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The RESET project: Constructing a European tephra lattice for refined synchronisation of environmental and archaeological events during the last c. 100 ka

The RESET project: Constructing a European tephra lattice for refined synchronisation of environmental and archaeological events during the last c. 100 ka
The RESET project: Constructing a European tephra lattice for refined synchronisation of environmental and archaeological events during the last c. 100 ka
This paper introduces the aims and scope of the RESET project (RESponse of humans to abrupt Environmental Transitions), a programme of research funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (UK) between 2008 and 2013; it also provides the context and rationale for papers included in a special volume of Quaternary Science Reviews that report some of the project's findings. RESET examined the chronological and correlation methods employed to establish causal links between the timing of abrupt environmental transitions (AETs) on the one hand, and of human dispersal and development on the other, with a focus on the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic periods. The period of interest is the Last Glacial cycle and the early Holocene (c. 100–8 ka), during which time a number of pronounced AETs occurred. A long-running topic of debate is the degree to which human history in Europe and the Mediterranean region during the Palaeolithic was shaped by these AETs, but this has proved difficult to assess because of poor dating control. In an attempt to move the science forward, RESET examined the potential that tephra isochrons, and in particular non-visible ash layers (cryptotephras), might offer for synchronising palaeo-records with a greater degree of finesse. New tephrostratigraphical data generated by the project augment previously-established tephra frameworks for the region, and underpin a more evolved tephra ‘lattice’ that links palaeo-records between Greenland, the European mainland, sub-marine sequences in the Mediterranean and North Africa. The paper also outlines the significance of other contributions to this special volume: collectively, these illustrate how the lattice was constructed, how it links with cognate tephra research in Europe and elsewhere, and how the evidence of tephra isochrons is beginning to challenge long-held views about the impacts of environmental change on humans during the Palaeolithic.
0277-3791
1-17
Lowe, J.J.
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Reset Team
RESET Associates
Lowe, J.J.
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King, T.
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Lowe, J.J., Ramsey, C.B., Housley, R.A., Lane, C.S. and Tomlinson, E.L. , Reset Team and RESET Associates (2015) The RESET project: Constructing a European tephra lattice for refined synchronisation of environmental and archaeological events during the last c. 100 ka. Quaternary Science Reviews, 118, 1-17. (doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.04.006).

Record type: Article

Abstract

This paper introduces the aims and scope of the RESET project (RESponse of humans to abrupt Environmental Transitions), a programme of research funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (UK) between 2008 and 2013; it also provides the context and rationale for papers included in a special volume of Quaternary Science Reviews that report some of the project's findings. RESET examined the chronological and correlation methods employed to establish causal links between the timing of abrupt environmental transitions (AETs) on the one hand, and of human dispersal and development on the other, with a focus on the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic periods. The period of interest is the Last Glacial cycle and the early Holocene (c. 100–8 ka), during which time a number of pronounced AETs occurred. A long-running topic of debate is the degree to which human history in Europe and the Mediterranean region during the Palaeolithic was shaped by these AETs, but this has proved difficult to assess because of poor dating control. In an attempt to move the science forward, RESET examined the potential that tephra isochrons, and in particular non-visible ash layers (cryptotephras), might offer for synchronising palaeo-records with a greater degree of finesse. New tephrostratigraphical data generated by the project augment previously-established tephra frameworks for the region, and underpin a more evolved tephra ‘lattice’ that links palaeo-records between Greenland, the European mainland, sub-marine sequences in the Mediterranean and North Africa. The paper also outlines the significance of other contributions to this special volume: collectively, these illustrate how the lattice was constructed, how it links with cognate tephra research in Europe and elsewhere, and how the evidence of tephra isochrons is beginning to challenge long-held views about the impacts of environmental change on humans during the Palaeolithic.

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Published date: 2015

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Local EPrints ID: 493503
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/493503
ISSN: 0277-3791
PURE UUID: d77cd250-fccc-41dc-9c13-7a81428ec89c
ORCID for E. Rohling: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-5349-2158
ORCID for A. Bourne: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-1506-6160
ORCID for P. Morgan: ORCID iD orcid.org/0009-0002-5910-8932

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Date deposited: 04 Sep 2024 16:37
Last modified: 07 Sep 2024 01:44

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Contributors

Author: J.J. Lowe
Author: C.B. Ramsey
Author: R.A. Housley
Author: C.S. Lane
Author: E.L. Tomlinson
Author: C. Stringer
Author: W. Davies
Author: N. Barton
Author: M. Pollard
Author: C. Gamble
Author: M. Menzies
Author: E. Rohling ORCID iD
Author: A. Roberts
Author: S. Blockley
Author: V. Cullen
Author: K. Grant
Author: M. Lewis
Author: A. MacLeod
Author: D. White
Author: P. Albert
Author: M. Hardiman
Author: S. Lee
Author: A. Oh
Author: C. Satow
Author: J.K. Cross
Author: C.B. Law
Author: A. Todman
Author: A. Bourne ORCID iD
Author: I. Matthews
Author: W. Müller
Author: V. Smith
Author: S. Wulf
Author: M. Anghelinu
Author: W. Antl-Weiser
Author: O. Bar-Yosef
Author: D. Boric
Author: P. Boscato
Author: A. Ronchitelli
Author: V. Chabai
Author: A. Veselsky
Author: T. King
Author: T. Ward
Author: M. Christensen
Author: J. Richter
Author: L. Davies
Author: P. Morgan ORCID iD
Author: R. Brown
Author: N. Jordan
Author: M. Marani
Author: T. Jones
Corporate Author: Reset Team
Corporate Author: RESET Associates

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