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, 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, madsend@mail.utexas.edu

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.

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XVI INQUA Congress

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