Younger Dryas archaeology

The Gobi Region During the Younger Dryas

by Joshua Wright

with Lisa Janz, in Hunter-Gatherer Transitions Through the Younger Dryas: A global perspective. Ed. M.Eren. Left Coast Press (2012)

The Younger Dryas and Late Pleistocene Peoples of the Great Lakes Region.

by Christopher J. Ellis

(co-authored with D. Carr and T. Loebel). Published in 2011 Quaternary International 242(2):534-545, 2011

The Late Pleistocene archaeological record of the Great Lakes drainage area shows that there were several, albeit... more The Late Pleistocene archaeological record of the Great Lakes drainage area shows that there were several, albeit spatially variable, changes in that record in a time period corresponding to the Younger Dryas (YD) climatic reversal at ca. 10,800-10,000 14C BP. Notable here are declines in some areas in the mobility of Paleoindian groups as measured by distance to the main lithic source employed, declines in the overall frequency of sites/findpots, particularly in the western Great Lakes where some northern areas seem to have been largely abandoned, and an increasing association of occupation locales with glacial lake shores or extensive wetlands left by recently drained glacial lakes. Some of the changes, as in range mobility, most likely relate to the colonization of new areas rather than directly to the YD. Specifically, the earliest groups were able to target rich, but widely dispersed, resource locales due to an absence of competing groups. However, the declines in locale frequencies and shifting distributions of those locales may be due to YD influence, notably to an eventual drying out of the area that resulted in less productive environments overall and made the lake shores and wetland areas more attractive environmental niches for human occupation.

The publisher does not allow authors to make copies of papers freely available for download. However, if you are desperate please contact me to request a pdf copy: cjellis@uwo.ca

Younger Dryas environments and human adaptations on the West Coast of the United States and Baja California

by Leslie Reeder-Myers

in press

On the Pacific Coast of the United States and Baja California, the Younger Dryas was one component of dynamic Late... more On the Pacific Coast of the United States and Baja California, the Younger Dryas was one component of dynamic Late Peistocene and Holocene environmental changes. Changing climate, sea level rise, and shifting shorelines created ecological challenges for ancient coastal peoples and daunting challenges for archaeologists searching for early coastal sites. In this paper, we review the evidence for ecological change in this 'West Coast' region, including shoreline changes that may have submerged or destroyed archaeological sites from this time period. Examining the regional record of human occupation dating to the Younger Dryas, we found that well-dated coastal sites are limited to California's Northern Channel Islands and Isla Cedros off Baja California. A small number of fluted points found in coastal areas may also date to the Younger Dryas, but their context and chronology is not well defined. In reviewing the implications of these two data sets, we consider whether the early but discontinuous Younger Dryas archaeological record from the West Coast might result from a migration of maritime peoples from Northeast Asia into the Americas.