“small islands, whether located in the tropics or higher
latitudes, have characteristics which make them
especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change,
sea level rise, and extreme events (very high
confidence).” (Mimura et al. 2007 IPCC)
“the clearest example of a society that destroyed itself by overexploiting its own
                            resources.” (Diamond 2005)
“small islands, whether located in the tropics
or higher latitudes, have characteristics which
make them especially vulnerable to the
effects of climate change, sea level rise, and
extreme events (very high
confidence).” (Mimura et al. 2007 IPCC)
h"p://aosis.info/

1.  How can we survive a 3 degree warmer world

    2.  How can we maintain biodiversity during the planet’s sixth extinction

    3.  How can we feed another 2 billion people




ROCKSTRÖM,
J.,
STEFFEN,
W.,
NOONE,
K.,
PERSSON,
Å.,
STUART
CHAPIN,
I.,
LAMBIN,
E.
F.,
LENTON,
T.
M.,
SCHEFFER,
M.,
FOLKE,
C.,

SCHELLNHUBER,
H.
J.,
NYKVIST,
B.,
WIT,
C.
A.
D.,
HUGHES,
T.,
LEEUW,
S.
V.
D.,
RODHE,
H.,
SÖRLIN,
S.,
K.,
P.,
SNYDER,
COSTANZA,
R.,

SVEDIN,
U.,
FALKENMARK,
M.,
KARLBERG,
L.,
CORELL,
R.
W.,
FABRY,
V.
J.,
HANSEN,
J.,
WALKER,
B.,
LIVERMAN,
D.,
RICHARDSON,
K.,

CRUTZEN,
P.
&
FOLEY,
J.
A.
2009.
A
safe
operaOng
space
for
humanity.
Nature,
461,
472‐475.

1.

Historical
Trajectories





2.

SelecOve
Direct
Analogy




3.

CumulaOve
Experience

1.

Historical
Trajectories





2.

SelecOve
Direct
Analogy




3.

CumulaOve
Experience

ComparaOve
themaOc
case
studies
centred
on
human
perspecOve


                                                             Risk

                                                    Vulnerability

                                                      MiOgaOon   

                                                      Resilience 

  3.

CumulaOve
Experience
                        Sustainability

Fantastic opportunity to bring together social and natural sciences to integrate research




www.gheahome.org

Comparative Island Ecodynamics   Climatic and Environmental Hazards




www.gheahome.org

ComparaOve
Island
NarraOves

North
AtlanOc
Biocultural
OrganisaOon


   Best
pracOce
for
human
ecodynamics
research

   TradiOonal
Ecological
Knowledge

   Extreme
winter
hazards

   Vulnerable
se"lement
locaOons

   AdapOve
food
procurement





DUGMORE,
A.,
MCGOVERN,
T.
H.,
VÉSTEINSSON,
O.,
ARNEBORG,
J.,
STREETER,
R.
&
KELLER,
C.
2012.
Cultural
adaptaOon,
compounding

vulnerabiliOes
and
conjunctures
in
Norse
Greenland.
PNAS,
Early
EdiOon:
DOI
10.1073.


Barbuda
Archaeological
Research
Center

  Frontline
of
AcOonable
Research





h"p://herc.gc.cuny.edu/

Developing
Archaeology
for
Sustainability
on

Rapa
Nui

Archaeological
Uncertainty


Long
chronology
(Skjølsvold
1993,
MarOnsson‐Wallin
1998)


IniOal
se"lement
(AD
680
–
900)

Ahu
construcOon
(AD
1000
–
1200)

Statue
Ahu
&
quarrying
at
Rana
Raraku
(AD
1250
–
1600)



Short
chronology
(Hunt
2007,
2010)


AD
1200
‐
1600
se"lement
&
Ahu
construcOon

Paleoenvironmental
Uncertainty

An
intrinsic
connecOon
between
past
narraOves

and
present
challenges

Developing
Archaeology
for
Sustainability
on

Rapa
Nui

Sustainable
Landscape
Management

Sustainable
Food
Procurement

Sustainable
Se"lements

Sustainable
Se"lements

Sustainable
Se"lements

Tipping
Points:
Thresholds
of
   Boundaries:
Reaching
Systemic

Irreversible
Change
             Capacity

IdenOfy
Tipping
Points:
Thresholds
     Contextualize
Boundaries:
Reaching

of
Irreversible
Change
                 Systemic
Capacity


Resilient
CommuniOes
Plan
for
Change
   Sustainable
communiOes
learn
the
capacity
of

                                        their
resource
systems

Tipping
Points:
Thresholds
of
                                          Boundaries:
Reaching
Systemic

Irreversible
Change
                                                    Capacity





Lenton,
T.
et
al.
2008.
Tipping
elements
in
the
Earth's
climate
system.
PNAS,
105
(6),
1786‐93.

