Oak charcoal from northeastern Syria as proxy for vegetation, land use and climate in the second half of the Holocene

δ13C values in archaeological 14C‐AMS dated charcoals: Assessing mid‐Holocene climate fluctuations and human response from a high‐resolution isotope record (Arslantepe, Turkey)

“…This suggests marked effects of climate fluctuations on the regional environments. Interestingly, oak charcoal remains from the north Syrian sites display the highest and lowest Δ 13 C values during LC 5 in strict accordance with the Arslantepe juniper signals from the same timespan (Figure ). As in regions not subject to a karst system, the oaks trend are in agreement with the juniper one, this is further evidence of the anomaly of the deciduous oaks curve at Arslantepe.…”

“…Comparison between Near Eastern palaeoclimate proxies. From top to bottom: Δ 13 C mean values with standard errors of Arslantepe deciduous oak and juniper charcoal remains; δ 18 O values from Gölhisar Lake; δ 18 O values from Eski Acıgöl Lake; δ 13 C values from Lake Hazar; fluvial sedimentation phases from Upper Tigris valley; δ 18 O and Pistacia pollen % values from Lake Van; Δ 13 C mean values of deciduous oak charcoals from northern Syria sites; δ 18 O values from Soreq Cave speleothem; high‐water level of Dead Sea basin . Shaded rectangles and vertical dotted lines indicate the Rapid Climate Changes (RCC dry events) as singled out and described by Mayeski et al [Color figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]…”

“…Indeed the physiological relation between stable carbon isotopes in fossil plants and atmospheric humidity has widely been used as a tool for the inference on the “free‐from‐human‐influence” palaeoclimate . In recent years, several researchers have helped to clarify topics such as precipitation regime, rainfall seasonality, irrigation practices, land use and the impact of human activities …”

Taming Trees, Shaping Forests, and Managing Woodlands as Resources for Understanding Past Societies. Contributions and Current Limits of Dendro-Anthracology and Anthraco-Isotopy

“…Since then, archaeobotanical paleoenvironmental studies using δ 13 C values determined on wood charcoal fragments have proliferated (review in Fiorentino et al, 2015). The only studies combining dendro-anthracology and stable carbon isotopes were carried out in Syria by Deckers (2016) and in France by Baton et al (2017). In Baton et al (2017), we tested the relevance of a seasonality index in a well-documented archeological context: 13 C seasonality = δ 13 C earlywood − δ 13 C latewood .…”

Early Urbanism in Northern Mesopotamia

“…The Wadi Jaghjagh, for example, central to the Upper Khabur drainage, flowed year-round during the fourth millennium BC and supported beds of reeds and stands of poplar, willow, tamarisk, and ash trees (Charles et al 2010;Deckers and Riehl 2007). The presence of oak woodland throughout most of the Upper Khabur has been suggested by analysis of archaeological charcoal and borehole profiles along the Wadi Jaghjagh, which additionally reflect a strong discharge rate in the mid-fourth millennium BC (Deckers 2011(Deckers , 2016. The north's topographic setting is relatively stable; wadis meander, but this is negligible when contrasted to the alluviation, flooding, and river shifts suffered in the south.…”