Distribution and extinction of ungulates during the Holocene of the southern Levant.

<h4>Background</h4>The southern Levant (Israel, Palestinian Authority and Jordan) has been continuously and extensively populated by succeeding phases of human cultures for the past 15,000 years. The long human impact on the ancient landscape has had great ecological consequences, and ha...

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Autores principales:	Ella Tsahar, Ido Izhaki, Simcha Lev-Yadun, Guy Bar-Oz
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2009
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/962f6b516dd343f087071ce6fcc9cb77
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:962f6b516dd343f087071ce6fcc9cb772021-11-25T06:22:58ZDistribution and extinction of ungulates during the Holocene of the southern Levant.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0005316https://doaj.org/article/962f6b516dd343f087071ce6fcc9cb772009-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/19401760/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203<h4>Background</h4>The southern Levant (Israel, Palestinian Authority and Jordan) has been continuously and extensively populated by succeeding phases of human cultures for the past 15,000 years. The long human impact on the ancient landscape has had great ecological consequences, and has caused continuous and accelerating damage to the natural environment. The rich zooarchaeological data gathered at the area provide a unique opportunity to reconstruct spatial and temporal changes in wild species distribution, and correlate them with human demographic changes.<h4>Methodology</h4>Zoo-archaeological data (382 animal bone assemblages from 190 archaeological sites) from various time periods, habitats and landscapes were compared. The bone assemblages were sorted into 12 major cultural periods. Distribution maps showing the presence of each ungulate species were established for each period.<h4>Conclusions</h4>The first major ungulate extinction occurred during the local Iron Age (1,200-586 BCE), a period characterized by significant human population growth. During that time the last of the largest wild ungulates, the hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus), aurochs (Bos primigenius) and the hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) became extinct, followed by a shrinking distribution of forest-dwelling cervids. A second major wave of extinction occurred only in the 19th and 20th centuries CE. Furthermore, a negative relationship was found between the average body mass of ungulate species that became extinct during the Holocene and their extinction date. It is thus very likely that the intensified human activity through habitat destruction and uncontrolled hunting were responsible for the two major waves of ungulate extinction in the southern Levant during the late Holocene.Ella TsaharIdo IzhakiSimcha Lev-YadunGuy Bar-OzPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 4, Iss 4, p e5316 (2009)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Ella Tsahar Ido Izhaki Simcha Lev-Yadun Guy Bar-Oz Distribution and extinction of ungulates during the Holocene of the southern Levant.
description	<h4>Background</h4>The southern Levant (Israel, Palestinian Authority and Jordan) has been continuously and extensively populated by succeeding phases of human cultures for the past 15,000 years. The long human impact on the ancient landscape has had great ecological consequences, and has caused continuous and accelerating damage to the natural environment. The rich zooarchaeological data gathered at the area provide a unique opportunity to reconstruct spatial and temporal changes in wild species distribution, and correlate them with human demographic changes.<h4>Methodology</h4>Zoo-archaeological data (382 animal bone assemblages from 190 archaeological sites) from various time periods, habitats and landscapes were compared. The bone assemblages were sorted into 12 major cultural periods. Distribution maps showing the presence of each ungulate species were established for each period.<h4>Conclusions</h4>The first major ungulate extinction occurred during the local Iron Age (1,200-586 BCE), a period characterized by significant human population growth. During that time the last of the largest wild ungulates, the hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus), aurochs (Bos primigenius) and the hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) became extinct, followed by a shrinking distribution of forest-dwelling cervids. A second major wave of extinction occurred only in the 19th and 20th centuries CE. Furthermore, a negative relationship was found between the average body mass of ungulate species that became extinct during the Holocene and their extinction date. It is thus very likely that the intensified human activity through habitat destruction and uncontrolled hunting were responsible for the two major waves of ungulate extinction in the southern Levant during the late Holocene.
format	article
author	Ella Tsahar Ido Izhaki Simcha Lev-Yadun Guy Bar-Oz
author_facet	Ella Tsahar Ido Izhaki Simcha Lev-Yadun Guy Bar-Oz
author_sort	Ella Tsahar
title	Distribution and extinction of ungulates during the Holocene of the southern Levant.
title_short	Distribution and extinction of ungulates during the Holocene of the southern Levant.
title_full	Distribution and extinction of ungulates during the Holocene of the southern Levant.
title_fullStr	Distribution and extinction of ungulates during the Holocene of the southern Levant.
title_full_unstemmed	Distribution and extinction of ungulates during the Holocene of the southern Levant.
title_sort	distribution and extinction of ungulates during the holocene of the southern levant.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2009
url	https://doaj.org/article/962f6b516dd343f087071ce6fcc9cb77
work_keys_str_mv	AT ellatsahar distributionandextinctionofungulatesduringtheholoceneofthesouthernlevant AT idoizhaki distributionandextinctionofungulatesduringtheholoceneofthesouthernlevant AT simchalevyadun distributionandextinctionofungulatesduringtheholoceneofthesouthernlevant AT guybaroz distributionandextinctionofungulatesduringtheholoceneofthesouthernlevant
_version_	1718413814877126656

Distribution and extinction of ungulates during the Holocene of the southern Levant.

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