Lake Deposits

Abstract

Lake deposits act as natural archives of past environmental changes. The study of lake sediments, or paleolimnology, can complement archaeological investigations because the environmental consequences of prior human activities (e.g., agriculture, metallurgy, land clearance) are preserved in lacustrine deposits. Moreover, paleolimnology can be used to reconstruct past climatic conditions under which previous cultures flourished or declined, providing an ecological context to help interpret sociopolitical change. Typically, archaeologists have used paleolimnological approaches to supplement their studies by: (1) tracking the impacts of ancient cultures on the local environment (e.g., eutrophication, erosion); (2) determining the activities and cultural practices of past civilizations (e.g., agriculture, mining); (3) directly tracking the presence/absence of humans using unequivocal indicators such as tiny artifacts (e.g., microdebitage) or distinct biomarkers (e.g., fecal steroids); and (4) obtaining a holistic reconstruction of climate and catchment‐related changes, as well as food availability and water quality/quantity, providing an environmental context to the growth and decline of past cultures.