Anthropology Colloquium with Yale Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Jessica Thompson: "A Legacy of Humans, Environments, and Fire in Southern-central Africa." 

Friday, January 28th at 1:00 PM Eastern via Zoom: https://dartmouth.zoom.us/my/dartmouth.anthropology

Today, the region of open woodland known as the Zambezian Biotic Zone covers 13% of Africa in a belt stretching from Angola to Mozambique. By interpreting ancient records as a long-term cycle of anthropogenic fire, vegetation change, and landscape change, it is possible to ask if human activity was a major factor in the evolution and emergence of this modern-day ecosystem, and what implications this has for its future resilience. It also raises the question of the extent to which environmental modification is a hallmark of “being human”.