During the Early Holocene, starting ca. 11650 cal BP (or ca. 9700 cal BC) and corresponding to the Mesolithic period, at least four abrupt centennial-scale Rapid Climate Change (RCC) events occurred. These events have been globally identified in recent climate records. However, their impact on Mesolithic societies and ecosystems remains poorly understood.
This multidisciplinary project aims to assess the effects and responses (or lack thereof) of these rapid cooling events on hunter-gatherers and their environment in the Belgian and S-Dutch sand belt region. By conducting a multi-proxy analysis of well-preserved Mesolithic peat deposits in river palaeochannels, alongside a palaeodemographic study of Mesolithic populations, we seek to establish correlations between societal and environmental changes and the RCC events. High-resolution data generated from this research will be integrated with the INTIMATE event stratigraphy to evaluate synchronicity, while theoretical modeling will further explore causality and resilience.
Peat deposits serve as a unique, non-renewable archive for the evaluation of the changing Mesolithic subsistence in this area, particularly since unburnt human, faunal and botanical remains are typically absent from archaeological sites. However, ongoing climate change threatens these sedimentary records, risking the permanent loss of these invaluable “unread books” forever.