Jason Lobell reports in Archaeology (September/October 2015) about an affect of climate change on the oldest mummies:
The work revealed that, while the mummies have been decaying for at least a decade, the process seems to have accelerated, perhaps as a result of climate change, despite the museum’s climate-control systems. “The climate in this region has changed from cool and dry to warm and damp, and the increased humidity has caused microbes that are common to all of our skin, but usually get washed off, to grow and damage the mummies’ skin,” says Mitchell.
Of course, as water levels rise, archaeological sites located in zones thought to be soon flooded will disappear. This doesn’t necessarily mean their destruction, of course, but certainly endangers them. On the other hand, climate change can occasionally have a positive effect, as noted in another article from the same issue of Archaeology. Entitled “Cultural Revival,” it is not available online. Here’s the summary from the online Table of Contents:
Excavations near a Yup’ik village in Alaska are helping its people reconnect with the epic stories and practices of their ancestors
Long story short, back in 2007 carved wooden objects began washing up on the shores of the village of Quinhagak. They were traced to an abandoned Yup’ik village a few miles to the south, the site of an internecine massacre in roughly 1650. After the deaths of the inhabitants, the victors left and the the village left to the elements. Now the incoming sea has washed away some of the covering turf, revealing the artifacts and washing many out to sea, and then back in where Quinhagak is located, fortunately. So in this case, climate change is double-edged, as the site is being destroyed, but at least it was brought to the attention of the Yup’ik, and onwards to archaeologists.
And the rest of the story? Usually, the Yup’ik leave the sites of their ancestors alone, but in this case the elders of Quinhagak saw an opportunity to connect their children with their ancestral history. The youth have sketched the artifacts as they are excavated, relearned the old arts of carving, and even taken up the suppressed (by Christian missionaries) practice of dancing – although without the carved masks, so far. And the village of Quinhagak is now making plans to move – away from the sea.
