Lake and Peat Records of Climate Change and Archaeology

Abstract

Lake and peat sediments are frequently used to reconstruct palaeoclimate records from all continents using a variety of proxy techniques. This chapter explores the advances that have occurred in the last 20 or more years for using lake and peat sediments to reconstruct past climate change. It demonstrates the impact these advances have had for palaeoclimate research, and implications for archaeology. Fossilized insect remains are often abundant in a wide range of sediments, including lake, river, and peat deposits. Fire is a natural disturbance in many ecosystems, and lake sediments often contain charcoal that can be used to infer fire dynamics. Ombrotrophic bogs have accumulated deep peat deposits throughout the last 10 000 years in temperate latitudes and elsewhere around the world. The chapter focuses on the research that underpins estimates of past palaeoclimate variability as inferred from peatlands.