Abstract
Recent studies have suggested that the first arrival of humans in the Americas during the end of the last Ice Age is associated with marked anthropogenic influences on landscape; in particular, with the use of fire which, would have given even small populations the ability to have broad impacts on the landscape. Understanding the impact of these early people is complicated by the dramatic changes in climate occurring with the shift from glacial to interglacial conditions. Despite these difficulties, we here attempt to test the extent of anthropogenic influence using the California Channel Islands as a smaller, landscape-scale test bed. These islands are famous for the discovery of the ‘Arlington Springs Man’, which are some of the earliest human remains in the Americas. A unifying sedimentary charcoal record is presented from Arlington Canyon, Santa Rosa Island, based on over 20 detailed sedimentary sections from eight key localities. Radiocarbon dating was based on thin, fragile, long fragments of charcoal in order to avoid the ‘inbuilt’ age problem. Radiocarbon dating of 49 such fragments has allowed inferences regarding the fire and landscape history of the Canyon ca 19–11 ka BP. A significant period of charcoal deposition is identified approximately 14–12.5 ka BP and bears remarkable closeness to an estimated age range of the first human arrival on the islands.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 20150167 |
| Journal | Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
| Volume | 371 |
| Issue number | 1696 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 5 2016 |
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Keywords
- Arlington springs man
- Charcoal
- Fire
- Landscape history
- Radiocarbon dating
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)
Cite this
Fire history on the California Channel islands spanning human arrival in the Americas. / Hardiman, Mark; Scott, Andrew C.; Pinter, Nicholas; Anderson, Scott R; Ejarque, Ana; Carter-Champion, Alice; Staff, Richard A.
In: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Vol. 371, No. 1696, 20150167, 05.06.2016.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Fire history on the California Channel islands spanning human arrival in the Americas
AU - Hardiman, Mark
AU - Scott, Andrew C.
AU - Pinter, Nicholas
AU - Anderson, Scott R
AU - Ejarque, Ana
AU - Carter-Champion, Alice
AU - Staff, Richard A.
PY - 2016/6/5
Y1 - 2016/6/5
N2 - Recent studies have suggested that the first arrival of humans in the Americas during the end of the last Ice Age is associated with marked anthropogenic influences on landscape; in particular, with the use of fire which, would have given even small populations the ability to have broad impacts on the landscape. Understanding the impact of these early people is complicated by the dramatic changes in climate occurring with the shift from glacial to interglacial conditions. Despite these difficulties, we here attempt to test the extent of anthropogenic influence using the California Channel Islands as a smaller, landscape-scale test bed. These islands are famous for the discovery of the ‘Arlington Springs Man’, which are some of the earliest human remains in the Americas. A unifying sedimentary charcoal record is presented from Arlington Canyon, Santa Rosa Island, based on over 20 detailed sedimentary sections from eight key localities. Radiocarbon dating was based on thin, fragile, long fragments of charcoal in order to avoid the ‘inbuilt’ age problem. Radiocarbon dating of 49 such fragments has allowed inferences regarding the fire and landscape history of the Canyon ca 19–11 ka BP. A significant period of charcoal deposition is identified approximately 14–12.5 ka BP and bears remarkable closeness to an estimated age range of the first human arrival on the islands.
AB - Recent studies have suggested that the first arrival of humans in the Americas during the end of the last Ice Age is associated with marked anthropogenic influences on landscape; in particular, with the use of fire which, would have given even small populations the ability to have broad impacts on the landscape. Understanding the impact of these early people is complicated by the dramatic changes in climate occurring with the shift from glacial to interglacial conditions. Despite these difficulties, we here attempt to test the extent of anthropogenic influence using the California Channel Islands as a smaller, landscape-scale test bed. These islands are famous for the discovery of the ‘Arlington Springs Man’, which are some of the earliest human remains in the Americas. A unifying sedimentary charcoal record is presented from Arlington Canyon, Santa Rosa Island, based on over 20 detailed sedimentary sections from eight key localities. Radiocarbon dating was based on thin, fragile, long fragments of charcoal in order to avoid the ‘inbuilt’ age problem. Radiocarbon dating of 49 such fragments has allowed inferences regarding the fire and landscape history of the Canyon ca 19–11 ka BP. A significant period of charcoal deposition is identified approximately 14–12.5 ka BP and bears remarkable closeness to an estimated age range of the first human arrival on the islands.
KW - Arlington springs man
KW - Charcoal
KW - Fire
KW - Landscape history
KW - Radiocarbon dating
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84969590996&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84969590996&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1098/rstb.2015.0167
DO - 10.1098/rstb.2015.0167
M3 - Article
VL - 371
JO - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
JF - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
SN - 0800-4622
IS - 1696
M1 - 20150167
ER -