A new study reveals that around 14.500 to 10.500 years ago, during the transition from the last glacial period, people harvesting vegetation from the wetlands of eastern Jordan created a habitat for migrating birds. The researchers show that human activity can allow species to coexist in certain environments.
The presence of humans is often associated with negative impacts on flora and fauna, and it is clear that our species has negatively impacted biodiversity throughout history.
But in a new study published in the Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, a team of researchers from the University of Copenhagen and the University of Turin have found that some human activities can have a stimulating effect on biodiversity through the modification of certain ecosystems.
The ecosystem in question is the Shubayqa wetland in eastern Jordan, which is currently only seasonally flooded. But zoo archaeologist Lisa Yeomans of the University of Copenhagen said recent evidence shows that water was probably present for much of the year, and so it is possible that waterfowl and other species could have existed there all year round if there was a suitable habitat.
Excavations at the Shubayqa sites have found evidence that the Neolithic peoples who occupied these areas for longer or shorter periods not only gathered emergent plants from the wetlands, but also hunted waterfowl and collected their eggs and feathers.
The presence of eggshells and bones of baby ducks and swans in the archaeological record suggests that these birds stayed in the wetlands year-round to breed, rather than returning to Europe. We know that modern descendants of these birds can stay and breed in the region but only if the environment is suitable for them. Wetland vegetation is thought to have provided suitable ecological niches for them through human influence.
The archaeological cultures the researchers are studying date from periods when humans were on the verge of developing agriculture. Recent research has assessed that habitat modification activities, such as those documented in the Shubayqa wetlands in eastern Jordan, may have been an important driver in this process.
“We know that agriculture developed in this region long after these cultures, and we suggest that conscious management of wetlands was an important stage in this process,” anthropologist Camilla Mazzucato said. She added that the effort to modify wetlands has yielded results and provided better foraging opportunities in terms of waterfowl, eggs and feathers.
“Novel palaeoproteomic methodologies were developed to identify species of eggshells. Breeding waterfowl at Shubayqa demonstrates the year-round presence of water at the wetland. This has encouraged us to consider the agency of humans and other species in modifying the environment and move beyond simple deterministic interpretations of climate-driven innovation; for millennia humans and animals have co-inhabited different environments adapting to the presence and actions of one another, and this co-habitation has, we argue, been crucial for innovations that subsequently led to the advent of agriculture.”
Cover Photo: Coot (Fulica atra) nesting in a lake in Copenhagen. Lisa Yeomans