Holocene glacier fluctuations and migration of Neolithic yak pastoralists into the high valleys of northwest Bhutan

Meyer, Michael C.; Hofmann, Ch.-Ch.; Gemmell, Alastair M. D.; Haslinger, Edith; Häusler, Hermann; Wangda, D.

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2008.12.025

Cited by 59 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 98 publications

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“…In contrast, greater precipitation along the western Bhutanese front ranges may facilitate higher exhumation rates and oversteepened slopes in the Puna Tsang Chhu region (Duncan et al, 2003;Grujic et al, 2006;Adlakha et al, 2013a). The far northern reaches of the Puna Tsang Chhu basin are glaciated and fed by the summer monsoonal precipitation with evidence for numerous glacial advanceretreat cycles since the Pleistocene (Iwata et al, 2002;Meyer et al, 2009). Glaciers began retreating~4700 calibrated 14 C years BP, but most glaciers have remained within 1 km of their current termini during the late Holocene (Meyer et al, 2009).…”

Section: Study Locationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The far northern reaches of the Puna Tsang Chhu basin are glaciated and fed by the summer monsoonal precipitation with evidence for numerous glacial advanceretreat cycles since the Pleistocene (Iwata et al, 2002;Meyer et al, 2009). Glaciers began retreating~4700 calibrated 14 C years BP, but most glaciers have remained within 1 km of their current termini during the late Holocene (Meyer et al, 2009). Nearly all glaciers are now shrinking (Komori, 2008;Liu et al, 2012;Rupper et al, 2012).…”

Section: Study Locationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Erosion rates of the Bhutanese Himalaya determined using in situ-produced 10Be

et al. 2015

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Section: Study Locationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Locationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Erosion rates of the Bhutanese Himalaya determined using in situ-produced 10Be

et al. 2015

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“…In support of this hypothesis, there is growing evidence from different marginal areas of the Tibetan Plateau that herding of domesticated yak started sometime during the early-or mid-Holocene (Guo et al, 2006;Dearing et al, 2008;Meyer et al, 2009). However, wide-spread, intensive, and persistent human land-use is not documented by archaeological evidence: although there exists a number of latePleistocene sites, only one archaeological site (Xidatan 2 from the Kunlun Mountains at the northernmost Plateau margin) of EpiPalaeolithic culture has been found on the upper (>3500 m) Tibetan Plateau from 11 to 3.7 ka BP (Aldenderfer and Zhang, 2004;Brantingham and Gao, 2006;Brantingham et al, 2007).…”

Section: Holocene Land-use Changes Unrelated To Expansion Of Kobresiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Driving forces of mid-Holocene vegetation shifts on the upper Tibetan Plateau, with emphasis on changes in atmospheric CO2 concentrations

Herzschuh

Birks

et al. 2011

Quaternary Science Reviews

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a b s t r a c tNumerous pollen records across the upper Tibetan Plateau indicate that in the early part of the midHolocene, Kobresia-rich high-alpine meadows invaded areas formerly dominated by alpine steppe vegetation rich in Artemisia. We examine climate, land-use, and CO 2 concentration changes as potential drivers for this marked vegetation change. The climatic implications of these vegetational shifts are explored by applying a newly developed pollen-based moisture-balance transfer-function to fossil pollen spectra from Koucha Lake on the north-eastern Tibetan Plateau (34.0 N; 97.2 E; 4540 m a.s.l.) and Xuguo Lake on the central Tibetan Plateau (31.97 N; 90.3 E; 4595 m a.s.l.), both located in the meadow-steppe transition zone. Reconstructed moisture-balances were markedly reduced (by w150e180 mm) during the early mid-Holocene compared to the late-Holocene. These findings contradict most other records from the Indian monsoonal realm and also most non-pollen records from the Tibetan Plateau that indicate a rather wet early-and mid-Holocene. The extent and timing of anthropogenic land-use involving grazing by large herbivores on the upper Tibetan Plateau and its possible impacts on highalpine vegetation are still mostly unknown due to the lack of relevant archaeological evidence. Arguments against a mainly anthropogenic origin of Kobresia high-alpine meadows are the discovery of the widespread expansion of obviously 'natural' Kobresia meadows on the south-eastern Tibetan Plateau during the Lateglacial period indicating the natural origin of this vegetation type and the lack of any concurrence between modern human-driven vegetation shifts and the mid-Holocene compositional changes. Vegetation types are known to respond to atmospheric CO 2 concentration changes, at least on glacialeinterglacial scales. This assumption is confirmed by our sensitivity study where we model Tibetan vegetation at different CO 2 concentrations of 375 (present-day), 260 (early Holocene), and 650 ppm (future scenario) using the BIOME4 global vegetation model. Previous experimental studies confirm that vegetation growing on dry and high sites is particularly sensitive to CO 2 changes. Here we propose that the replacement of drought-resistant alpine steppes (that are well adapted to low CO 2 concentrations) by mesic Kobresia meadows can, at least, be partly interpreted as a response to the increase of CO 2 concentration since 7000 years ago due to fertilization and water-saving effects. Our hypothesis is corroborated by former CO 2 fertilization experiments performed on various dry grasslands and by the strong recent expansion of high-alpine meadows documented by remote sensing studies in response to recent CO 2 increases.

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“…Palynological (pollen) evidence, including the sudden disappearance of juniper and rhododendron pollen and the onset of cereal pollen, has been linked to human arrival in the high valleys of Bhutan around ca 4280 ±130 cal a BP; while extensive charcoal horizons dating to 4745 ± 250 and 4680 ± 155 cal a BP have been interpreted as evidence for forest clearance (Meyer et al 2009). …”

Section: The Silk Roads In Bhutanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Silk Roads in the Kingdom of Bhutan and the Development of a National Heritage Inventory

Williams

2016

Archaeology International

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A UNESCO project, Support for the Preparation for the World Heritage Serial Nomination of the Silk Roads in South Asia, afforded the opportunity to research evidence for Silk Roads exchange in South Asia. The first part of the paper explores the challenges of archaeology in the Kingdom of Bhutan, located on the southern slopes of the eastern Himalayas. GIS-based approaches to model earlier settlement patterns and trade routes are considered. This led to a discussion with Bhutanese colleagues, in the Division for Conservation of Heritage Sites (DCHS), regarding the need for a digital national heritage inventory: to help manage and protect heritage resources, and to improve the communication of the rich heritage of the country to its people. The second part of this paper explores some of the issues around that debate, and the steps taken to implement the chosen solution: the Getty Conservation Institute/World Monuments Fund ARCHES heritage inventory system.

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Holocene glacier fluctuations and migration of Neolithic yak pastoralists into the high valleys of northwest Bhutan

Cited by 59 publications

References 98 publications

Erosion rates of the Bhutanese Himalaya determined using in situ-produced 10Be

Erosion rates of the Bhutanese Himalaya determined using in situ-produced 10Be

Driving forces of mid-Holocene vegetation shifts on the upper Tibetan Plateau, with emphasis on changes in atmospheric CO2 concentrations

Silk Roads in the Kingdom of Bhutan and the Development of a National Heritage Inventory

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