Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T01:42:57.511Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Climate change and the loss of archaeological sites and landscapes: a global perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 November 2022

Jørgen Hollesen*
Affiliation:
Environmental Archaeology and Materials Science, National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark

Abstract

Climate change is affecting archaeological sites and landscapes around the world. Increased rainfall, more frequent extreme weather events, higher temperatures and rising seas not only create new risks but also exacerbate existing vulnerabilities and threats. Building on an earlier Antiquity article that explored climate change and arctic archaeology (Hollesen et al. 2018), this special section provides a global perspective on the impact of climate change on archaeological sites and landscapes and how archaeologists and cultural heritage managers are responding. This article introduces the following three contributions, outlining their main findings to provide an overview of the various challenges around the world, and highlighting current gaps in knowledge and future research opportunities.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Antiquity Publications Ltd.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adams, J. 2008. Global climate change: every cultural site at risk?, in Petzet, M. & Ziesemer, J. (ed.) Heritage at risk: ICOMOS world report 2006/2007 on monuments and sites in danger: 194–95. Altenberg: E. Reinhold.Google Scholar
Agapiou, A. et al. 2015. Cultural heritage management and monitoring using remote sensing data and GIS: the case study of Paphos area, Cyprus. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems 54: 230–39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compenvurbsys.2015.09.003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beattie, O. et al. 2000. The Kwäday Dän Ts'ínchi discovery from a glacier in British Columbia. Canadian Journal of Archaeology 24: 129–47.Google Scholar
Berenfeld, M.L. 2008. Climate change and cultural heritage: local evidence, global responses. The George Wright Forum 25: 6682.Google Scholar
Björdal, C.G. & Gregory, D.. 2012. Wreck protect: decay and protection of archaeological wooden shipwrecks. Oxford: ArchaeoPress.Google Scholar
Blankholm, H.P. 2009. Long-term research and cultural resource management strategies in light of climate change and human impact. Arctic Anthropology 46: 1724. https://doi.org/10.1353/arc.0.0026CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borges, L.M.S., Merckelbach, L.M., Sampaio, Í. & Cragg, S.M.. 2014. Diversity, environmental requirements, and biogeography of bivalve wood-borers (Teredinidae) in European coastal waters. Frontiers in Zoology 11: 13. https://doi.org/10.1186/1742-9994-11-13CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Callanan, M. 2015. Melting snow patches reveal Neolithic archery. Antiquity 87: 728–45. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00049425CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carmichael, B. et al. 2017. Local and Indigenous management of climate change risks to archaeological sites. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change 23: 231–55. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11027-016-9734-8CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colette, A. 2007. Case studies on climate change and world heritage. Paris: UNESCO World Heritage Centre.Google Scholar
Council of Europe. 1992. European convention on the protection of the archaeological heritage (European Treaty Series 143). Strasbourg: Council of Europe.Google Scholar
Daly, C. 2014. A framework for assessing the vulnerability of archaeological sites to climate change: theory, development, and application. Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites 16: 268–82. https://doi.org/10.1179/1350503315Z.00000000086CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daly, C. et al. 2022. Climate change adaptation policy and planning for cultural heritage in low- and middle-income countries. Antiquity 390. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy/2022.114Google Scholar
Dawson, P. & Levy, R.. 2016. From science to survival: using virtual exhibits to communicate the significance of polar heritage sites in the Canadian Arctic. Open Archaeology 2: 209–31. https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2016-0016CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dawson, T. 2015. Taking the middle path to the coast, in Harvey, D. & Perry, J. (ed.) The future of heritage as climates change: 248–68. Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar
Dawson, T. et al. 2020. Coastal heritage, global climate change, public engagement, and citizen science. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 117: 8280–86. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1912246117CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Doelle, W. et al. 2016. Incorporating archaeological resources in landscape-level planning and management. Advances in Archaeological Practice 4: 118–31. https://doi.org/10.7183/2326-3768.4.2.118CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Erlandson, J.M. 2008. Racing a rising tide: global warming, rising seas, and the erosion of human history. Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology 3: 167–69. https://doi.org/10.1080/15564890802436766CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fatorić, S. & Seekamp, E.. 2017a. Are cultural heritage and resources threatened by climate change? A systematic literature review. Climatic Change 142: 227–54. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-017-1929-9CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fatorić, S. & Seekamp, E.. 2017b. Securing the future of cultural heritage by identifying barriers to and strategizing solutions for preservation under changing climate conditions. Sustainability 9: 2143. