Woodland modification in Bronze and Iron Age central Anatolia: an anthracological signature for the Hittite state?

The exhibition of increasingly intensive and complex niche construction behaviors through time is a key feature of human evolution, culminating in the advanced capacity for ecosystem engineering exhibited by Homo sapiens. A crucial outcome of such behaviors has been the dramatic reshaping of the global biosphere, a transformation whose early origins are increasingly apparent from cumulative archaeological and paleoecological datasets. Such data suggest that, by the Late Pleistocene, humans had begun to engage in activities that have led to alterations in the distributions of a vast array of species across most, if not all, taxonomic groups. Changes to biodiversity have included extinctions, extirpations, and shifts in species composition, diversity, and community structure. We outline key examples of these changes, highlighting findings from the study of new datasets, like ancient DNA (aDNA), stable isotopes, and microfossils, as well as the application of new statistical and computational methods to datasets that have accumulated significantly in recent decades. We focus on four major phases that witnessed broad anthropogenic alterations to biodiversity-the Late Pleistocene global human expansion, the Neolithic spread of agriculture, the era of island colonization, and the emergence of early urbanized societies and commercial networks. Archaeological evidence documents millennia of anthropogenic transformations that have created novel ecosystems around the world. This record has implications for ecological and evolutionary research, conservation strategies, and the maintenance of ecosystem services, pointing to a significant need for broader cross-disciplinary engagement between archaeology and the biological and environmental sciences.biodiversity | extinctions | invasive species | novel ecosystems | Anthropocene The reshaping of global biodiversity is one of the most significant impacts humans have had on Earth's ecosystems. As our planet experiences its sixth "mass extinction event" (1), the effect of anthropogenic landscape modification, habitat fragmentation, overexploitation, and species invasions could not be more apparent (2, 3). These transformations are linked largely to the industrial economies, burgeoning populations, and dense transport networks of contemporary human societies. Accordingly, the humanmediated alteration of species distributions has been characterized as a modern phenomenon with limited, and largely insignificant, historical antecedents. This conventional understanding fails to account for several decades of archaeological, paleoecological, and genetic research that reveal a long and widespread history of human transformation of global biodiversity (4-6). The evolutionary trajectory of Homo sapiens has seen growing capacities for advanced cognition and demographic and geographic expansion, along with an exponential increase in the scope and impact of human niche constructing activities (7) that have culminated in fundamental changes to planetary ecosystems.Drawing upon findings from ...

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“…Archaeological study of wood charcoal points to a decline in tree taxa richness from the Middle Bronze Age to the Late Iron Age (103). By 1000 B.…”

Section: (A) Wheat (Triticum Spp) (B) Sorghum (Sorghum Bicolor) (Cmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological consequences of human niche construction: Examining long-term anthropogenic shaping of global species distributions

Boivin

Zeder

Fuller

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

625

490

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“…This analysis fails to question the veracity of the palynological record as a sound local baseline. As Wright et al (2015) found in Central Anatolia, pollen sequences do not necessarily represent the composition of the local woodland. This analysis also fails to consider the alternative explanations for temporal change in the composition of the local woodland.…”

Section: Case Study 1: French Pyreneesmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…In contrast to Heinz and the Montpellier approach, Asouti et al (2015) and Wright et al (2015) focus on reconstructing the past woodland through anthracology, providing insights into the presence of particular woodland types and proposed distribution. They discuss the dominance of particular species but do not offer percentages of its occurrence in the local woodland.…”

Section: Case Study 1: French Pyreneesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Regime change: an anthracological assessment of fuel selection and management at Madjedbebe (Malakunanja II), Mirarr country, Australia

Carah¹

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Australian anthracology is an informative yet under-developed field despite the fact that it can reveal valuable information about fuel wood selection, anthropogenic woodland management, and the palaeoenvironment. Fuel wood selection and management is assessed through the application of anthracology (wood charcoal analysis) at the rock shelter site of Madjedbebe, Mirarr country, Northern Territory, Australia. Madjedbebe provides a sequence of fourteen hearths unrivalled in Australian anthracology for their number and temporal span (240-7 years cal BP -c.55,000). These hearth charcoals are identified using a bespoke collection of reference woods constructed for this study. Each of the hearths is sampled to 200 fragments of charcoal or 100% of the available charcoal fragments. The Madjedbebe hearths are used to assess hypothesised fuel wood selection strategies including 1) the principle of least effort, 2) localised preferential selection, and 3) non-local selection. This investigation finds fuel wood selection remained locally focused over the past 20,000 years. The inhabitants of Madjedbebe consistently targeted two vegetation communities, openEucalypt woodland and monsoon vine forest for their fuel wood, with minor contributions from a third -Grevillea/Banksia shrubland. There is a clear diachronic change in the taxonomic composition of the hearths from Acacia sp. dominance to increased taxon richness. This shift does not align with any major shifts in climate or woodland composition and is probably due to a change in anthropogenic selection preferences.In addition to assessing fuel wood selection strategies the Madjedbebe charcoal assemblage also allows for the provenance of 'matrix charcoal' (charcoal found in the sedimentary matrix of the site, outside of a defined context) to be determined to some degree. The provenance and therefore interpretative value of matrix charcoal has until now remained uncertain.

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“…A range of statistical tests were utilised including taxonomic richness and diversity as measured by NTAXA, the Shannon-Weiner index of diversity (H'), Shannon's evenness (E), Simpson's dominance (1-D), and Fisher's α. Similarity and difference in faunal composition was analysed using chord distance analysis, and correspondence analysis (CA). These statistics have proven utility for examining similarities and differences in taxonomic composition for archaeological assemblages, including faunal ) and archaeobotanical samples (Wright et al 2015). All statistical analyses reported below were carried out using MNI values for comparability with other Pacific Island assemblages, but it should be noted that statistical analyses of NISP values were tested and revealed similar trends .…”

Section: Statistical Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Archaeomalocological methods, forager decision-making, and intertidal ecosystems: Two millennia of mollusc exploitation on a remote Pacific atoll

Harris¹

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Woodland modification in Bronze and Iron Age central Anatolia: an anthracological signature for the Hittite state?

Cited by 36 publications

References 64 publications

Ecological consequences of human niche construction: Examining long-term anthropogenic shaping of global species distributions

Ecological consequences of human niche construction: Examining long-term anthropogenic shaping of global species distributions

Regime change: an anthracological assessment of fuel selection and management at Madjedbebe (Malakunanja II), Mirarr country, Australia

Archaeomalocological methods, forager decision-making, and intertidal ecosystems: Two millennia of mollusc exploitation on a remote Pacific atoll

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