Cover news reporters: Yan Wenwen, Ma Xiaoyu, Li Yuxin.
2023 is the hottest year on record. Extreme heat, strong winds, heavy rain, forest fires, ......Each of them is influencing human activity. Archaeology, too, is inevitably affected by various extreme weather events.
The 5th World Archaeological Forum Shanghai was held in Shanghai on the 15th. More than 200 experts and scholars from more than 40 countries and regions conducted in-depth discussions on "Climate Change Archaeology and Social Sustainable Development".
The cover news reporter interviewed a number of archaeologists. They gave their own answers to the impact of climate change on different sites.
Professor Haffner at the University of Bern.
Climate change is making it more difficult to preserve glacial archaeological sites.
Hafner. Haffner, who specializes in underwater archaeology and coastal archaeology, believes that archaeological sites are indeed seriously threatened by climate change. Such threats mainly come from two aspects: one is the short-term, direct threat such as wildfires;The second is the long-term danger.
I've found that in some lakes, there is an increase in erosion due to rising temperatures. In addition, there are problems such as erosion and invasive species. "A lake is vulnerable to the invasion of new species. The warming of the water produces other microorganisms, and the organic matter is destroyed faster. ”
For example, a swamp will have a lot of archaeological material, but the arid climate will dry out the swamp. Once the swamp dries up, most of the organic matter decays and cannot be preserved. Therefore, archaeologists must take the initiative to dry these areas and remove the archaeological material before the swamps dry up.
In addition, the melting of icebergs due to higher temperatures is also a threat to the archaeological sites preserved on the glaciers: "In Switzerland, there is an archaeological site that is about 7,000 years old, but due to the weather, the archaeological material that has been covered by the glacier for 6,000 years has disappeared. In addition, there is a very famous site in the Alps, where famous glacier mummies have been unearthed. But today, both sites have disappeared due to melting glaciers. If climate change is a positive for archaeology, it is that as glaciers melt, some archaeological material is being released. ”
Today's climate change is actually determined by the size of the population.
The larger our populations are and the more complex our societies are, the more we are affected by climate change. "When the population was small, the mobility of the population was also low, and now the world is close to 10 billion people, making low mobility no longer possible." ”
With such a population size, in addition to saving energy and reducing emissions, climate change mitigation can also be pinned on green energy, such as the promotion of electric vehicles and the replacement of fossil energy with electricity.
In fact, it is still more difficult, for example, we have such a problem in Switzerland. For example, the Swiss are reluctant to install solar panels in the Alps, which are more often used for sightseeing and outdoor activities, which is also a hallmark of Switzerland. Therefore, it is very difficult for solar panels to move forward. ”
Nigerian archaeologist Barbarola.
If I could only save one site, I would choose the place where humanity began.
Barbarola. Climate change and archaeology are inextricably linked, and the climate change that humanity talks about today has a long and deep history in archaeology and prehistory. According to Nigerian archaeologist Barbarola, to understand the causes and solutions of climate change, we can try to understand how people in the past related and interacted with climate conditions, and then put the solutions of the ancients in the current environment and re-examine them.
When the reporter makes an assumption that if there is about to be a major flood in the world, all the archaeological sites will be submerged, and he only has the ability to save one archaeological site, which one will he choose?
It's a difficult question to answer, there are many archaeological sites in the world, both in China and Nigeria. I love all the sites and want them to be well preserved, and I am willing to do whatever it takes to protect them. "Because they tell humans a lot about the past, I don't have any preferences." ”
He paused, thought for a moment, and replied again: "If I really have to choose one, then I would choose Olduvai Canyon in Tanzania." It is the origin of mankind. If you protect the origins of humanity, we can dig into more content. Once the place of origin is gone, all the stories are gone. ”
Olduvai Canyon was the first place where humans were found to have used stone tools, and these "people" who could use stone tools were named "Homo sapiens", the first early members of the genus Homo.