| Title: |
Good for glaciers, bad for people?
|
| Subtitle: |
Archaeologically relevant climate models developed from reconstructions of glacier mass balance |
| Issue: |
J Archaeol Sci 34 (11) |
| Series: |
Journal of Archaeological Science
|
| Volume: |
34
(11)
|
| Page Start/End: |
1763 - 1773 |
| Biblio Note |
The ADS have no files for download on this page but further information is available online, normally as an electronic
version maintained by the Publisher, or held in a larger collection such as an ADS Archive. Please refer to the DOI or URI
listed in the Relations section of this record to locate the information you require. In the case of non-ADS resources,
please be aware that we cannot advise further on availability.
|
| Publication Type: |
Journal
|
| Abstract: |
The authors present a new climate and vegetation model, and discuss applications with a study of medieval land degradation and settlement abandonment in þórsmörk, Iceland. Existing meteorological data are used as the starting point for modelling glacier snowlines (equilibrium lines), and this is developed to model seasonal snowcover, potential vegetation and growing season. The current status and past fluctuations of glaciers across Iceland provide independent spatial and temporal constraints to the model. In þórsmörk, there was extensive landscape degradation and settlement abandonment in the late Medieval period, with an unclear role for climate change. Modelling of the landscape impacts of a 1 °C fall in temperatures shows that climatically induced degradation through reduced vegetation, growing season, and increased snowcover had limited effects on the once settled area, highlighting the importance of anthropogenically driven change. High resolution modelling offers a significant potential for assessing `what if' questions, and identifying key empirical tests. |
| Year of Publication: |
2007
|
| Subjects / Periods: |
| Model (Auto Detected Subject) |
|
|
SETTLEMENT
(Monument Type England)
|
| Medieval (Auto Detected Temporal) |
| Medieval (Auto Detected Temporal) |
|
| Source: |
BIAB
(The British & Irish Archaeological Bibliography (BIAB))
|
| Relations: |
|
| Created Date: |
05 Dec 2007 |
