Mineralogical-sedimentological and geochemical investigations in combination with pollen data of a 12.7-m-long dated sediment core from Lake Silvana, SE Brazil, permit the reconstruction of the climatic history over the past 10,000 years. The lowermost section (I) reflects a coa…
In recent decades, mass loss from glaciers and ice caps (GICs) worldwide has accelerated, contributing significantly to the observed sea–level rise. Their continued melt is also expected to alter local hydrological systems, affecting freshwater availability and quality. Despite …
This study examines almost 5000 lithic artifacts from three rockshelters in the Belize, part of the Maya Lowlands. These sites bear evidence of human occupation throughout the last 14,000 years, a period over which I assess change in four lithic traits: 1) cortex, or the weather…
It has been debated whether a human dispersal originating from southern mainland Asia replaced the original, late Pleistocene modern human populations inhabiting the islands of Southeast Asia or whether observed morphological changes (and cultural changes) are attributable to in…
A ∼2500 year record of hydrologic change from southern Iran is inferred from the mineralogy and stable isotopic composition of bulk and biogenic carbonates archived in Lake Hirom (27o 57'N, 53o52'E). This change is related to regional variations in moisture and to the larger Ind…
The evolution and structure of a dendritic peat deposit in the interior lowland of tropical Peninsular Malaysia is investigated as a viable archive of paleoecological and paleoclimatological changes. The project was initiated due to the lack of understanding fundamental processe…
Integrated lithostratigraphic and geochronologic studies of Umm Akhtar Playa, a newly discovered dry lake located at ≈N 22° 36′ E 30° 18′ in s. Egypt, indicate the accumulation and rapid desiccation of a sizeable (>65 km2) standing water body during the Late Quaternary. An optic…
Evidence from agronomy and bio-geography shows that northern Ethiopia is a center of origin of several economically important African plant domesticates that played a major role in the emergence of Neolithic societies. Although archaeologists have speculated on how and why these…
Recent and projected climate change emphasizes the need to understand how the climate system varies naturally. Understanding Asian climate is of particular interest because variations in Asian climate can have large-scale effects on global climate. A 108-m Mt. Everest ice core r…
This dissertation reports the results of archaeological survey and excavations on the Buri Peninsula and Gulf of Zula, Red Sea coast of Eritrea. Its primary goals were to seek evidence for prehistoric human settlement, and to define the geological, chronological and cultural con…
