Global Deserts in Perspective

Smith, Michael; Veth, Peter; Hiscock, Peter; Wallis, Lynley A.

doi:10.1002/9780470774632.ch1

Cited by 19 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Today, desert lands occupy about 20% of the world landscape . In South America, a significant part of the landscape is dominated by the Atacama Desert, covering about 180,000 km 2 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Living in poisoning environments: Invisible risks and human adaptation

Arriaza

Amarasiriwardena

Standen

et al. 2018

Evolutionary Anthropology

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This article describes the hidden natural chemical contaminants present in a unique desert environment and their health consequences on ancient populations. Currently, millions of people are affected worldwide by toxic elements such as arsenic. Using data gathered from Atacama Desert mummies, we discuss long‐term exposure and biocultural adaptation to toxic elements. The rivers that bring life to the Atacama Desert are paradoxically laden with arsenic and other minerals that are invisible and tasteless. High intake of these toxic elements results in severe health and behavioral problems, and even death. We demonstrate that Inca colonies, from Camarones 9 site, were significantly affected by chemical contaminants in their food and water. It appears however, some modern‐day Andean populations resist the elevated levels of arsenic exposure as a result of positive selection mediated via the arsenic methyltransferase enzyme and display more tolerance to high chemical doses. This article further debate the effects of natural pollution and biocultural adaptation of past populations.

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“…Today, desert lands occupy about 20% of the world landscape . In South America, a significant part of the landscape is dominated by the Atacama Desert, covering about 180,000 km 2 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Living in poisoning environments: Invisible risks and human adaptation

Arriaza

Amarasiriwardena

Standen

et al. 2018

Evolutionary Anthropology

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“…Some regions, such as the Kalahari, may receive precipitation on a fairly regular or seasonal basis but are subjected to cyclical extreme droughts. Other deserts, such as the Atacama, may experience effectively zero rainfall for decades or centuries at a time while receiving moisture only from coastal fogs or streams flowing in from adjacent regions (Noy-Meir 1973;Smith et al 2005).…”

Section: Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Humans and other hominins have inhabited desert regions for at least the past several hundred thousand years (Shackley 1980;Corvinus 1983;Smith et al 2005). Unlike other desert-dwelling organisms, humans lack effective biological adaptations for dealing with arid conditions.…”

Section: Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The above models are primarily predicated on the idea that, all else being equal, mobility patterns should be conditioned foremost by the distribution and availability (the "patchiness" in space and time) of food resources as a function of biomass production. While obtaining food is obviously a concern for all human groups, in deserts the distribution and availability of water is a much more severe and immediate factor determining decisions about mobility (e.g., Smith et al 2005;Hiscock and Wallis 2005;Veth 1989Veth , 1993.…”

Section: Hunter-gatherer Mobility In Desert Ecosystemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Predictably, their mobility system is less tethered and incorporates more frequent residential moves relative to the Ju/hoansi or Ngadadjara in order to access dispersed water sources on the landscape (Silberbauer 1972;Tanaka 1980). Additionally, some deserts are characterized by "boom and bust" weather or climatic cycles on annual, decadal, or millennial timescales (see Smith et al 2005 for further discussion). Following long periods of total absence of rainfall, many arid regions periodically experience brief intervals of heavy rainfall than can cause entire landscapes to bloom densely with vegetation and associated fauna.…”

Section: Hunter-gatherer Mobility In Desert Ecosystemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bedtime for the Middle Stone Age

Marks¹

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Scholars of the Late Pleistocene in Southern Africa have recently sought to develop models explaining long-term variation between Middle Stone Age and Late Stone Age assemblages in terms of variability between "macrolithic" vs. "microlithic" toolmaking systems associated with shifts in hunter-gatherer ecology and land use patterns. While it has often proven extremely difficult to actually test many models, recently developed methods allow us to do so in novel ways. In this dissertation, I use new archaeological data from excavations of two sites in the Namib Desert, as well as new approaches to sourcing lithic artifacts to examine the hypothesis that contrasts between terminal Pleistocene (ca. 15-20 ka BP) and early Holocene (ca. 6-12 ka BP) occupation phases at the two sites represent adaptive responses primarily driven by changes in fluvial regimes and the resource productivity of riparian corridors. Analyzing the lithic assemblage compositions and locating probable source areas for raw materials suggests that terminal Pleistocene groups likely centered land use strategies more toward upland areas east of the study sites and periodically followed broad riparian corridors into the desert itself. Early Holocene groups expanded their ranges and more intensively targeted resources on the open desert plains, dunes, and beaches of the coastal lowlands. My results suggest environmental change may be partially responsible for driving this shift, but new data and methodological tools are needed to address factors like fluctuations in regional population size that may have been driving shifts in the late Pleistocene record of this unique region of Southern Africa.

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Environmental Controls on Human Dispersal and Adaptation

Parker¹,

Underdown²

2023

Handbook of Archaeological Sciences

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Global Deserts in Perspective

Cited by 19 publications

References 23 publications

Living in poisoning environments: Invisible risks and human adaptation

Living in poisoning environments: Invisible risks and human adaptation

Bedtime for the Middle Stone Age

Environmental Controls on Human Dispersal and Adaptation

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