Late Holocene climate change and human disturbance on Andros Island, Bahamas

A 2 m sediment core from Church's Blue Hole on Andros Island, Bahamas provides the first paleoecological record from the Bahama Archipelago. The timing of events in the lower portion of the core is uncertain due to inconsistencies in the radiocarbon chronology, but there is evidence that a late Holocene dry period altered the limnology of Church's Blue Hole and supported only dry shrubland around the site. The dry period on Andros may correlate with a widespread dry period in the Caribbean from 3200 to 1500 yr BP. After the dry period ended, a more mesic climate supported tropical hardwood thicket around Church's Blue Hole. At c. 740 radiocarbon yr BP there is a sudden rise in charcoal concentration and a rapid transition to pinewoods vegetation, while at c. 430 radiocarbon yr BP charcoal concentration drops, but is higher again near the top of the core. Although climatic shifts could have caused these changes in vegetation and charcoal concentration, the changes post-date human colonization of the Bahamas and may reflect human arrival, followed by the removal of humans c. 1530 AD and the recolonization of Andros Island c. 200 years later.This is the 12th in a series of papers published in this special AMQUA issue. These papers were presented at the 1994 meeting of the American Quaternary Association held 19–22 June, 1994, at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. Dr Linda C. K. Shane served as guest editor for these papers.