The Holocene: An Environmental History

by Neil Roberts

In its first edition, The Holocene provided undergraduates with a much-needed coherent scientific account of the great transformation of nature that had taken place during the Holocene, the last 10,000 years in the history of the planet and the period in which we are all now living. This period has included major shifts in climate and human culture, and in the natural environment at every level.

Completely revised and updated to take full account of the most recent advances, the new edition of this established text includes substantial material on scientific progress in the understanding of climate change and abrupt climatic events, of disturbance effects on the landscape, and of ice core records. Not only have improved dating methods, such as luminescence, been included but the timescale for the book has been moved to calendar (i.e. real) years. Coverage and supporting case study material have also been broadened and extended.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, History, Planetary Science, Environment, Textbooks, Geography

328 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Brian Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this is promoted as a textbook it's actually quite light on detail compared to other texts I've read, as it aims for a general overview rather than drilling down to provide a lot of detail.

The result is a decent introduction behind the science and research methods but by not covering the archaeology of any period in any detail relationships between the environment and people are never really well-defined.

Overall, a decent read, but more of an introduction to geoarchaeology than an in-depth exploration of human-environmental relationships.

[Michael]

Read this as part of my uni course, a concise and easy to understand read on the climate of the last 10,000 years

[Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read for MA. I’d never heard of the holocene prior to this book. Now I see all development in the context of that timeframe.

[for-much-deliberation ...]

Focusing on the late Quartenary, this book takes a look at earth changing events which have occured during the last 15000 years

[Jorgon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still the best overview of climatic and environmental changes of the last 10000 years, the new edition adds most recent information and material.