Human response to climate during the Younger Dryas chronozone in central Alaska

Abstract

Human response to climatic conditions during the turbulent terminal Pleistocene has long concerned archaeologists and paleoecologists alike, especially with regards to the Younger Dryas. In some regions of the Northern Hemisphere the Younger Dryas was not significantly felt; however, in far northern regions affects of climate change are often acute. This paper focuses on the central Alaskan record to explore human–environment interactions during the terminal Pleistocene and tackle questions regarding human response to the Younger Dryas. This region of Beringia preserves a wealth of both paleoecological and archaeological data. Relative to other northern landscapes, proxy data from central Alaska indicate the Younger Dryas signal was somewhat muted but still characterized by return to cooler and/or more arid conditions. This phenomenon likely affected distributions and character of both floral and faunal resources, altering human perception of the surrounding landscape and potentially leading to reorganization of technologies, subsistence behavior, and land-use strategies.