palaeoecology | Ecology of the past

Mapping Ancient Africa: Seminar 18

June 4, 2024
WDG

On the 20 June 2024 (17:00-18:00 CEST) the next Mapping Ancient Africa (MAA) online seminar will take place. This talk will introduce a parallel INQUA funded project “PalaeoHome” (@PalaeoHome). It is hoped that there can be complimentary lines of research identified between PalaeoHome and the MAA projects.

Speaker: Kumar Akhilesh^1*
Co-authors: Prachi Joshi¹, Yanni Gunnell², Anupama K³, Doris Barboni³, Vandana Prasad⁴, Mohammad Sahnouni⁵, Sileshi Semaw⁵, Razika Chelli⁶
Title: PalaeoHome Palaeolithic Hominins and Habitats: Out of Africa to South Asia
Abstract: Evidence of enduring preference among hominins for particular geographic places or habitats over long periods is a global phenomenon in the Palaeolithic. Sites such as Attirampakkam (India), have evidence of Early Pleistocene Acheulian occupation contemporary with some sites in East Africa and elsewhere. Ongoing work at Sendrayanpalyam in the vicinity of ATM, suggest more variability than expected in Lower Palaeolithic assemblages in India. Comparative studies between Lower Palaeolithic assemblages and their ecological settings in key areas of both Africa and India as well as along regions of population migration, carry implications for investigating debates on the routes and timing of migrations and evolution of Oldowan and Acheulian technocomplexes. Here, we discuss aspects of research that seeks to bring together experts working in India, Africa, Arabia, and SW and E Asia to address major issues related to multiple questions on the ‘Out of Africa’ story as related to chronology, palaeoenvironments and behavioural variability over the Lower Palaeolithic (Early to Middle Pleistocene), exploring similarities as also differences in evolutionary trajectories. We plan to establish inclusive global networks of scientists with similar interests, embracing diversity and differences in views, to organise hybrid meetings (online, in-person in India and Ethiopia) uniting established scientists and with a prominent ECR component. A key part includes skill development amongst ECRs who will also join us in engaging in public outreach and science communication to generate an awareness of prehistory among children, teachers and the wider public. Above all, this project seeks to build global networks of scientists from diverse disciplines to share ideas that can culminate in publications that explore diverse opinions on topics of key interest in the Lower Palaeolithic of India and Africa.

The seminar will be delivered via Zoom. The link for the seminar can be obtained from the MAA Slack channel or by contacting the chair of this seminar (Stefanie Kaboth-Bahr). If you want to know more about the Mapping Ancient Africa project visit our web pages and please do not hesitate to get in contact if you want to get involved.

Phytoliths, starch grains and diatoms

May 29, 2024
WDG

Caroline Goossens receives the Florschütz Award.

On Friday 24 May 2024 the Palynologische Kring (Dutch palynological society) held a seminar series and laboratory workshop at the Institute for Biodiversity & Ecosystem Dynamics (University of Amsterdam). During the afternoon we had the annual meeting of the society, the presentation of our MSc Thesis prize, four seminars and two laboratory demonstrations. The MSc thesis prize “Florschütz Award” was won by Caroline Goossens (VU Amsterdam) for her thesis entitle: “An Eemian-Early Weichselian sequence in the Amersfoort Basin, the Netherlands”; the project was supervised by Natalie Van der Putten, Cees Kasse and Jeroen Schokker. We hope that Caroline will present her thesis at a future Palynologishe Kring meeting.

Teye Aukes presenting on the diatoms of ancient Rome

The talk series was kicked off by Nina Witteveen (University of Amsterdam) who presented part of her PhD thesis (currently awaiting defense), entitled: “Long-term forest recovery in Amazonia insights from phytolith analysis”. Nina discussed the impact of past peoples on the vegetation of Suriname based on her work identifying phytoliths in soil samples collected at varying distances from an archaeological site. The second talk was given my Amanda Henry (Leiden University) who demonstrated how the analysis of starch grains extracted from archaeological context can provide insights in to past diets. She used these evidences to suggest that early humans and Neanderthals had a similar diversity of plants in their diets. The third talk was given by University of Amsterdam MSc researcher Teye Aukes and focused upon his identification of diatoms from an swampy lagoon environment near Ostia (Italy). He drew conclusions from these data about the antiquity of salt production in ancient Rome. The final talk was given online by Welmoed Out (Moesgaard Museum) who presented a detailed analysis of inter- and intra-analyst variability in phytolith morphometric analysis.

After the seminars we moved upstairs to the microscope laboratory where Nina Witteveen and Ana Smuk (University of Groningen) showed off phytoliths from their study site in South America and the Netherlands.

Some of the Palynologische Kring members enjoying some refreshment after the event.

Indigenous and colonial influences on Amazonian forests

May 20, 2024
WDG

Open access:

Nascimento, M.N., Aukes, T.F. & McMichael, C.N. (2024) Indigenous and colonial influences on Amazonian forests. Plants, People, Planet. DOI: 10.1002/ppp3.10515

XXIV Biennial Congress of the Southern African Society for Quaternary Research (SASQUA)

May 17, 2024
WDG

The SASQUA congress will kick off next week (19-24 May 2024) in Cango Valley (South Africa). Sessions cover many aspects of Quaternary science and range from archaeology through palaeoclimate to geological topics. The full program is now available to download.

