Liu, D’Alpoim Guedes, and Co-authors Study changes in Prehistoric Wood Procurement in Northern China
Posted: 4/11/2024 (CSDE Research)
CSDE Affiliate Jade D’Alpoim Guedes (Anthropology) released a study with co-authors in Quaternary Science Reviews, entitled “Changes in prehistoric wood procurement strategies in Northern China from 6500 – 2000 BP. Evidence for human preferential harvesting in the face of climatic change“. The article was lead-authored by Liu Fengwen from Yunnan University in China. In the past, humans have adapted their strategies of wood collection to shifts in the surrounding environment. Shifts in wood procurement strategies have been assumed to have been heavily influenced by changes in biomes due to shifts in climate. In these models, wood found on archaeological sites is interpreted as being representative of the surrounding environment. Around the world there is an increasing recognition that human preferences and management strategies impacted forest composition and species harvesting. Authors evaluated charcoal data gathered from 92 archaeological sites in northern China, with chronologies spanning the period from 6500 BP to 2000 BP. By combining the results of the analysis with published paleoenvironment records and archaeological evidence, we aimed to determine when and how there was an anthropogenic impact on wood procurement strategies.