ANTH 394: Archaeology of Climate Change

Explores the contributions that archaeology can make to the study of climate change, past and present. Emphasizes the methods and theories used by archaeologists to reconstruct past environments and to evaluate the nature of human responses to climate change. Explores cases in which climate change has been evoked as a causal mechanism for human biological and behavioral change (spanning from the origins of the human lineage to the collapse of civilizations), while also addressing the ways in which archaeological data can contribute to dialogue about the changes in climate we are experiencing today and how climate change is impacting the preservation of cultural heritage. Limited to three attempts.