Quick, L.J & Asithandile, N. (2024) Proceedings of the XXIV Biennial Congress of the Southern African Society for Quaternary Research (SASQUA), Cango Valley, South Africa, 19-24 May 2024. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.11125697

To find out more about the meeting and other SASQUA activities you can also visit the organizations web pages: https://sasqua.co.za/

Mapping Ancient Africa: Video of seminar 17

May 17, 2024
WDG

The 17th online Mapping Ancient Africa seminar took place on Thursday 16 May 2024. The seminar was delivered by N’dji dit Jacques Dembele and was entitled “Evidence of recent seismicity in the West African Craton: The Bamako seisemites Mali”. In the seminar surprising new evidence for Quaternary seismic activity within the West African Craton – which was thought to be tectonically stable – was presented. Specifically, the identification of clastic dykes and deformation within sedimentary and lacustrine deposits was used to suggest past high magnitude earth quakes in the last 170,000 years.

Details of this seminar can be found here. You can find more Mapping Ancient Africa seminar videos on the “Ecology of the Past” YouTube channel.

INQUA Fellowship Journey: Alfred Houngnon

May 16, 2024
WDG

Alfred Houngnon was awarded an INQUA Fellowship in 2024 to develop his work on past environmental change in the Dahomey Gap (western Africa). Through the project Alfred is making a series of videos about his fellowship journey. In the first video Alfred introduced his project and collaborators (click here to watch the first part). In the two latest instalments (below) Alfred explains: (i) one of his key methodological approaches (modern pollen trapping), and (ii) the modern vegetation of the region and current threats to the vegetation.

To watch more videos about past environmental change visit the Ecology of the Past YouTube channel.

Mapping Ancient Africa: Seminar 17

May 15, 2024
WDG

The next Mapping Ancient Africa seminar will take place online at 17:00 CEST on 16 May 2024.

Speaker: N’dji dit Jacques Dembele (President of WAQUA, Université des sciences sociales et de gestion de Bamako, Mali)
Title: Quaternary period seismicity on the West African Craton

Heijink PhD thesis 2024

April 19, 2024
WDG

Heijink, B.M. (2024) Assessing past fire regimes and their effects on modern vegetation in Amazonian forests. PhD Thesis, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam. ISBN: 9789493260283

Abstract

Amazonian rainforests are incredibly biodiverse and provide global ecosystem services, but are threatened by fires, which completely alter ecosystem function and structure. Fires, especially in western Amazonia, almost always have an anthropogenic origin. However, much is unknown about the long-term recovery and multi-generational successional processes following fire events. Due to the long lifespan of tropical trees, past fires may have left ecological legacies in modern forest composition in Amazonia. The goal of this thesis is to investigate how past fire events impact successional trajectories of past vegetation change and whether these fire events and related human impacts have left ecological legacies in modern Amazonian forests. I specifically focus on western Amazon and changes in palm abundances and composition through time, as palms were an economically important plant family to past peoples. I compared lake charcoal records across the Amazon Basin and found fire was least prevalent in western Amazonia. On a local scale, very limited evidence of past disturbances was present in forest plots in northwestern Amazonia. Palm abundances have been increasing since the mid-Holocene, but this increase is not related to past fire events. Past fire likely have left low to none ecological legacies in these forest plots. Modern trait composition across western Amazonia is associated with past fire events, but more research is necessary to disentangle relationships between past fire, soils, and modern vegetation. Overall, western Amazonia likely contains the least intense ecological legacies in comparison with the rest of Amazonia.

Handel: http://hdl.handle.net/11245.1/c1d12124-0025-44a3-90b9-c5835d9d3c5b

Mapping Ancient Africa: Video of seminar 16

April 15, 2024
WDG

The 16th Mapping Ancient Africa seminar took place online on Friday 12th April 2024. The seminar was delivered by Stéphanie Bodin (Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt). In the seminar Stéphanie demonstrated how the examination of ancient charcoals found in caves used for shelter by hunter-gather populations living in Ethiopia at the end of the African Humid Period (4,000-2,000 years ago) can provide insights into vegetation and human selection of woody resources.

Details of this seminar can be found here. You can find more Mapping Ancient Africa seminar videos on the “Ecology of the Past” YouTube channel.

Teunissen van Manen PhD thesis 2020

April 11, 2024
WDG

Teunissen van Manen, M.L. (2020) Plant wax n-alkane biomarkers in the tropical Andes (Ecuador). PhD Thesis, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam. ISBN: 9789491407857

Abstract

Developing new applications for plant wax n-alkane biomarkers can deepen our understanding of ecosystem history. In this thesis I study modern and sedimentary n-alkane signals, sourced along the tropical Andes, to better understand how they can be used as a proxy for past environmental change. The overarching question addressed in this thesis is: what do n-alkane patterns extracted from sedimentary records reflect? Specifically, I address:• Do environmental or taxonomic factors dominate the n-alkane signal?• Does the n-alkane signal alter as the plant material degrades?• How much of the n-alkane variability can be explained by our analytical protocols?I find that the taxonomic and environmental signals of n-alkane patterns are entangled, especially in leaf n-alkanes. Soil n-alkane patterns reflect environmental conditions at the site, but the results cannot rule out a taxonomic signal in soil n-alkane patterns. I also find that, as the source material degrades (leaves), the n-alkane patterns are altered. Although the n-alkane signal is recognizable as having plant origin, there is a reduction in n-alkane pattern variability and the metric for degradation becomes an increasingly important descriptor of the n-alkane pattern shifts observed in soils and sediments. I find evidence that the metric for degradation can be used as proxy for past environmental change, but the application of this n-alkane signal proxy is not straightforward. Finally, I find there is little understanding of how much extraction and measurement protocols contribute to the n-alkane pattern variability and what implications this has on interpretations of the n-alkane signal.

Handel: http://hdl.handle.net/11245.1/716e0c42-7bc7-4270-9d76-e4c556c51e1a