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Lost Foraging Opportunities for East Asian Hunter‐Gatherers Due to Rising Sea Level Since the Last Glacial Maximum
Author(s) -
d'Alpoim Guedes Jade,
Austermann Jacqueline,
Mitrovica Jerry X.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
geoarchaeology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1520-6548
pISSN - 0883-6353
DOI - 10.1002/gea.21542
Subject(s) - last glacial maximum , biome , subsistence agriculture , sea level , pleistocene , glacial period , geography , foraging , estuary , oceanography , holocene , physical geography , ecology , geology , archaeology , paleontology , ecosystem , biology , agriculture
This paper explores how changes in sea level and biome distribution may have affected the habitats occupied by hunter‐gatherers in East Asia. Using a model‐based reconstruction of changing sea level from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to present day, our analysis reveals that the exposure of a large continental shelf during the LGM sea level lowstand created a wealth of wooded, estuarine, and coastal biomes that could have been exploited intensively by Late Pleistocene hunter‐gatherers. Models explaining hunter‐gatherer subsistence changes and migrations in this period should take into account the large area that has been lost to rising sea level since the LGM.