A research team led by Professor Jennifer Bates from Seoul National University (SNU) conducted a large-scale synthesis of archaeological evidence on human land use in South Asia, aiming to leverage the data for climate change predictions.

The team carried out the first large-scale synthesis of archaeological evidence showing how humans used land in South Asia during the Holocene period, which spans from 12,000 to 6,000 years ago, according to Seoul National University on Friday.

The study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, is led by Jennifer Bates, a professor from the Department of Archaeology and Art History at Seoul National University.

The study reveals that activities such as hunting, gathering, fishing and foraging were dominant in South Asia during this period. It also examines how these activities evolved into farming through various strategies, such as domestication, cropping and herding.

The research team hopes the study will improve Anthropogenic Land Cover Change (ALCC) modeling. ALCC models use land cover and land use data to understand how human actions have affected climate change, refining future climate forecasts and informing climate policies.

Bates is part of the Past Global Changes LandCover6K working group, which includes researchers from universities in countries such as Korea, India and the United States.

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]