Shell middens and other anthropogenic soils as global stratigraphic signatures of the Anthropocene
Jon Erlandson 2013 Anthropocene 4:24-32
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii
Evidence for aquatic foraging, fishing & scavenging by hominins dates back at least 2 Ma,
but aquatic resource use intensified with the appearance of H.sapiens.
The development of new fishing & sea-faring technologies contributed to Hs population growth & spread around the world.
By the late-Pleisto- & early-Holocene, fishing peoples lived along coast-lines, rivers & lakes in Africa, Eurasia, Australia & the Americas,
they created shell-midden soils, marked by accumulations of mollusk shells, animal bones, artifacts & other cultural debris.
After global sea-level rise slowed ∼8 ka, a proliferation of shell-middens formed an increasingly prominent stratigraphic signature for identifying & defining an Anthropocene Epoch.
The fm of these distinctive cultural soils (often marked by unique soil chemistry & biotic communities) is essentially contemporaneous with
- the development of agricultural economies &
- the widespread soil & landscape changes ass.x them.
Defined by these global & highly visible anthropogenic soil signatures, I propose:
the Anthropocene began c 10 ka, and should replace, or be merged with the Holocene.
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