Per Capita Land Use through Time and Space: A New Database for (Pre)Historic Land-Use Reconstructions

Chad Hill (), Marco Madella, Nicki J. Whitehouse, Carolina Jiménez-Arteaga, Emily Hammer, Jennifer Bates, Lynn Welton, Stefano Biagetti, Johanna Hilpert and Kathleen D. Morrison
Additional contact information
Chad Hill: Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Marco Madella: CASEs, Department of Humanities, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08002 Barcelona, Spain
Nicki J. Whitehouse: Archaeology, School of Humanities, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
Carolina Jiménez-Arteaga: CASEs, Department of Humanities, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08002 Barcelona, Spain
Emily Hammer: Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Jennifer Bates: Department of Archaeology and Art History, College of Humanities, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
Lynn Welton: Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1C1, Canada
Stefano Biagetti: CASEs, Department of Humanities, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08002 Barcelona, Spain
Johanna Hilpert: Department of Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany
Kathleen D. Morrison: Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA

Land, 2024, vol. 13, issue 8, 1-22

Abstract: Anthropogenic land cover change (ALCC) models, commonly used for climate modeling, tend to utilize relatively simplistic models of human interaction with the environment. They have historically relied on unsophisticated assumptions about the temporal and spatial variability of the area needed to support one person: per capita land use (PCLU). To help refine ALCC models, we used a range of data sources to build a new database that attempts to bring together PCLU data with significant time depth and a global perspective. This new database can provide new nuance for our understanding of the variability in land use among and between time periods and regions, data that will have wide applicability for continued research into past human land use and present land-use change, and can hopefully help improve existing ALCC models. An example is provided, showing the potential impact of new PCLU data on land-use mapping in the Middle East at 6000 BP.

Keywords: land use; land cover; ALCC; PCLU (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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