The archaeology of climate change: The case for cultural diversity

Abstract

Anthropogenic climate change is currently driving environmental transformation on a scale and at a pace that exceeds historical records. This represents an undeniably serious challenge to existing social, political, and economic systems. Humans have successfully faced similar challenges in the past, however. The archaeological record and Earth archives offer rare opportunities to observe the complex interaction between environmental and human systems under different climate regimes and at different spatial and temporal scales. The archaeology of climate change offers opportunities to identify the factors that promoted human resilience in the past and apply the knowledge gained to the present, contributing a much-needed, long-term perspective to climate research. One of the strengths of the archaeological record is the cultural diversity it encompasses, which offers alternatives to the solutions proposed from within the Western agro-industrial complex, which might not be viable cross-culturally. While contemporary climate discourse focuses on the importance of biodiversity, we highlight the importance of cultural diversity as a source of resilience.

Climate change research and action must look beyond 2100

“…Our climate, heat stress, and agricultural projections parallel work that suggests climate increasingly drives global and regional human dispersal (Burke et al, 2021;Chen & Caldeira, 2020), especially from the heat-stressed tropics where habitability and crop suitability may be reduced. The scale of change we project over the coming centuries, especially under RCPs 4.5 and 6.0, will therefore necessitate more cooperative and collaborative approaches to global mobility to accommodate substantial human movement from less habitable regions (Adger et al, 2020).…”

“…This nested anticipatory approach (Boyd et al, 2015;Muiderman et al, 2020) to adaptive governance would accommodate rapid events, such as floods and droughts, within slower-moving changes to temperature, sea-level, crops, and biodiversity. Projections of climate and Earth system changes beyond 2100 inform these longer-term approaches, helping to ensure changes to ecosystems and their resources are adequately managed to sustain human survival (Bennett, 2017;Burke et al, 2021).…”

Twenty‐first century bioarchaeology: Taking stock and moving forward

“…As defined by Holling (1973, p. 14), resilience “is a measure of the persistence of systems and of their ability to absorb change and disturbance and still maintain the same relationships between populations or state variables.” Importantly, resilience does not necessarily mean stability—systems can be modified. Butzer's (2012) treatment, cited in at least one policy paper (World Health Organization, 2017), focuses upon collapse but in the context of a resilience model that emphasizes the significance of cultural identity, as Burke et al (2021) and Temple and Stojanowski (2019a) subsequently advocated. In parallel to an emphasis upon ecological diversity as an attribute associated with resilience, Burke et al (2021) emphasize the importance of cultural diversity in promoting resilience in human systems.…”

“…Biodistance and mobility studies are not commonly included in this work, although they are sometimes added later but not really integrated into the research design. This may be changing, however, (e.g., Furholt's, 2019a, polythetic approach, Burke et al, 2021). More anthropologically satisfying, at the other end of the scale, is an earlier study of people also associated with the third millennium BCE Corded Ware Culture (Haak et al, 2008).…”

“…Butzer's (2012) treatment, cited in at least one policy paper (World Health Organization, 2017), focuses upon collapse but in the context of a resilience model that emphasizes the significance of cultural identity, as Burke et al (2021) and Temple and Stojanowski (2019a) subsequently advocated. In parallel to an emphasis upon ecological diversity as an attribute associated with resilience, Burke et al (2021) emphasize the importance of cultural diversity in promoting resilience in human systems.…”