Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 08/28/2008 - 20:34
Forums
Kuril Islands Biocomplexity 08

Mike since you have been doing this research for three years what is your overall conclusion- do you think humans were resilient or vulnerable overall?  Were there major enviromental events like volcanic eruptions or was the enviroment mostly stable?  What do you have to do next with your data?  Do you have to go to a big conference or a symposium to present your results?  My mom thinks it should be somewhere warm and equatorial for a change!

Mon, 09/08/2008 - 09:10

KBP Team

We are still a long way from being able to reach any final conclusions (but see Ben's "Guest Entry" in the "Ask the Team Responses" to a similar question).  We will be spending the next two years identifying the rest of the faunal samples, submitting charcoal for radiocarbon dating, determining what kinds of raw materials (and in what proportions) were used for making stone tools, and, perhaps most difficult of all, synthesizing all of our archaeological data with the geological (tsunami and volcanic eruption histories) and palynological (pollen records of past climate) data.
In general, however, it looks like people living in the Kurils were pretty darn resilient.  Even without all the volcanoes and earthquakes and tsunamis, they still had to deal with strong ocean currents, fog, storms and wind and rain.  Granted, our perspectives on living in the Kurils are heavily influenced by the relatively easy lives we live.  But after having spent 3 summers out in the Kurils, I have gained a lot of respect for the people who were able to survive out there for so long!
 We are still in the planning stages for any symposia we might assemble.  The two candidate locations are Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia, or Hokkaido, Japan.  They may not be warm and equatorial, but they are very beautiful places!
 
--Dr. E