A Quaternary Timeline: a teaching tool for interpreting palaeoenvironmental, palaeoclimatic and archaeological change over the last 500,000 years

Danielle Schreve, Nicholas Branch

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Abstract

This short paper presents a case study for teaching elements of Quaternary Science to a non-specialist audience. A guided hands-on practical exercise in sedimentology and stratigraphy, palaeoenvironmental analysis and Palaeolithic archaeology was supported by the development of a ‘Quaternary Timeline’
chart, which introduces the concepts of changing climates and environments and characterises the broad expression of these changes in the terrestrial and fossil records. Using information from the practical exercises, the figure allows a step-by-step interpretation to be built up of past landscapes, including an understanding of the nature of fluvial responses to Quaternary climate change, a reconstruction of the
contemporary flora and mammalian fauna and an analysis of the activities of early human populations.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)83-86
Number of pages4
JournalProceedings of the Geologists' Association
Volume121
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2010

Keywords

  • Quaternary
  • Education
  • Climate Change
  • Fauna
  • Flora
  • Palaeolithic archaeology

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