XVI INQUA Congress
Paper No. 59-4
Presentation Time: 1:30 PM-4:30 PM

CLIMATE CHANGE AND HUMAN ADAPTATION ALONG THE NORTHEASTERN MARGIN OF THE TIBETAN PLATEAU

MADSEN, David B., Division of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, Desert Research Institute, and Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, Univ of Texas, Austin, TX 78712, Austin, madsend@mail.utexas.edu, CHEN, Fahu, National Laboratory of the West China's Environmental Systems, Lanzhou Univ, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, Lanzhou, 730000, China, BRANTINGHAM, P. Jeffery, Department of Anthropology, Univ of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, RHODE, David, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, Desert Rsch Institute, 2215 Raggio Parkway, Reno, NV 89512, OVIATT, Charles G., Geology, Kansas State Univ, 108 Thompson Hall, Manhattan, KS 66506-3201, BETTINGER, Robert L., Department of Anthropology, Univ of California-Davis, Davis, CA 95616, ELSTON, Robert G., Department of Anthropology, Univeristy of Nevada-Reno, Post Office Box 500, Silver City, NV 89428, and MA, Haizhou, Institute of Saline Lakes, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, China

Archaeological surveys and test excavations in northwestern China, together with the dating of Tengger Desert lakes and spring bogs, suggests periods of dramatic cultural change are linked to periods of rapid environmental change. Sites dating from as early as 40-50,000 14C years B.P. to as late as the mid-Holocene suggest an increasing adaptation to harsh, high-elevation environments, with successively higher elevations occupied at later intervals. This adaptation to extreme environments appears to have been episodic rather than gradual, with shifts in Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic site locations, tool types, and adaptive strategies occurring in tandem with major changes in climate. Preliminary dating suggests the most intensive use of harsh environments occurred during warmer and wetter interstadials.

XVI INQUA Congress
General Information for this Meeting
Session No. 59--Booth# 73
Rapid Late Quaternary Climate Changes and Human Response in Arid Central Asia (Posters)
Reno Hilton Resort and Conference Center: Pavilion
1:30 PM-4:30 PM, Monday, July 28, 2003

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, , p. 178
© Copyright The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to the author(s) of this abstract to reproduce and distribute it freely, for noncommercial purposes. Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information. All other forms of reproduction and/or transmittal are prohibited without written permission from GSA Copyright Permissions.