Archaeological assessment reveals Earth’s early transformation through land use

Stephens, L. D. Fuller, N. Boivin, T. Rick, N. Gauthier, A. Kay, B. Marwick, C. Geralda, D. Armstrong, C. M. Barton, T. Denham, K. Douglass, J. Driver, L. Janz, P. Roberts, J. D. Rogers, H. Thakar, M. Altaweel, A. L. Johnson, M. M. Sampietro Vattuone, M. Aldenderfer, S. Archila, G. Artioli, M. T. Bale, T. Beach, F. Borrell, T. Braje, P. I. Buckland, N. G. Jiménez Cano, J. M. Capriles, A. Diez Castillo, Ç. Çilingiroğlu, M. Negus Cleary, J. Conolly, P. R. Coutros, R. A. Covey, M. Cremaschi, A. Crowther, L. Der, S. di Lernia, J. F. Doershuk, W. E. Doolittle, K. J. Edwards, J. M. Erlandson, D. Evans, A. Fairbairn, P. Faulkner, G. Feinman, R. Fernandes, S. M. Fitzpatrick, R. Fyfe, E. Garcea, S. Goldstein, R. Goodman, J. Dalpoim Guedes, J. Herrmann, P. Hiscock, P. Hommel, K. A. Horsburgh, C. Hritz, J. W. Ives, A. Junno, J. G. Kahn, B. Kaufman, C. Kearns, T. R. Kidder, F. Lanoë, D. Lawrence, G. Lee, Maureece J. Levin, H. B. Lindskoug, J. A. López-Sáez, S. Macrae, R. Marchant, J. M. Marston, S. McClure, M. D. McCoy, A. Ventresca Miller, M. Morrison, G. Motuzaite Matuzeviciute, J. Müller, A. Nayak, S. Noerwidi, T. M. Peres, C. E. Peterson, L. Proctor, A. Randall, S. Renette, G. Robbins Schug, K. Ryzewski, R. Saini, V. Scheinsohn, P. Schmidt, P. Sebillaud, O. Seitsonen, I. A. Simpson, A. Sołtysiak, R. J. Speakman, R. N. Spengler, M. L. Steffen, M. J. Storozum, K. M. Strickland, J. Thompson, T. L. Thurston, S. Ulm, M. C. Ustunkaya, M. H. Welker, C. West, P. R. Williams, D. K. Wright, N. Wright, M. Zahir, A. Zerboni, E. Beaudoin, S. Munevar Garcia, J. Powell, A. Thornton, J. O. Kaplan, M. J. Gaillard, K. K.Goldewijk, E. Ellis. “Archaeological assessment reveals Earth’s early transformation through land use.” Science Vol. 365, Issue 6456, pp. 897-902.

Humans began to leave lasting impacts on Earth’s surface starting 10,000 to 8000 years ago. Through a synthetic collaboration with archaeologists around the globe, Stephens et al. compiled a comprehensive picture of the trajectory of human land use worldwide during the Holocene (see the Perspective by Roberts). Hunter-gatherers, farmers, and pastoralists transformed the face of Earth earlier and to a greater extent than has been widely appreciated, a transformation that was essentially global by 3000 years before the present.