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 BP to 1850 CE reveals a planet largely transformed by hunter-gatherers, farmers and pastoralists by 3,000 years ago, significantly earlier than land-use reconstructions commonly used by Earth scientists. Synthesis of knowledge contributed by over 250 archaeologists highlighted gaps in archaeological expertise and data quality, which peaked at 2000 BP 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.One Sentence Summary: A map of synthesized archaeological knowledge on land use reveals a planet largely transformed by hunter-gatherers, farmers and pastoralists by 3,000 years ago.

The results of this study support the hypothesis that, with respect to traumatic injury risk, low-intensity farming is a risk-averse subsistence strategy in comparison with full-time foraging or high-intensity agriculture. These data suggest that it is not agriculture per se that predicts an increase in this health risk, but rather the mode and intensity of agricultural production, findings that have important ramifications for our understanding of the health consequences of major subsistence transitions.

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Early British generals faced serious challenges in delivering and storing sufficient provisions for 18 th century British soldiers and colonial militia. This analysis investigates the influence of developed road systems that facilitated delivery of provisions and resulted in distinctive dietary patterning. The comparison of faunal data from forts located on major road systems with frontier garrisons and associated Native American villages like Fort Shirley and Aughwick Old Town, a short-lived (1754-1756) French and Indian War frontier fortification in central Pennsylvania, indicates a significantly reduced reliance on domestic livestock at these more inaccessible locations. These results suggest that road infrastructure heavily influenced military provisioning, encouraged adaptation to frontier living through reliance on wild game, and resulted in varied dietary practices at military installations in eastern North America.

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