Rockstom,
J.
et
al.
2009.
A
safe
operaOng
space
for
humanity.
Nature
561(24
sept.)
472‐475.

Great
thanks
to:

• 
Human
Ecodynamics
Research
Centre
(Current
Home:
(herc.ws.gc.cuny.edu)

• 
Leverhulme
Trust
(grant
no.
6/SRF/2008/0267)

• 
Natural
Environment
Research
Council
(grant
no.
P17233‐60)

• 
NaOonal
Science
FoundaOon
(grant
no.
1034880
and
grant
no.
1140106)

• 
Arts
and
HumaniOes
Research
Council
(grant
no.
AH/1002596/1)
(PIs
Sue

Hamilton,
Colin
Richards,
Kate
Welham)

• 
Global
Human
Ecodynamics
Alliance:
(www.gheahome.org)

• 
Adam
Stanford
aerialcam
photography

• 
Lawrence
Shaw:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQaAeANXYLA&feature=relmfu
COOPER
                                                                                                           SHEETS
Archaeologists have long encountered evidence of              ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTORS
natural disasters through excavation and stratigra-                    David Abbott
phy. In Surviving Sudden Environmental Change,




                                                                                                        SURVIVING SUDDEN ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE
case studies examine how eight different past hu-                    Marty Anderies
man communities—ranging from Arctic to equa-                        Andrew Dugmore
torial regions, from tropical rainforests to des-                      Ben Fitzhugh
ert interiors, and from deep prehistory to living
                                                                     Michelle Hegmon
memory—faced and coped with such dangers.
     Many disasters originate from a force of na-                      Scott Ingram
ture, such as an earthquake, cyclone, tsunami, vol-                    Keith Kintigh
canic eruption, drought, or flood. But that is only                     Ann Kinzig
half of the story; decisions of people and their par-
                                                                      Timothy Kohler
ticular cultural lifeways are the rest. Sociocultural
factors are essential in understanding risk, impact,                 Stephanie Kulow
resilience, reactions, and recoveries from massive                Emily McClung de Tapia
sudden environmental changes. By using deep-                        Thomas McGovern
time perspectives provided by interdisciplinary
approaches, this book provides a rich temporal
                                                                     Cathryn Meegan
background to the human experience of environ-                          Ben Nelson
mental hazards and disasters. In addition, each                      Margaret Nelson
chapter is followed by an abstract summarizing                         Tate Paulette
the important implications for today’s manage-
ment practices and providing recommendations                         Matthew Peeples
for policy makers.                                                    Jeffrey Quilter
                                                                     Charles Redman
Publication supported in part by the                                Daniel Sandweiss
National Science Foundation.                                       Katherine Spielmann
                                                                   Colleen Strawhacker
JAGO COOPER is an Arts and Humanities Research                       Orri Vésteinsson
Council research associate and lectures at the Insti-
tute of Archaeology, University College London.


                                                                                                                                                  SURVIVING SUDDEN
                                                        COVER PHOTOGRAPH: Eruption of Sarychev
                                                        Volcano on June 12, 2009, as photographed
PAYSON SHEETS is a professor of anthropology            by the International Space Station; image


                                                                                                                                                ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE
at the University of Colorado, Boulder.                 courtesy of Earth Sciences and Image Analysis
                                                        Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center
                                                        (ISS020-E-9048; http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov).



                                                                                                                                                  ANSWERS FROM ARCHAEOLOGY
                                                                                                                                                  EDITED BY   JAGO COOPER   AND   PAY S O N S H E E T S


h"p://www.upcolorado.com/book/Surviving_Sudden_Environmental_Change_ebook


Jago Cooper (Univ. College London) Archaeology for Sustainability