The great divide? Differences in environmental and hunter-gatherer responses to the 8.2 ka BP event between northwestern and northeastern Eurasia

In this contribution we provide an overview of the potential impacts of the 8.2 ka BP cooling event on hunter-gatherer societies in northwestern Europe and northern/eastern Eurasia. There seems to be a division between the two parts of the continent, with Atlantic Europe generally seeing a stronger...

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Main Authors: Rick J. Schulting, Pavel E. Tarasov, Andrzej W. Weber
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:Quaternary Environments and Humans
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950236525000118
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author Rick J. Schulting
Pavel E. Tarasov
Andrzej W. Weber
author_facet Rick J. Schulting
Pavel E. Tarasov
Andrzej W. Weber
author_sort Rick J. Schulting
collection DOAJ
description In this contribution we provide an overview of the potential impacts of the 8.2 ka BP cooling event on hunter-gatherer societies in northwestern Europe and northern/eastern Eurasia. There seems to be a division between the two parts of the continent, with Atlantic Europe generally seeing a stronger climatic and environmental impact compared to continental Eurasia. This plausibly relates to the greater effects on oceanic weather patterns, particularly those of the North Atlantic. The palaeoenvironmental record is more limited for the Pacific coast of northeast Asia, but the evidence to date does not suggest as strong an impact there. We then focus on a case study of the hunter-gatherers of Cis-Baikal in southern Siberia. While the archaeological record for the period pre-8200 cal BP is patchy, we find no clear evidence for any impact on the region’s hunter-gatherer communities. Major visible changes occur only with the appearance of the Kitoi culture from ca. 7600 cal BP, which sees the introduction of pottery, the bow and arrow, and large cemeteries. This appears to be an internal sociotechnological development unrelated to any abrupt changes in the regional climate and environment at this time.
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spelling doaj-art-9927958c57ed4d07ae2f70e721cdbfc82025-08-20T03:22:58ZengElsevierQuaternary Environments and Humans2950-23652025-06-013210006710.1016/j.qeh.2025.100067The great divide? Differences in environmental and hunter-gatherer responses to the 8.2 ka BP event between northwestern and northeastern EurasiaRick J. Schulting0Pavel E. Tarasov1Andrzej W. Weber2School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Corresponding author.Institute of Geological Sciences, Paleontology Section, Freie Universität Berlin, Malteserstraße 74–100, Building D, Berlin 12249, GermanyDepartment of Anthropology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada; Research Centre “Baikal Region”, Irkutsk State University, Irkutsk, RussiaIn this contribution we provide an overview of the potential impacts of the 8.2 ka BP cooling event on hunter-gatherer societies in northwestern Europe and northern/eastern Eurasia. There seems to be a division between the two parts of the continent, with Atlantic Europe generally seeing a stronger climatic and environmental impact compared to continental Eurasia. This plausibly relates to the greater effects on oceanic weather patterns, particularly those of the North Atlantic. The palaeoenvironmental record is more limited for the Pacific coast of northeast Asia, but the evidence to date does not suggest as strong an impact there. We then focus on a case study of the hunter-gatherers of Cis-Baikal in southern Siberia. While the archaeological record for the period pre-8200 cal BP is patchy, we find no clear evidence for any impact on the region’s hunter-gatherer communities. Major visible changes occur only with the appearance of the Kitoi culture from ca. 7600 cal BP, which sees the introduction of pottery, the bow and arrow, and large cemeteries. This appears to be an internal sociotechnological development unrelated to any abrupt changes in the regional climate and environment at this time.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950236525000118Human-environment interactionsHoloceneLate MesolithicNorthwest EuropeLake Baikal
spellingShingle Rick J. Schulting
Pavel E. Tarasov
Andrzej W. Weber
The great divide? Differences in environmental and hunter-gatherer responses to the 8.2 ka BP event between northwestern and northeastern Eurasia
Quaternary Environments and Humans
Human-environment interactions
Holocene
Late Mesolithic
Northwest Europe
Lake Baikal
title The great divide? Differences in environmental and hunter-gatherer responses to the 8.2 ka BP event between northwestern and northeastern Eurasia
title_full The great divide? Differences in environmental and hunter-gatherer responses to the 8.2 ka BP event between northwestern and northeastern Eurasia
title_fullStr The great divide? Differences in environmental and hunter-gatherer responses to the 8.2 ka BP event between northwestern and northeastern Eurasia
title_full_unstemmed The great divide? Differences in environmental and hunter-gatherer responses to the 8.2 ka BP event between northwestern and northeastern Eurasia
title_short The great divide? Differences in environmental and hunter-gatherer responses to the 8.2 ka BP event between northwestern and northeastern Eurasia
title_sort great divide differences in environmental and hunter gatherer responses to the 8 2 ka bp event between northwestern and northeastern eurasia
topic Human-environment interactions
Holocene
Late Mesolithic
Northwest Europe
Lake Baikal
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2950236525000118
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