Human Occupations and Climate Change in the Puna de Atacama, Chile

Núñez, Láutaro; Grosjean, Martín; Cartajena, Isabel

doi:10.1126/science.1076449

Cited by 255 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…The Atacama Desert, located in what is now Northern Chile and Southern Peru (18 N‐27S; Figure 3), is the most arid inhabited region in the world (Núñez, Grosjean, & Cartajena, 2002). Rainfall here is extraordinarily scarce (<2 mm a year on average), fertile topsoil formation does not occur, and terrestrial biodiversity is very low (Houston, 2006a, 2006b; Rundel, Dillon, Palma, & Mooney, 1991).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macroscopic features of scurvy in human skeletal remains: A literature synthesis and diagnostic guide

Snoddy

Buckley

Elliott

et al. 2018

American J Phys Anthropol

101

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The past two decades have seen a proliferation in bioarchaeological literature on the identification of scurvy, a disease caused by chronic vitamin C deficiency, in ancient human remains. This condition is one of the few nutritional deficiencies that can result in diagnostic osseous lesions. Scurvy is associated with low dietary diversity and its identification in human skeletal remains can provide important contextual information on subsistence strategy, resource allocation, and human‐environmental interactions in past populations. A large and robust methodological body of work on the paleopathology of scurvy exists. However, the diagnostic criteria for this disease employed by bioarchaeologists have not always been uniform. Here we draw from previous research on the skeletal manifestations of scurvy in adult and juvenile human skeletal remains and propose a weighted diagnostic system for its identification that takes into account the pathophysiology of the disease, soft tissue anatomy, and clinical research. Using a sample of individuals from the prehistoric Atacama Desert in Northern Chile, we also provide a practical example of how diagnostic value might be assigned to skeletal lesions of the disease that have not been previously described in the literature.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Macroscopic features of scurvy in human skeletal remains: A literature synthesis and diagnostic guide

Snoddy

Buckley

Elliott

et al. 2018

American J Phys Anthropol

101

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“…In South America, Ϸ5 ka represents the transition between the Late Archaic, characterized by the presence of many human cultural sites in the Andes, and the Mid Archaic, known for the lack of occupation in the high Andes (48). There is evidence for a significant decline, and in some cases even a hiatus, in human occupation in the early Holocene because of aridity stress between 21°and 25°S.…”

Section: ) Records From Kilimanjaro In Equatorial Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

Abrupt tropical climate change: Past and present

Thompson

Mosley‐Thompson

Brecher

et al. 2006

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

425

289

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Three lines of evidence for abrupt tropical climate change, both past and present, are presented. First, annually and decadally averaged ␦ 18 O and net mass-balance histories for the last 400 and 2,000 yr, respectively, demonstrate that the current warming at high elevations in the mid-to low latitudes is unprecedented for at least the last 2 millennia. Second, the continuing retreat of most mid-to low-latitude glaciers, many having persisted for thousands of years, signals a recent and abrupt change in the Earth's climate system. Finally, rooted, soft-bodied wetland plants, now exposed along the margins as the Quelccaya ice cap (Peru) retreats, have been radiocarbon dated and, when coupled with other widespread proxy evidence, provide strong evidence for an abrupt mid-Holocene climate event that marked the transition from early Holocene (pre-5,000-yr-B.P.) conditions to cooler, late Holocene (post-5,000-yr-B.P.) conditions. This abrupt event, Ϸ5,200 yr ago, was widespread and spatially coherent through much of the tropics and was coincident with structural changes in several civilizations. These three lines of evidence argue that the present warming and associated glacier retreat are unprecedented in some areas for at least 5,200 yr. The ongoing global-scale, rapid retreat of mountain glaciers is not only contributing to global sea-level rise but also threatening freshwater supplies in many of the world's most populous regions.icecore ͉ isotopes ͉ paleoclimate ͉ precipitation ͉ Holocene

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“…Therefore the charcoal record does not necessarily indicate that the most severe fires occurred during this period. Whether fires in early Holocene times were caused by humans who had been living in the central Andes since at least the late Pleistocene (Nuñez et al 2002) is still under discussion (Weng et al 2006). However, even nomad hunters would have made their work easier if they had used fire as a tool for hunting camelid herds, and there is no reason to doubt their ability to have done so.…”

Section: Bpmentioning

confidence: 99%