Session: #224

Theme & Session Format

Theme:
5. Climate Change and Socioenvironmental Perspectives
Session format:
Regular session

Title & Content

Title:
Hunter-gatherers Resilience: Adaptation Patterns to Climatic Shifts at Different Latitudes from MIS3 to MIS 1 [PaM]
Content:
The ability of Homo sapiens to adapt to the most diverse environments has been the key of the success of our species. Scholars have often paid attention to the adaptation models, assuming that the capability of coping with different environments was a response to the external stressful situations. But how exactly this happens? How humans react to sudden climates changes and which solutions they find when environmental conditions became extreme? Exceptionally dry climates, extremely cold environments, particularly humid ecological niches, represented and still represents nowadays, a major challenge for human societies. Hunter-gatherers have always found creative adaptive solutions, modelling their lifestyles, economy, settlement system, seasonality and social structure according to the environmental conditions to create a sustainable relationship with it.
The effect of this adaptation models may be reflected in their material culture and, in some cases, also their physical and biological features. From MIS 3 to MIS 1 major climatic shifts have occurred and different technological and behavioural traits have been developed by Modern Humans in Eurasia, Africa and Oceania. What role has the climate played in shaping global hunter-gatherer adaptability and cultural traits? This session aims to collect outstanding examples of Homo Sapiens hunter-gatherers adaptations in different parts of the world.
Keywords:
hunter-gatherers, extreme climates, isotopical stages
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:
PaM

Organisers

Main organiser:
Giuseppina Mutri (Cyprus) 1
Co-organisers:
Latifa Sari (Algeria) 2
Affiliations:
1. The Cyprus Institute (STARC)
2. Centre National de Recherches Préhistoriques, Anthropologiques et Historiques.