Outputs (19)

Biomarker proxies for reconstructing Quaternary climate and environmental change (2023)
Journal Article
McClymont, E. L., Mackay, H., Stevenson, M. A., Damm-Johnsen, T., Honan, E. M., Penny, C. E., & Cole, Y. A. (2023). Biomarker proxies for reconstructing Quaternary climate and environmental change. Journal of Quaternary Science, 38(7), 991-1024. https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.3559

To reconstruct past environmental changes, a range of indirect or proxy approaches can be applied to Quaternary archives. Here, we review the complementary and novel insights which have been provided by the analysis of chemical fossils (biomarkers).... Read More about Biomarker proxies for reconstructing Quaternary climate and environmental change.

New integrated molecular approaches for understanding lake settlements in NW Europe (2022)
Journal Article
Brown, A., Fonville, T., Van Hardenbroek, M. R., Cavers, G., Crone, A., McCormick, F., …Pirrie, D. (2022). New integrated molecular approaches for understanding lake settlements in NW Europe. Antiquity, 96(389), 1179-1199. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2022.70

Lake settlements, particularly crannogs, pose several contradictions – visible yet inaccessible, widespread yet geographically restricted, persistent yet vulnerable. To further our understanding, we have developed the integrated use of palaeolimnolog... Read More about New integrated molecular approaches for understanding lake settlements in NW Europe.

Developing Transdisciplinary Approaches to Sustainability Challenges: The Need to Model Socio-Environmental Systems in the Longue Durée (2022)
Journal Article
Silva, F., Coward, F., Davies, K., Elliott, S., Jenkins, E., Newton, A. C., …Williams, A. (2022). Developing Transdisciplinary Approaches to Sustainability Challenges: The Need to Model Socio-Environmental Systems in the Longue Durée. Sustainability, 14(16), Article 10234. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141610234

Human beings are an active component of every terrestrial ecosystem on Earth. Although our local impact on the evolution of these ecosystems has been undeniable and extensively documented, it remains unclear precisely how our activities are altering... Read More about Developing Transdisciplinary Approaches to Sustainability Challenges: The Need to Model Socio-Environmental Systems in the Longue Durée.

The 853 CE Mount Churchill eruption: examining the potential climatic and societal impacts and the timing of the Medieval Climate Anomaly in the North Atlantic Region (2022)
Journal Article
Mackay, H., Plunkett, G., Jensen, B., Aubry, T., Corona, C., Kim, W. M., …Swindles, G. (2022). The 853 CE Mount Churchill eruption: examining the potential climatic and societal impacts and the timing of the Medieval Climate Anomaly in the North Atlantic Region. Climate of the Past, 18(6), 1475-1508. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-1475-2022

The 852/3 CE eruption of Mount Churchill, Alaska, was one of the largest first-millennium volcanic events, with a magnitude of 6.7 (VEI 6) and a tephra volume of 39.4–61.9 km3 (95 % confidence). The spatial extent of the ash fallout from this event i... Read More about The 853 CE Mount Churchill eruption: examining the potential climatic and societal impacts and the timing of the Medieval Climate Anomaly in the North Atlantic Region.

Vulnerability of the North Water ecosystem to climate change (2021)
Journal Article
Ribeiro, S., Limoges, A., Massé, G., Johansen, K. L., Colgan, W., Weckström, K., …Davidson, T. A. (2021). Vulnerability of the North Water ecosystem to climate change. Nature Communications, 12, Article 4475. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24742-0

High Arctic ecosystems and Indigenous livelihoods are tightly linked and exposed to climate change, yet assessing their sensitivity requires a long-term perspective. Here, we assess the vulnerability of the North Water polynya, a unique seaice ecosys... Read More about Vulnerability of the North Water ecosystem to climate change.

Analysis of fine particulates from fuel burning in a reconstructed building at Çatalhöyük World Heritage Site, Turkey: assessing air pollution in prehistoric settled communities (2021)
Journal Article
Shillito, L., Namdeo, A., Bapat, A. V., Mackay, H., & Haddow, S. D. (2022). Analysis of fine particulates from fuel burning in a reconstructed building at Çatalhöyük World Heritage Site, Turkey: assessing air pollution in prehistoric settled communities. Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 44(3), 1033-1048. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-021-01000-2

The use of wood, dung and other biomass fuels can be traced back to early prehistory. While the study of prehistoric fuel use and its environmental impacts is well established, there has been little investigation of the health impacts this would have... Read More about Analysis of fine particulates from fuel burning in a reconstructed building at Çatalhöyük World Heritage Site, Turkey: assessing air pollution in prehistoric settled communities.

Ancient DNA, lipid biomarkers and palaeoecological evidence reveals construction and life on early medieval lake settlements (2021)
Journal Article
Brown, A., Van Hardenbroek, M., Fonville, T., Davies, K., Mackay, H., Murray, E., …Alsos, I. (2021). Ancient DNA, lipid biomarkers and palaeoecological evidence reveals construction and life on early medieval lake settlements. Scientific Reports, 11(1), Article 11807. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-91057-x

Direct evidence of ancient human occupation is typically established through archaeological excavation. Excavations are costly and destructive, and practically impossible in some lake and wetland environments. We present here an alternative approach,... Read More about Ancient DNA, lipid biomarkers and palaeoecological evidence reveals construction and life on early medieval lake settlements.

Spatial variation of hydroclimate in north-eastern North America during the last millennium (2021)
Journal Article
Mackay, H., Amesbury, M. J., Langdon, P. G., Charman, D. J., Magnan, G., van Bellen, S., …Hughes, P. D. (2021). Spatial variation of hydroclimate in north-eastern North America during the last millennium. Quaternary Science Reviews, 256, Article 106813. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.106813

Climatic expressions of the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) and the Little Ice Age (LIA) vary regionally, with reconstructions often depicting complex spatial patterns of temperature and precipitation change. The characterisation of these spatial patt... Read More about Spatial variation of hydroclimate in north-eastern North America during the last millennium.

Middens, Waste Disposal, and Health at Çatalhöyük (2020)
Journal Article
Shillito, L., & Mackay, H. (2020). Middens, Waste Disposal, and Health at Çatalhöyük. Near Eastern Archaeology, 83(3), 168-174. https://doi.org/10.1086/710134

The transition from a mobile hunter-gatherer lifestyle to a settled way of living is one of the most significant processes in human history. There were undeniable benefits to this process, with increased food security and longer lifespans, but there... Read More about Middens, Waste Disposal, and Health at Çatalhöyük.

Characterising life in settlements and structures: Incorporating faecal lipid biomarkers within a multiproxy case study of a wetland village (2020)
Journal Article
Mackay, H., Davies, K. L., Robertson, J., Roy, L., Bull, I. D., Whitehouse, N. J., …Henderson, A. C. (2020). Characterising life in settlements and structures: Incorporating faecal lipid biomarkers within a multiproxy case study of a wetland village. Journal of Archaeological Science, 121, Article 105202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2020.105202

Roundhouses are ubiquitous features of Iron Age landscapes across North West Europe, yet the way they were used internally is not well understood. We demonstrate how spatial analyses of steroid lipid biomarkers advances our understanding of household... Read More about Characterising life in settlements and structures: Incorporating faecal lipid biomarkers within a multiproxy case study of a wetland village.