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Midcontinental Native American population dynamics and late Holocene hydroclimate extremes
Broxton W Bird1, Jeremy J Wilson2, William P Gilhooly1
1Department of Earth Sciences, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis, 46202, USA.
Climate shifts impacted Native American maize agriculture and settlement in the midcontinental US. A 2100-year paleoclimate record links wet periods to population growth and dry periods to settlement abandonment.
Area of Science:
- Paleoclimatology
- Archaeology
- Environmental History
Background:
- Climate's role in pre-Columbian Native American societies in the midcontinental US is unclear due to limited paleoclimate data.
- Maize agriculture was central to these populations before 1492 CE.
Purpose of the Study:
- Reconstruct regional climate changes and their impact on Native American populations.
- Investigate the influence of the Pacific North American pattern (PNA) on precipitation and temperature.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a 2100-year multi-proxy lake-sediment record from the midcontinental US.
- Analyzed precipitation source, seasonality, warm-season duration, and rainstorm events.
Main Results:
- Negative PNA-like conditions (wet climate) during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (950-1250 CE) supported maize agriculture, population aggregation, and urban development (1000-1200 CE).
- Positive PNA-like conditions (drier climate) from 1250-1350 CE correlated with instability and warfare.
- A severe warm-season drought (1350-1450 CE) led to the abandonment of settlements and urban centers.
Conclusions:
- Climate variability, particularly drought, significantly impacted agricultural systems and the sustainability of dense populations and urban centers.
- Climate-driven agricultural instability likely contributed to population reorganization and migration before European contact.
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