Archaeological Sites as Distributed Long-term Observing Networks of the Past (DONOP) ...

• Main Authors: Hambrecht, George, Anderung, Cecillia, Brewington, Seth, Dugmore, Andrew, Edvardsson, Ragnar, Feeley, Francis, Gibbons, Kevin, Harrison, Ramona, Hicks, Megan, Jackson, Rowan, Olafsdóttir, Guðbjörg Asta, Rockman, Marcy, Smiarowski, Konrad, Streeter, Richard, Szabo, Vicki, McGovern, Thomas
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Digital Repository at the University of Maryland 2018
• Subjects: DONOP; Archaeology; Zooarchaeology; aDNA; Historical Ecology; North Atlantic; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.13016/m2901zj8f; http://drum.lib.umd.edu/handle/1903/20639

Archaeological records provide a unique source of direct data on long-term human-environment interactions and samples of ecosystems affected by differing degrees of human impact. Distributed long-term datasets from archaeological sites provide a significant contribution to establish local, regional, and continental-scale environmental baselines and can be used to understand the implications of human decision-making and its impacts on the environment and the resources it provides for human use. Deeper temporal environmental baselines are essential for resource and environmental managers to restore biodiversity and build resilience in depleted ecosystems. Human actions are likely to have impacts that reorganize ecosystem structures by reducing diversity through processes such as niche construction. This makes data from archaeological sites key assets for the management of contemporary and future climate change scenarios because they combine information about human behavior, environmental baselines, and ...