Publication Alert! Article by Dr Michael Spate 2021 CACHE Postdoctoral Research Fellow
CACHE congratulates our ECR Affiliate and one of our 2021 CACHE Postdoctoral Research Fellows, Dr Michael Spate, and co-authors Christian Leipe and Giedre Motuzaite Matuzeviciute on their article publication titled “Reviewing the Palaeoenvironmental Record to Better Understand Long-Term Human-Environment Interaction in Inner Asia During the Late Holocene” (2022) inFrontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Volume 10.
Dr Michael Spate is the Edwin Cuthbert Hall Research Fellow in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Sydney, focusing on the deep history of human-environment interactions across Eurasia. The article presents the results of Dr Spate’s 2021 CACHE Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, which was entitled Human impacts in the Central Asian sedimentary record. This research, sponsored by CACHE Co-Deputy Director Dr Emilie Ens, explored the long-term development of pastoralist ecology in the Central Asian region. The article reviews anthropogenic landscape modification indicated by various palaeoenvironmental proxies including pollen, fungal spores, sediment and charcoals deposited in lake and swamp records across the region. Comparing these data with the archaeological record, Mike and the team identify evident changes as early as 4500 years ago and argue that traditional social-ecological adaptations are a key feature in environmental conservation in the region today. You can read more about Mike’s fellowship project featured in our 2021 CACHE Matters E-Zine.
Please join us as we congratulate Mike on his continued success. The article has been linked to read online and download. For more information about his research and publications, see his University of Sydney and ResearchGate profiles.
Image: A sub-alpine pasture and settlement at 2800m above sea level in the Lidder Valley, Kashmir. The study explores the development of these landscapes through natural and anthropogenic processes across mountainous Inner Asia” (photo by Mike Spate).