Climates, Landscapes, and Civilizations

Liviu Giosan is a Romanian and American marine geologist studying the interactions between climate, landscapes and humans. Dorian Q. Fuller is the editor of Climates, Landscapes, and Civilizations, published by Wiley.

Preface
Liviu Giosan, Dorian Q. Fuller, Kathleen Nicoll, Rowan K. Flad, and Peter D. Clift vii

Bridging a Disciplinary Gap
William F. Ruddiman 1

Section I: Americas

Arguments and Evidence Against a Younger Dryas Impact Event
M. Boslough, K. Nicoll, V. Holliday, T. L. Daulton, D. Meltzer, N. Pinter, A. C. Scott, T. Surovell, P. Claeys, J. Gill, F. Paquay, J. Marlon, P. Bartlein, C. Whitlock, D. Grayson, and A. J. T. Jull 13

Environment and Agency in the Ancient Maya Collapse
James J. Aimers 27

Rainfall Variability and the Rise and Collapse of the Mississippian Chiefdoms: Evidence From a DeSoto Caverns Stalagmite
Paul Aharon, David Aldridge, and John Hellstrom 35

Building Resilience in Island Communities: A Paleotempestological Perspective
Jago Cooper 43

Recent Seasonal Variations in Arid Landscape Cover and Aeolian Sand Mobility, Navajo Nation, Southwestern United States
Amy E. Draut, Margaret Hiza Redsteer, and Lee Amoroso 51

Section II: Asia

Utilization of Distal Tephra Records for Understanding Climatic and Environmental Consequences of the Youngest Toba Tuff
Emma Gatti and Clive Oppenheimer 63

An Abrupt Shift in the Indian Monsoon 4000 Years Ago
M. Berkelhammer, A. Sinha, L. Stott, H. Cheng, F. S. R. Pausata, and K. Yoshimura 75

Late Holocene Drought Pattern Over West Asia
Michael Staubwasser 89

Geomorphological Constraints on the Ghaggar River Regime During the Mature Harappan Period
Hideaki Maemoku, Yorinao Shitaoka, Tsuneto Nagatomo, and Hiroshi Yagi 97

A Simulation of the Neolithic Transition in the Indus Valley
Carsten Lemmen and Aurangzeb Khan 107

Mid-to-Late Holocene Agricultural System Transformations in the Northern Fertile Crescent: A Review of the Archaeobotanical, Geoarchaeological, and Philological Evidence
Simone Riehl, Konstantin Pustovoytov, Aron Dornauer, and Walther Sallaberger 115

Late Holocene Evolution of the Fuzhou Basin (Fujian, China) and the Spread of Rice Farming
Barry V. Rolett 137

Climate-Induced Changes in Population Dynamics of Siberian Scythians (700–250 B.C.)
Irina P. Panyushkina 145

Section III: Africa

Geoarchaeological Perspectives on Holocene Climate Change as a Civilizing Factor in the Egyptian Sahara
Kathleen Nicoll 157

Heavy Rainfalls in a Desert(ed) City: A Climate-Archaeological Case Study From Sudan
Jonas Berking, Janina Körper, Sebastian Wagner, Ulrich Cubasch, and Brigitta Schütt 163

Section IV: Europe

The Influence of Transgressive Paleogeography on the Development and Decline of Cardium Pottery Culture (Mediterranean Neolithic)
A. Amorosi and A. Morelli 171

A Dynamic Human Socioecology of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Ulster
Tina Thurston and Gill Plunkett 177

Section V: New Approaches and Discussions

Influences of Active Tectonism on Human Development: A Review and Neolithic Example
Eric R. Force and Bruce G. McFadgen 195

Irragric Anthrosols—Artifacts of Human Adaptation to Arid Conditions: Examples From the High Himalaya and the Coastal Desert of Peru
J. Baade 203

Hunter-Gatherers, Agriculturalists, and Climate: Insights From a Cross-Disciplinary Review
Daniel M. Cadzow 209

AGU Category Index 217

Index 219