The above questions are very important in the present day, attracting the interest of academics and policy makers alike. Yet they equally apply to the past; people throughout (pre)history have faced climate change and responded to it in various ways. An understanding of past climate change, its effects, and people’s responses to these can help build the resilience of communities facing climate change today (van de Noort 2013). Moreover, the impacts of climate change often exceed human experiences of time. Thus, in order to come to terms with climate change and its effects in the present, and find solutions to the challenges we face in the future, we need to consider the past as well.

 

This postgraduate conference aims to bring together PhD and early career researchers in archaeology and related disciplines across the sciences, social sciences and arts and humanities. An inter-disciplinary perspective, integrating various lines of evidence, provides the opportunity to examine the wider social and ecological relations between climate change and human society in the past, present and future. This interdisciplinary view will provide a long-term perspective on climate change, whilst also offering insights into its effects on a human scale.

 

Papers relating to the following themes will be presented by postgraduate researchers from various backgrounds, including Archaeology, Geography and Anthropology:

 

• The socio-political, cultural and economic impact of climate change on human societies

• Perceptions of climate change

• Adaptations and responses to climate change by human societies

• Archaeology’s role in the current climate change debates

 

Please see click here for the programme and abstracts.