Climate-conscious archaeology: contextualizing drought and history in the Chesapeake

IF 0.7 4区历史学 0 ARCHAEOLOGY NORTH AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGIST Pub Date : 2024-08-02 DOI:10.1177/01976931241267751

John Henshaw, Martin Gallivan, Kaleigh Pollak

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Abstract

This paper adopts a climate-conscious approach to archaeology, integrating environmental scientists’ definitions of extended droughts and megadroughts into the analysis of historical processes in the Chesapeake region of North America. We explore the relationship between drought conditions and historical processes through three case studies: Ancestral Monacans’ migration, the settlement dynamics in the Middle Potomac, and the emergence of the Powhatan chiefdom. Employing the Palmer Modified Drought Index as a paleoclimatic proxy, the research assesses how variations in rainfall and drought influenced migration, agriculture, and political formations. The findings underscore the complex interplay between Native history and environmental conditions, suggesting that the impact of climate on historical processes ranged from negligible to substantial, particularly with the adoption of maize-based agriculture. This study highlights the benefits of a climate-informed archaeological inquiry that recognizes the historically contingent ways in which climatic variability has shaped and is entangled with social change.

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具有气候意识的考古学：切萨皮克的干旱与历史背景

本文采用一种具有气候意识的考古学方法，将环境科学家对长期干旱和特大干旱的定义纳入对北美切萨皮克地区历史进程的分析中。我们通过三个案例研究来探讨干旱条件与历史进程之间的关系：祖先莫纳坎人的迁徙、波托马克河中游地区的定居动态以及波瓦坦酋长领地的出现。研究采用帕尔默修正干旱指数作为古气候的替代指标，评估降雨和干旱的变化如何影响移民、农业和政治形态。研究结果强调了原住民历史与环境条件之间复杂的相互作用，表明气候对历史进程的影响从微不足道到影响巨大不等，尤其是在采用玉米农业的过程中。这项研究强调了以气候为依据进行考古调查的好处，即认识到气候多变性在历史上影响社会变迁并与社会变迁纠缠在一起的方式。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

NORTH AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGIST ARCHAEOLOGY-

CiteScore

0.90

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0.00%

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期刊介绍： Published quarterly, this is the only general journal dedicated solely to North America—with total coverage of archaeological activity in the United States, Canada, and Northern Mexico (excluding Mesoamerica). The North American Archaeologist surveys all aspects of prehistoric and historic archaeology within an evolutionary perspective, from Paleo-Indian studies to industrial sites. It accents the results of Resource Management and Contract Archaeology, the newest growth areas in archaeology, often neglected in other publications. The Journal regularly and reliably publishes work based on activities in state, provincial and local archaeological societies.

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