Curtin University Homepage
  • Library
  • Help
    • Admin

    espace - Curtin’s institutional repository

    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
    View Item 
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item
    • espace Home
    • espace
    • Curtin Research Publications
    • View Item

    Forging Ahead By Land and By Sea: Archaeology and Paleoclimate Reconstruction in Madagascar

    Access Status
    Fulltext not available
    Authors
    Douglass, K.
    Zinke, Jens
    Date
    2015
    Type
    Journal Article
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citation
    Douglass, K. and Zinke, J. 2015. Forging Ahead By Land and By Sea: Archaeology and Paleoclimate Reconstruction in Madagascar. African Archaeological Review. 32 (2): pp. 267-299.
    Source Title
    African Archaeological Review
    DOI
    10.1007/s10437-015-9188-5
    ISSN
    0263-0338
    School
    Department of Environment and Agriculture
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/12068
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    Madagascar is an exceptional example of island biogeography. Though a large island, Madagascar’s landmass is small relative to other places in the world with comparable levels of biodiversity, endemicity, and topographic and climatic variation. Moreover, the timing of Madagascar’s human colonization and the social-ecological trajectories that followed human arrival make the island a unique case study for understanding the dynamic relationship between humans, environment, and climate. These changes are most famously illustrated by the mass extinction of the island’s megafauna but also include a range of other developments. Given the chronological confluence of human arrival and dramatic transformations of island ecologies, one of the most important overarching questions for research on Madagascar is how best to understand the interconnections between human communities, the environment, and climate. In this review paper, we contribute to the well-established discussion of this complex question by highlighting the potential for new multidisciplinary research collaborations in the southwest part of the island. Specifically, we promote the comparison of paleoclimate indicators from securely dated archaeological and paleontological contexts with Western Indian Ocean climate records, as a productive way to improve the overall resolution of paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental reconstruction for the island. Given new archaeological findings that more than double the length of Madagascar’s human occupation, models of environmental transformation post-human arrival must be reassessed and allow for the possibility of slower and more varied rates of change. Improving the spatial and temporal resolution of paleoclimate reconstruction is critical in distinguishing anthropogenic and climate drivers of environmental change. It will also increase our capacity to leverage archaeological and paleoclimate research toward resolving modern challenges, such as environmental conservation and poverty alleviation.

    Related items

    Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

    • Multi-analytical approach to zooarchaeological assemblages elucidates Late Holocene coastal lifeways in southwest Madagascar
      Douglass, K.; Antonites, A.; Quintana Morales, E.; Grealy, A.; Bunce, Michael; Bruwer, C.; Gough, C. (2017)
      The impact of resource exploitation by ancient human communities on Madagascar's environment is an area of intense debate. A fundamental question in the archaeology of Madagascar is the extent to which arrival of settlers, ...
    • Madagascar corals reveal a multidecadal signature of rainfall and river runoff since 1708
      Grove, C.; Zinke, Jens; Peeters, F.; Park, W.; Scheufen, T.; Kasper, S.; Randriamanantsoa, B.; McCulloch, M.; Brummer, G. (2013)
      Pacific Ocean sea surface temperatures (SST) influence rainfall variability on multidecadal and interdecadal timescales in concert with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO). ...
    • Tropical ancient DNA from bulk archaeological fish bone reveals the subsistence practices of a historic coastal community in southwest Madagascar
      Grealy, Alicia Catherine; Douglass, K.; Haile, J.; Bruwer, C.; Gough, C.; Bunce, Michael (2016)
      Taxonomic identification of archaeological fish bones provides important insights into the subsistence practices of ancient coastal peoples. However, it can be difficult to execute robust morphological identification of ...
    Advanced search

    Browse

    Communities & CollectionsIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument TypeThis CollectionIssue DateAuthorTitleSubjectDocument Type

    My Account

    Admin

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    Follow Curtin

    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 

    CRICOS Provider Code: 00301JABN: 99 143 842 569TEQSA: PRV12158

    Copyright | Disclaimer | Privacy statement | Accessibility

    Curtin would like to pay respect to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members of our community by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which the Perth campus is located, the Whadjuk people of the Nyungar Nation; and on our Kalgoorlie campus, the Wongutha people of the North-Eastern Goldfields.