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Communication dans un congrès Année : 2015

Exploring human responses to climate change in Mediterranean and Atlantic North Africa using oxygen and carbon stable isotopes from small mammal teeth

Résumé

Taforalt and El Harhoura 2, two archaeological cave sites located respectively on the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts of Morocco, preserve a long, well stratified sequences of human occupation dating back >100ka. These important Middle Stone Age (MSA) and Later Stone Age (LSA) archaeological sequences are used to examine the impact of past climate change on human cultural behaviour in North Africa. Palaeoclimate records suggest that climate in North Africa has oscillated strongly since the Last Interglacial between periods of humidity and aridity. As the majority of palaeoclimate information in the Mediterranean region of North Africa is from indirect sources such as marine cores, in this research we sought to develop a terrestrial proxy record for past humid/arid shifts on the Mediterranean and Atlantic coast of Morocco using stable oxygen and carbon isotopes from Gerbillinae (gerbil) teeth. The results from the stable isotope analysis of gerbil teeth from Taforalt and El Harhoura 2 show that the LSA occupation at both sites is associated with an aridfication of climate indicated by a positive oxygen isotope excursion at El Harhoura 2, and the expansion of C4 vegetation in the region around Taforalt. The MSA occupation appears to be related to humid periods during MIS 5 at El Harhoura 2, and relatively more arid events during the Last Glacial at both sites.
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Dates et versions

hal-03025737, version 1 (26-11-2020)

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  • HAL Id : hal-03025737 , version 1

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Amy Jeffrey, Emmanuelle Stoetzel, Simon Parfitt, Nick Barton, Abdeljalil Bouzouggar, et al.. Exploring human responses to climate change in Mediterranean and Atlantic North Africa using oxygen and carbon stable isotopes from small mammal teeth. XIXth Congress of the International Union for Quaternary Science (INQUA), Jul 2015, Nagoya, Japan. ⟨hal-03025737⟩
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