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dc.contributor.authorJørgensen, Erlend Kirkeng
dc.contributor.authorRiede, Felix
dc.date.accessioned2020-04-22T07:20:03Z
dc.date.available2020-04-22T07:20:03Z
dc.date.issued2019-07-31
dc.description.abstractUsing multiple archeological and paleoenvironmental proxies, this paper makes the case for a climate-induced convergent catastrophe among the human population of terminal Stone Age Arctic Norway. We show that climatic changes correlate with the termination of the so-called Gressbakken phase (4200–3500 cal BP), and unpack the middle-range mechanisms linking the Gressbakken termination to contemporaneous changes in the biophysical environment. We show that what was a Holocene extreme, and likely volcanically-induced, climate deterioration around 3550 cal BP coincided with a population decline as reflected in the frequency of radiocarbon-dated archeological sites along with major changes in material culture and settlement pattern. Together, these proxies suggest a return to forms of social and economic organization based on lower population densities, higher residential mobility, and reduced locational investments. In establishing the middle-range ecological mechanics mediating these changes into archeologically observable patterns, the results indicate that the Gressbakken termination was the result of a particularly unstable climate period characterized by regional paludification, increased effective precipitation, forest decline, and likely impacts on reindeer populations and their migratory behavior, with drastic human implications. We argue for a convergent catastrophe-scenario in which a series of hardships between 4000 and 3500 cal BP exceeded the adaptive mitigation capabilities of the contemporaneous Arctic Norwegian population. Our study supports the notion that increased sedentism and locational investment actually increases vulnerability in the face of rapid biophysical change and contributes to the growing database of past human ecodynamics that speak to current socio-ecological concerns.en_US
dc.identifier.citationJørgensen, E.K.J.; Riede, F.(2019) Convergent catastrophes and the termination of the Arctic Norwegian Stone Age: A multi-proxy assessment of the demographic and adaptive responses of mid-Holocene collectors to biophysical forcing. <i>The Holocene. 29</i>, (11), 1782-1800. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0959683619862036en_US
dc.identifier.cristinIDFRIDAID 1723894
dc.identifier.doi10.1177/0959683619862036
dc.identifier.issn0959-6836
dc.identifier.issn1477-0911
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10037/18080
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherSage Publishingen_US
dc.relation.ispartofJørgensen, E.K. (2020). Maritime Human Ecodynamics of Stone Age Arctic Norway: Developing middle-range causal linkages between climate forcing, demography, and technological responses. (Doctoral thesis). <a href=https://hdl.handle.net/10037/19458>https://hdl.handle.net/10037/19458</a>
dc.relation.journalThe Holocene
dc.relation.projectIDNorges forskningsråd: 261760en_US
dc.rights.accessRightsopenAccessen_US
dc.rights.holderCopyright 2019 The Author(s)en_US
dc.subjectVDP::Humanities: 000::History: 070en_US
dc.subjectVDP::Humaniora: 000::Historie: 070en_US
dc.subjectVDP::Social science: 200::Demography: 300en_US
dc.subjectVDP::Samfunnsvitenskap: 200::Demografi: 300en_US
dc.titleConvergent catastrophes and the termination of the Arctic Norwegian Stone Age: A multi-proxy assessment of the demographic and adaptive responses of mid-Holocene collectors to biophysical forcingen_US
dc.type.versionpublishedVersionen_US
dc.typeJournal articleen_US
dc.typeTidsskriftartikkelen_US
dc.typePeer revieweden_US


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