Archaeological assessment reveals Earth’s early transformation through land use

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dc.contributorBeach, Timothy
dc.creatorStephens, Lucas
dc.creatorEllis, Erle
dc.date.accessioned2021-01-16T22:40:56Z
dc.date.available2021-01-16T22:40:56Z
dc.date.issued2019-08-30
dc.descriptionHumans began to leave lasting impacts on Earth's surface starting 10,000 to 8000 years ago. Through a synthetic collaboration with archaeologists around the globe, Stephens et al. compiled a comprehensive picture of the trajectory of human land use worldwide during the Holocene (see the Perspective by Roberts). Hunter-gatherers, farmers, and pastoralists transformed the face of Earth earlier and to a greater extent than has been widely appreciated, a transformation that was essentially global by 3000 years before the present.en_US
dc.description.abstractEnvironmentally transformative human use of land accelerated with the emergence of agriculture, but the extent, trajectory, and implications of these early changes are not well understood. An empirical global assessment of land use from 10,000 years before the present (yr B.P.) to 1850 CE reveals a planet largely transformed by hunter-gatherers, farmers, and pastoralists by 3000 years ago, considerably earlier than the dates in the land-use reconstructions commonly used by Earth scientists. Synthesis of knowledge contributed by more than 250 archaeologists highlighted gaps in archaeological expertise and data quality, which peaked for 2000 yr B.P. and in traditionally studied and wealthier regions. Archaeological reconstruction of global land-use history illuminates the deep roots of Earth’s transformation and challenges the emerging Anthropocene paradigm that large-scale anthropogenic global environmental change is mostly a recent phenomenon.en_US
dc.description.departmentOffice of the VP for Researchen_US
dc.identifier.doi10.1126/science.aax1192
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2152/84296
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.26153/tsw/11284
dc.publisherScienceen_US
dc.relation.ispartofPlanet Texas 2050 - Published Researchen_US
dc.rights.restrictionOpenen_US
dc.subjectland useen_US
dc.subjectHoloceneen_US
dc.subjectarchaeologyen_US
dc.titleArchaeological assessment reveals Earth’s early transformation through land useen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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