Investigating past environments
The term palaeoenvironment, used to denote the external conditions of past ages, takes into account all aspects of previous climates, the physical and chemical conditions of the soil, and life forms that have affected and influenced the survival of organisms or ecological commmunities, particularly humans. Palaeoenvironmental studies concentrate on the Quaternary period, the most recent period of geological time, which covers approximately the last 1.6 million years.
- Information in the full article includes
- Clues from sedimentary deposits
- Alluvial and marine deposits
- Methods for estimating dates
- Information from fossils
