Abstract
In the past few decades, there has been growing public awareness of human-caused global warming, rapidly decreasing biodiversity, massive soil erosion and ocean acidification. Human impacts on the planet now extend to most aspects of what Western science has defined as ‘natural’ geo-ecological systems (atmosphere, lithosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, etc.). This has led some scholars to suggest that we have left the Holocene behind and are now entering a new geological epoch that should be designated the ‘Anthropocene’. The environmental situation has become so alarming that in recent years, a number of academic workshops, conference sessions, special issues and new journals have dealt with the general topic of the Anthropocene (Braje and Erlandson, 2013; Crutzen, 2002; Foley et al., 2013; Kotchen and Young, 2007; Lewin and Macklin, 2014; Oldfield et al., 2013; Ruddiman et al., 2011, 2015; Smith and Zeder, 2013; Waters et al., 2014; Williams et al., 2011).
It might seem somewhat ironic to publish this current collection of papers dealing with the Anthropocene in a periodical journal entitled The Holocene. However, we maintain that this is an ideal venue to reach out to a broader scientific and informed community of readers interested in the social and natural sciences. This collection of articles stems from a workshop held at the University of Texas (UT) at Austin in April 2014, entitled ‘The Anthropocene in the Longue Durée’, sponsored by the Department of Anthropology at UT and the Global Human Ecodynamics Alliance (GHEA). With these papers, we emphasize the importance of expanding our views of the Anthropocene to consider a deep-time perspective, which we feel is an essential way to address the urgent issues of modern-day relationships between humans and the environment. It is an approach that prioritizes human behavior and the cumulative nature of human impacts on the environment stretching as far back as the mid-Pleistocene and ultimately touches on issues of who we are as a species, how we have succeeded in becoming a dominant entity in our many diverse environments, and ways to proceed into a sustainable future.
Although the term ‘Anthropocene’ itself may be considered contentious by some members of the scientific community, few can disagree that our species has had a profound and, in many respects, irreversible effect on the planet. One key question for comprehending the nature of human impact is the issue of where we place the starting point for the Anthropocene. This is fundamental for delineating ‘tipping points’ that took us potentially from a hypothetical ‘natural equilibrium’ to a situation in which factors such as human-induced climate change and decreasing biodiversity now are beyond our control. This viewpoint presupposes an initial state of ‘insignificant’ human impact on climate, landscapes and biodiversity, to one of irreparable change. We acknowledge the argument for a geologically defined line in the sand or ‘Golden Spike’, distinguishing formal geological epochs from one another, and in this case the quest for the point in time when the Holocene transformed into the Anthropocene. However, we stress that the issues relating to the Anthropocene are larger than terminological concerns, as emphasized in some previous articles which highlight the need to address the processes behind the visible effects (Lewin and Macklin, 2014; Smith and Zeder, 2013). These processes can only be understood by taking a deep-time perspective and an interdisciplinary approach as reflected in the papers in this Special Issue of The Holocene.
Timing and tipping points aside, there are still many questions that remain about the nature of human impact, its origins, and the future of the planet in an age when humans alter, dominate, or manipulate almost every ecological system on Earth. But our modern era is not unique in terms of human processes; it is only unique in the degree of impact. We argue here that humans have always altered their environments, and this basic characteristic of human ‘nature’ is central to our success as a species. Indeed, humans are exceptionally good at adapting to our environments by changing them as we employ flexible and novel solutions for the survival and well-being of our societies. We are the ultimate ‘niche constructing’ species (Smith, 2011). This behavior is key not only to our success but also to the success or failure of those species whose habitats are enhanced or expanded through our activities on one hand, or on the other are negatively impacted by our survival strategies. Historical ecologists have long studied these dynamics in anthropogenic ecology, engineered environments, forest management, and traditional ecological knowledge. In creating and modifying our environments, we leave an ecological inheritance for future generations. Likewise, our innovations and ecological impacts are shaped by the activities of preceding generations (Kendal et al., 2011). Therefore, the Anthropocene is an example of ecological inheritance and the composite result of previous human behavior (Balée and Erickson, 2006; Butzer, 1982; Crumley, 1994, 2001; Smith, 2011).
Consequently, it is critical that we employ a deep-time perspective to understanding the processes leading to the Anthropocene. Both Archaeology and Geography are uniquely well-suited to this task. These two disciplines have the tools for recording and explaining both the social and the environmental aspects of the processes leading to profound human impact on the planet through time and into the future. Archaeology and Geography have important roles to play on the global stage in the critical public debates about the effects of human-induced climate change, human alterations of every ecozone on the planet, and going forward into a future Earth that has an ethical approach to the distribution and conservation of resources, and ecological stewardship. These questions can only be answered by taking a long-term cross-cultural perspective on the Anthropocene. Importantly, while humans are the source of many negative impacts on this planet, the Anthropocene demonstrates that we also are capable of providing the solutions.
The papers included in this Special Issue represent a wide variety of geographical regions to emphasize the ecological diversity and global reach of a humanized planet. They also provide case studies of societies with increasingly complex technologies and social organizations, and hence progressively greater potential to impact the environment. With this collection of papers, we emphasize the variety of methodological approaches in human–environment interactions available to archaeologists, geographers, historians, and environmental scientists. The volume has been organized to reflect the point that compared with small-scale forager communities, more complex societies have had an increasingly greater impact on the environment as they developed over the course of the Holocene. The papers are arranged under the following headings: Overviews, the Ecological Impact of Foragers and Incipient Agriculturalists, the Ecological Impacts of Early Agricultural Communities and Agricultural Societies, and the Historical Roots of the Anthropocene.