The effects of climate change on the Pleistocene rock art of Sulawesi.

Autor: Huntley J; Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research, PERAHU, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia. j.huntley@griffith.edu.au., Aubert M; Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research, PERAHU, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia.; Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia., Oktaviana AA; Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research, PERAHU, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia.; Pusat Penelitian Arkeologi Nasional (ARKENAS), Jakarta, Indonesia., Lebe R; Balai Pelestarian Cagar Budaya, Sulawesi Selatan, Makassar, Indonesia., Hakim B; Balai Arkeologi Sulawesi, Sulawesi Selatan, Makassar, Indonesia., Burhan B; Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia., Aksa LM; Balai Pelestarian Cagar Budaya, Sulawesi Selatan, Makassar, Indonesia., Geria IM; Pusat Penelitian Arkeologi Nasional (ARKENAS), Jakarta, Indonesia., Ramli M; Balai Pelestarian Cagar Budaya, Sulawesi Selatan, Makassar, Indonesia., Siagian L; Museum Kepresidenan Republik Indonesia, Balai Kirti, Bogor, Indonesia.; Universitas Gadjah Mada (Fakultas Ilmu Budaya-Magister Arkeologi), Yogyakarta, Indonesia., Brand HEA; Australian Synchrotron, Clayton, VIC, Australia., Brumm A; Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Scientific reports [Sci Rep] 2021 May 13; Vol. 11 (1), pp. 9833. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 May 13.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-87923-3
Abstrakt: The equatorial tropics house some of the earliest rock art yet known, and it is weathering at an alarming rate. Here we present evidence for haloclasty (salt crystallisation) from Pleistocene-aged rock art panels at 11 sites in the Maros-Pangkep limestone karsts of southern Sulawesi. We show how quickly rock art panels have degraded in recent decades, contending that climate-catalysed salt efflorescence is responsible for increasing exfoliation of the limestone cave surfaces that house the ~ 45 to 20-thousand-year-old paintings. These artworks are located in the world's most atmospherically dynamic region, the Australasian monsoon domain. The rising frequency and severity of El Niño-induced droughts from anthropogenic climate change (that is, higher ambient temperatures and more consecutive dry days), combined with seasonal moisture injected via monsoonal rains retained as standing water in the rice fields and aquaculture ponds of the region, increasingly provide ideal conditions for evaporation and haloclasty, accelerating rock art deterioration.
Databáze: MEDLINE