PP004-0002
Evaluating the Impacts of Past Climate Change on Demographic and Subsistence Patterns in the Basin-Plateau Region of Western North America

Monday, 7 December 2020
Poster
Brian Codding1, Daniel Contreras2, Joan Brenner Coltrain3, Peter M. Yaworsky4, Kenneth Blake Vernon4, Kurt M. Wilson4, Paul Allgaier5, Craig Young6, Lisbeth Louderback4, Simon Brewer7 and Jerry D. Spangler8, (1)University of Utah, Anthropology, Salt Lake City, UT, United States, (2)University of Florida, Ft Walton Beach, FL, United States, (3)University of Utah, Department of Anthropology, Salt Lake City, United States, (4)University of Utah, Salt Lake City, United States, (5)University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States, (6)Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Carson City, United States, (7)University of Utah, Department of Geography, Salt Lake City, UT, United States, (8)Colorado Plateau Archaeological Alliance, Ogden, UT, United States
Abstract:
Archaeological and paleoclimatological research increasingly reveal long-term impacts of past climate on human subsistence, settlement, and demography, yet positive results are debated and the underlying dynamics structuring these correlations remain questioned. Coupling a comprehensive dataset of radiocarbon dated archaeological sites with both modeled and proxy-based paleoclimatic reconstructions, here we evaluate how temporal patterning in inferred population density varies as a function of past climate change, applying novel taphonomic controls to improve the reliability of the results. Particular focus is given to 1) dynamics across the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, and 2) the Late Holocene adoption, and subsequent abandonment, of maize agriculture.
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