eastern Levant
- 73 The Upper and Epipalaeolithic of Southern Jordan
- 74 The Upper and Epipalaeolithic of the Azraq Basin, Jordan
- 75 Late Quaternary Refugia, Aggregations, and Palaeoenvironments in the Azraq Basin, Jordan
- 76 The Epipalaeolithic and Pre-Pottery Neolithic of Lebanon
- 77 The Natufian Culture
- 78 The Natufian Period in Syria
- 79 Natufian and Early Neolithic in the Black Desert, Eastern Jordan
- 80 The Archaeology of Early Farming in Southeast Turkey
- 81 Early Agriculture in the Southern Levant
- 82 Domesticating Plants in the Near East
- 83 The Neolithic of Southern Jordan
- 84 The Beginning of Animal Domestication and Husbandry in Southwest Asia
- 85 Environmental Change and Society in Holocene Prehistory
- Index
- Plate section
- References
Summary
The Holocene saw both a significant reduction in the scale of climatic and environmental change relative to the Pleistocene, as well as major technological and social developments enhancing human adaptations. Human groups increasingly managed and engineered their environments, ultimately resulting in greater reliance on food production rather than collection, with the effect of both enhancing food security in times of climatic stability and increasing vulnerability in times of unpredictable climate change. Demographic growth increased risk from such changes. Holocene prehistory includes the development of early village foragers using low-level cultivation of cereals through more complex village societies more dependent upon food production. Understanding the culture-environment dynamic requires fine resolution reconstructions of both the environmental and the historical circumstances, chronological and geographical; global perspectives will not suffice. The ability of human groups to adapt to changing environments and buffer themselves against risk by actively constructing their environments is embedded in their specific social structures and technologies.
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- Quaternary of the LevantEnvironments, Climate Change, and Humans, pp. 761 - 766Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2017
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