Exploring the onset of Anthropocene in the Upper Jordan valley (Hula lake)

Project Information

GEOLAKE

Grant agreement ID: 891230

DOI

10.3030/891230

Project terminated on 31 August 2022

EC signature date 5 March 2020

Start date 1 October 2020

End date 31 October 2022

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 172 932,48

EU contribution

€ 172 932,48

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITAT AUTONOMA DE BARCELONA
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - GEOLAKE (Exploring the onset of Anthropocene in the Upper Jordan valley (Hula lake))

Reporting period: 2020-10-01 to 2022-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Where, when and how have ancient societies transformed their natural environment? What was the spatial extent and frequency of these changes? The project GEOLAKE “Exploring the onset of Anthropocene in the Upper Jordan valley” proposed to investigate, characterize and quantify the relative impact of human activities and climate variations in the palaeoenvironments of the Upper Jordan Valley (Israel). In this part of the Levant, the Holocene is a key period during which environmental changes and human pressures profoundly transformed local ecosystems. From a broader perspective, the aim was to provide new data allowing to better constrain the concept of the (Palaeo)Anthropocene.

By analyzing changes in the environment and changes in the human occupation pattern at the local scale, we aims to disentangle the effects of climate change and anthropogenic activities on the environment and to highlight the long-term adaptation of populations in the Upper Jordan valley. For that we used archaeological, sedimentary, palaeoecological and geochemical proxies.
The lacustrine archives of the Hula valley have been used to reconstruct with a high-resolution the human-environment dynamics over the last 7000 years.
Archaeological sites from the shores of the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret) have been used to reconstruct changes in the level of the lake during the past 3000 years.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The first step of the project consisted in the collection of a long sedimentary core in the Hula valley to reconstruct the environmental changes using a multidisciplinary approach combining organic (molecular biomarkers and their isotopes) and inorganic (X-ray Fluorescence) geochemical markers in combination with radiocarbon dating of cores. Results indicate a dichotomy between the mid-Holocene (7000-4000 cal. years BP) and the late-Holocene (last 4000 years). The mid-Holocene is characterized by important fluctuations of the erosion dynamics in the watershed, whereas the last 4000 years are characterized by less intense episodes of erosion (Figure 1). On the contrary, analysis of markers of human activity seems to highlight a more intense human presence between 4000 and 500 cal years BP. The maximum concentration of faecal biomarkers been recorded during the Roman period.
In parallel, investigations have been undertaken at the site of Kursi along the shore of the Sea of Galilee in order to reconstruct changes in the level of the lake through time and question their link with regional changes in spatial and temporal variations of precipitations (Figure 2).
Our work demonstrate that water level was around -212 to -210 m mean sea level (msl) for the Iron Age II period (9th-10th centuries BCE). Lake level rose to -208/-209 m msl during the Late Hellenistic/Early Roman period. Water level remained low (<-213/-214 m msl) from the Byzantine to the Crusader period (from 5th to 12th centuries CE). The results have been published in an outstanding journal (Giaime and Artzy, 2022 – Scientific Reports), and disseminated in two conferences (Giaime et al., 2021 and Artzy et al., 2021).

References:
- Artzy, M., Giaime, M., Cohen, H., 2021. Vicissitudes of the Lake of Galilee water levels in antiquity: Data from the Kursi Beach excavations. American Society of Overseas Research Annual meeting. 17-20 November 2021, Chicago, USA.
- Giaime, M., Artzy, M., Cohen, H., 2021 Human adaptation to lake level changes in the Late-Holocene: Kursi Beach as an example (Sea of Galilee, Israel). 27th European Association of
- Giaime, M., Artzy, M., 2022. Using archaeological data for the understanding of the Sea of Galilee’s past level fluctuations. Scientific Reports, 12:9775. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-09768-8

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

We have reconstructed erosion dynamics in the watershed of the Hula valley using results from XRF investigation, suggesting a strong link with climate variations that have been previously recorded in the Eastern Mediterranean basin. Two main well recorded dry episodes are in agreement with our record. However, minimum of erosion seems to be recorded around 100-150 years later than the minimum of precipitation. Major episodes of erosions are identified during the mid-Holocene whereas the late-Holocene is characterized by reduced erosion dynamics. We will compare these data with human-related activities recorded in the same cores as well as with archaeological evidences to identify local (basin-scale) human dynamics patter in relation that could be related with environmental changes.
The Sea of Galilee’s shore, and its archaeological remains, have a great potential for reconstructing the changes in water levels. A detailed understanding of these changes is only possible through the detailed multidisciplinary study of the archaeological remains in their geomorphological environment. Our research highlight the fact that water level fluctuations must have been key factors taken into account in the habitation pattern during antiquity.

The final results of this study will be relevant to enhance our understanding of the relative impact of climate and human pressures on local ecosystems. The objective is also to highlight the resilience of human societies to environmental and climate change.

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