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9112143CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fatorić, S. & Egberts, L.. 2020. Realising the potential of cultural heritage to achieve climate change actions in the Netherlands. Journal of Environmental Management 274: 111107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111107CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fenger-Nielsen, R. et al. 2020. Arctic archaeological sites threatened by climate change: a regional multi-threat assessment of sites in south-west Greenland. Archaeometry 62: 1280–97. https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.12593CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fluck, H. & Wiggins, M.. 2017. Climate change, heritage policy and practice in England: risks and opportunities. Archaeological Review from Cambridge 32: 159–81. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.23646Google Scholar
Forino, G., MacKee, J. & von Meding, J.. 2016. A proposed assessment index for climate change-related risk for cultural heritage protection in Newcastle (Australia). International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 19: 235–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2016.09.003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Galeazzi, F. 2016. Towards the definition of best 3D practices in archaeology: assessing 3D documentation techniques for intra-site data recording. Journal of Cultural Heritage 17: 159–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.culher.2015.07.005CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gregory, D. & Matthiesen, H.. 2012. Nydam Mose: in situ preservation at work. Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites 14: 479–86. https://doi.org/10.1179/1350503312Z.00000000041CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gregory, D. et al. 2022. Of time and tide: the complex impacts of climate change and the complexity of its effects on coastal and underwater cultural heritage. Antiquity 390. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2022.115Google Scholar
Hambrecht, G. & Rockman, M.. 2017. International approaches to climate change and cultural heritage. American Antiquity 82: 627–41. https://doi.org/10.1017/aaq.2017.30CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hare, P.G., Thomas, C.D., Topper, T.N. & Gotthardt, R.M.. 2012. The archaeology of Yukon ice patches: new artifacts, observations, and insights. Arctic 65: 118–35. https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic4188CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heilen, M., Altschul, J.H. & Lüth, F.. 2018. Modelling resource values and climate change impacts to set preservation and research priorities. Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites 20: 261–84. https://doi.org/10.1080/13505033.2018.1545204CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hollesen, J. & Matthiesen, H.. 2015. The influence of soil moisture, temperature and oxygen on the oxic decay of organic archaeological deposits. Archaeometry 57: 362–77. https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.12094CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hollesen, J., Matthiesen, H. & Elberling, B.. 2017. The impact of climate change on an archaeological site in the Arctic. Archaeometry 59: 1175–89. https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.12319CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hollesen, J. et al. 2018. Climate change and the deteriorating archaeological and environmental archives of the Arctic. Antiquity 92: 573–86. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2018.8CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holtorf, C. 2014. Preservation paradigm in heritage management, in Smith, C. (ed.) Encyclopedia of global archaeology: 6128–31. New York: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_1080CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holtorf, C. 2018. Embracing change: how cultural resilience is increased through cultural heritage. World Archaeology 50: 639–50. https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2018.1510340CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holtz, D., Markham, A., Cell, K. & Ekwurzel, B.. 2014. National landmarks at risk: how rising seas, floods, and wildfires are threatening the United States’ most cherished historic sites. Cambridge (MA): Union of Concerned Scientists.Google Scholar
Hudson, M.J., Aoyama, M., Hoover, K.C. & Uchiyama, J.. 2012. Prospects and challenges for an archaeology of global climate change. WIREs Climate Change 3: 313–28. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.174CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 2014. Climate change 2014: synthesis report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the fifth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Geneva: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. https://doi.org/10013/epic.45156.d001Google Scholar
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. 2019. Summary for policymakers, in Pörtner, H.-O. et al. (ed.) IPCC special report on the ocean and cryosphere in a changing climate: 335. Geneva: International Panel on Climate Change.Google Scholar
International Council on Monuments and Sites. 2019. The future of our pasts: engaging cultural heritage in climate action. Paris: International Council on Monuments and Sites.Google Scholar
