PřF:Bi9291 Paleoecology - Course Information

Bi9291 Human Ecology in Quaternary Period

Extent and Intensity

2/0. 2 credit(s) (plus 2 credits for an exam). Type of Completion: zk (examination).

Teacher(s)

prof. PhDr. Jiří Svoboda, DrSc. (lecturer)
prof. RNDr. Jaromír Demek, DrSc. (lecturer)
RNDr. Vlasta Jankovská, CSc. (lecturer)
prof. RNDr. Rudolf Musil, DrSc. (lecturer)
doc. Mgr. Sandra Sázelová, Ph.D. (lecturer)

Guaranteed by

prof. PhDr. Jiří Svoboda, DrSc.
Department of Anthropology – Biology Section – Faculty of Science
Contact Person: prof. PhDr. Jiří Svoboda, DrSc.
Supplier department: Department of Anthropology – Biology Section – Faculty of Science

Timetable

Mon 12:00–13:50 Bp1

Course Enrolment Limitations

The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.

fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with

there are 7 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display

Course objectives

Paleoecology reconstructs past climate and environments, inquiries about human adaptation and impact on general trends in human evolution. At the end of course, the student should be able to reconstruct and interpret landscape and environment in changing conditions of the Quaternary period and apply optimal methods in order to record and evaluate such changes. The student should especially be able to understand the means of human biological and social adaptation to these conditions.

Syllabus

• 1. Introduction I - definitions (ecology, population, niche, biom, ecosystem, biodiversity, succession, climax), nutritional chain, ecological sustainability - S. Sázelová.
• 2. Introduction II - ecological anthropology, human adaptation to environmental change - S. Sázelová.
• 3. Climatic and environmental evolution in Eurasia (rhythm of climatic cycles, types of sediments and vulcanites, dating, correlation, analogies, landscape reconstruction) - J. Svoboda.
• 4. Climatic and environmental evolution in Africa (specifics of tropical conditions, impact on hominine evolution) - J. Svoboda.
• 5. Pleistocene continental glaciation. Environment of the mountain glaciations, of the proglacial zone and the Pleistocene pluvial zone - J. Demek.
• 6. Cryogenic processes and formations in periglacial environment. Paleoecological reconstruction of environment based on cryogenic forms - J. Demek.
• 7. Paleobotanics. Terminology of palynological and macroremain analyses, pollen spectrum, paleoreconstruction. Fieldwork methods, “natural archives” – peat and peatbog, water biotops, lake, pond, unconventional- mostly anthropogenic deposits, forest humus. Laboratory preparation and interpretation of the samples, pollen analyses, graphic presentations, pollen diagrams - V. Jankovská.
• 8. Pollen-analytically described sites in Bohemia, Moravia, and Slovakia and selected sites in Northern Eurasia. Vegetational and landscape relationships within actual Boreal zone of Eurasia and their use as analogies - V. Jankovská.
• 9. Basic stratigraphy and faunal record of the Quaternary period, with emphasis on the last glaciations, and in relationship to environmental changes - R. Musil.
• 10. Environmental analyses as a complex of abiotic and biotic factors - R. Musil.
• 11. Taphonomy - definition; review and methods in separating the basic abiotic and biotic agents influencing fossil bone material - S. Sázelová.

Literature

required literature
• Butzer, K. W. 1971: Environment and archaeology: An ecological approach to prehistory. Chicago, Aldine.
• Ložek, V. 1973: Příroda ve čtvrtohorách. Praha, Academia.
• Musil, R. 2005: Klima v posledním glaciál.Acta Musei Moraviae, Sci. geol. 90, 223-246.
• Pokorný, P. 2011: Neklidné časy. Praha, Dokořán.
• Svoboda, J., Havlíček, P., Ložek, V., Macoun, J., Musil, R., Přichystal, A., Svobodová, H., Vlček, E. 1994, 2002, 2009: Paleolit Moravy a Slezska. Brno, Archeologický ústav AV ČR Brno, 1.-3. vyd.
• van Andel, T., Davies, W. (Eds.) 2003: Neanderthals and modern humans in the European landscape during the last glaciation: Archaeological results of the Stage 3 Project. Cambridge, McDonald Institute Monographs.
• Washburn, A. L. 1979: Geocryology. A survey of periglacial processes and environments. London, Edward Arnold.

recommended literature
• Embleton, C., King, C. A. M. 1975: Periglacial Geomorphology. London, Edward Arnold.
• French, H. 2007: The Periglacial Environment, Third Edition, Chichester, Wiley.
• Jankovská, V. 1997: Možnosti využití pylové analýzy. Lesnická práce 10, 366-367.
• Jankovská, V. 1997: Vývoj vegetace střední Evropy od konce poslední doby ledové do současnosti. Lesnická práce 11, 409-412.
• Lang, G. 1994: Quartare Vegetationsgeschichte Europas. Jena, Stuttgart, New York, Gustav Fischer Verlag.
• Ložek, V. 2007: Zrcadlo minulosti: Česká a slovenská krajina v kvartéru. Praha, Dokořán.
• Musil, R. 2005: Rekonstrukce prostředí střední Evropy v době 9.000 až 5.500 let. Ve službách archeologie 6, 239-245.
• Musil, R. 2010: Palaeoenvironment at Gravettian Sites in Central Europe with emphasis on Moravia (Czech Republic). Quartär 57, 95-123.
• Musil, R. 2010: The environment of the middle Palaeolithic sites in Central and Eastern Europe. Wroclaw, Acta Universitatis Wratislaviensis, No 3207, Studia archeologiczne XLI, 121- 179.

Teaching methods

Theoretical preparation in the form of lectures accompanied by discussion with students.

Assessment methods

The course is concluded with a written test. To pass the exam successfully the student must attain minimum of 75 % from possible test points, which prove good knowledge of the issues discussed during lectures and in the required reading.

Language of instruction

Czech

Further comments (probably available only in Czech)

Study Materials
The course is taught once in two years.

• Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2013, recent)
  
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