Abstract:
The presentation introduces a new interdisciplinary approach for the reconstruction of Quaternary abiotic, biotic and cultural changes in African model highland environments of southern Ethiopia (Sanetti Plateau, Bale Mountains National Park). High altitude ecosystems are still widely perceived as natural and anthropogenic transformation is generally considered to be concentrated on lower elevations and late. However, recent studies challenge this view and for quaternary environmental science and prehistory, the question where humans retreated to during the driest intervals of the last 20 ka when lowlands may have become uninhabitable is still demanding. Scientific goals of our archaeological project are the reconstruction of the settlement history of the Bale Mountains and the diachronic examination of the interplay between humans and their environment during the late Quaternary landscape evolution. Vertical migration of highly mobile hunter-gatherer groups to montane refugia is suggested as a form of adaptation to abrupt arid events. Human agency, i.e. environment independent decisions could account for non-climate migration patterns.