Katz, J. & Tokovinine, A.. 2017. The past, now showing in 3D: an introduction. Digital Applications in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage 6: 13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.daach.2017.09.001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kohler, T.A. & Rockman, M.. 2020. The IPCC: a primer for archaeologists. American Antiquity 85: 627–51. https://doi.org/10.1017/aaq.2020.68CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krause-Jensen, D. et al. 2019. Seagrass sedimentary deposits as security vaults and time capsules of the human past. Ambio 48: 325–35. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-018-1083-2CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Li, Y. et al. 2022. The potential impact of rising sea levels on China's coastal cultural heritage: a GIS risk assessment. Antiquity 96: 406–21. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2022CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, J. et al. 2019. Flood hazard mapping and assessment on the Angkor World Heritage Site, Cambodia. Remote Sensing 11: 219. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs11010098Google Scholar
Macleod, I. 2013. Monitoring, modelling and prediction of corrosion rates of historical iron shipwrecks, in Dillmann, P., Watkinson, D., Angelini, E. & Adriaens, A. (ed.) Corrosion and conservation of cultural heritage metallic artefacts (European Federation of Corrosion Series 65): 466–77. Oxford: Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1533/9781782421573.5.466CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Markham, A., Osipova, E., Samuels, K. Lafrenz & Caldas, A.. 2016. World heritage and tourism in a changing climate. Paris & Nairobi: United Nations Environment Programme and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.Google Scholar
Martens, V. 2016. Preserving rural settlement sites in Norway? Investigations of archaeological deposits in a changing climate. Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Matthiesen, H., Brunning, R., Carmichael, B. & Hollesen, J.. 2022. Wetland archaeology and the impact of climate change. Antiquity 390. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2022.112.Google Scholar
Matthiesen, H. et al. 2013. Degradation of archaeological wood under freezing and thawing conditions: effects of permafrost and climate change. Archaeometry 56: 479–95. https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.12023CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matthiesen, H. et al. 2020. The impact of vegetation on archaeological sites in the Low Arctic in light of climate change. Arctic 73: 141–52. https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic70248CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McGovern, T.H. 2018. Burning libraries: a community response. Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites 20: 165–74. https://doi.org/10.1080/13505033.2018.1521205CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McManamon, F. et al. 2016. Values-based management of archaeological resources at a landscape scale. Advances in Archaeological Practice 4: 132–48. https://doi.org/10.7183/2326-3768.4.2.132CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ødegård, R.S. et al. 2017. Climate change threatens archaeologically significant ice patches: insights into their age, internal structure, mass balance and climate sensitivity. Cryosphere 11: 1732. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-17-2017CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ogiso, Y. 2017. Risk assessment of flash floods in the Valley of the Kings, Egypt. DPR Annuals 60: 864–74.Google Scholar
O'Rourke, M.J.E. 2017. Archaeological site vulnerability modelling: the influence of high impact storm events on models of shoreline erosion in the western Canadian Arctic. Open Archaeology 3: 116. https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2017-0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillips, H. 2015. The capacity to adapt to climate change at heritage sites: the development of a conceptual framework. Environmental Science & Policy 47: 118–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2014.11.003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pourkerman, M. et al. 2018. Tracking shoreline erosion of “at risk” coastal archaeology: the example of ancient Siraf (Iran, Persian Gulf). Applied Geography 101: 4555. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2018.10.008CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rick, T.C. & Sandweiss, D.H.. 2020. Archaeology, climate, and global change in the age of humans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 117: 8250–53. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2003612117CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rockman, M. et al. 2016. Cultural resources climate change strategy. Washington, D.C.: Cultural Resources, Partnerships, and Science and Climate Change Response Program, National Park Service.Google Scholar
Sesana, E. et al. 2021. Climate change impacts on cultural heritage: a literature review. WIREs Climate Change 12: e710. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.710CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spindler, K. 1994. The man in the ice: the discovery of a 5000-year-old body reveals the secrets of the Stone Age. New York: Harmony Books.Google Scholar
Taylor, W. et al. 2019. Investigating reindeer pastoralism and exploitation of high mountain zones in northern Mongolia through ice patch archaeology. PLoS ONE 14: e0224741. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0224741CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vousdoukas, M.I. et al. 2022. African heritage sites threatened as sea-level rise accelerates. Nature Climate Change 12: 256–62. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01280-1CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, K., Douglas, B.C. & Leatherman, S.P.. 2004. Global warming and coastal erosion. Climatic Change 64: 41. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:CLIM.0000024690.32682.48CrossRefGoogle Scholar