Climate change at the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary in the Pacific Northwest: a comparison of proxy datasets and the archaeologicial record

<p>"The relationship between climate change at the Pleistocene-Holocene Boundary (ca. 12,600-10,200 cal B.P.) and cultural responses to attendant shifts in the environment remains a vexing issue for archaeologists. This study compiles and analyzes glacial, palynological, faunal, and stratigraphic/geomorphological proxy datasets for climate change in the Pacific Northwest of North America and compares them to the coeval archaeological record. The primary purpose of this exercise is to consider the potential ways in which climate change at the Pleistocene-Holocene Boundary affected cultural development for Late Paleoindian-Early Archaic peoples in the Pacific Northwest. Results indicate that climatic and environmental change at this interval was rapid or abrupt, and of a magnitude that likely produced varying adaptational responses by peoples of different cultural traditions who appear across the region at this period. Transformations in tools and technology, shifts in dietary habits, migration and regionalization, and trade intensification are all elements of Late Paleoindian-Early Archaic cultural responses to rapid climate change"--Document.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA) in Interdisciplinary Studies

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Interdisciplinary Studies

Year

2012

Author dc:creator

• Fulkerson, Tiffany J.

• Paleoclimatology--Northwest
• Pacific
• Paleoclimatology--Pleistocene
• Paleoclimatology--Holocene
• Paleoecology--Northwest
• Paleoecology--Pleistocene
• Paleoecology--Holocene
• Palynology--Northwest
• Palynology--Pleistocene
• Palynology--Holocene
• Pleistocene-Holocene boundary
• Archaeological Anthropology
• History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology
• Paleobiology

Statement dc:rights

• Access is available to all users

Repository record dc:identifier

https://dc.ewu.edu/theses/64

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dc.ewu.edu:theses-1063