气候变化领域集成服务门户(CCPortal): Plague and landscape resilience in premodern Iceland

CCPortal

DOI	10.1073/pnas.1113937109
	Plague and landscape resilience in premodern Iceland
	Streeter R.; Dugmore A.J.; Vésteinsson O.
发表日期	2012
ISSN	0027-8424
起始页码	3664
结束页码	3669
卷号	109 期号:10
英文摘要	In debates on societal collapse, Iceland occupies a position of precarious survival, defined by not becoming extinct, like Norse Greenland, but having endured, sometimes by the narrowest of margins. Classic decline narratives for late medieval to early modern Iceland stress compounding adversities, where climate, trade, political domination, unsustainable practices, and environmental degradation conspire with epidemics and volcanism to depress the Icelanders and turn the once-proud Vikings and Saga writers into one of Europe's poorest nations. A mainstay of this narrative is the impact of incidental setbacks such as plague and volcanism, which are seen to have compounded and exacerbated underlying structural problems. This research shows that this view is not correct. We present a study of landscape change that uses 15 precisely dated tephra layers spanning the whole 1,200-y period of human settlement in Iceland. These tephras have provided 2,625 horizons of known age within 200 stratigraphic sections to form a high-resolution spatial and temporal record of change. This finding shows short-term (50 y) declines in geomorphological activity after two major plagues in A.D. 15th century, variations that probably mirrored variations in the population. In the longer term, the geomorphological impact of climate changes from the 14th century on is delayed, and landscapes (as well as Icelandic society) exhibit resilience over decade to century timescales. This finding is not a simple consequence of depopulation but a reflection of how Icelandic society responded with a scaling back of their economy, conservation of core functionality, and entrenchment of the established order.
英文关键词	Human impact; Soil erosion; Tephrochronology
语种	英语
scopus关键词	article; climate change; environmental impact; geomorphology; human; Iceland; landscape; plague; priority journal; stratigraphy; volcanic ash; Animals; Climate; Climate Change; Environment; Epidemics; Geography; Geologic Sediments; History, Ancient; History, Medieval; Humans; Iceland; Livestock; Plague; Soil; Time Factors
来源期刊	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://gcip.llas.ac.cn/handle/2XKMVOVA/159136
作者单位	Streeter, R., Geography, School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9XP, United Kingdom; Dugmore, A.J., Geography, School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9XP, United Kingdom; Vésteinsson, O., Department of Archaeology, University of Iceland, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Streeter R.,Dugmore A.J.,Vésteinsson O.. Plague and landscape resilience in premodern Iceland[J],2012,109(10).
APA	Streeter R.,Dugmore A.J.,&Vésteinsson O..(2012).Plague and landscape resilience in premodern Iceland.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,109(10).
MLA	Streeter R.,et al."Plague and landscape resilience in premodern Iceland".Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 109.10(2012).