TY - SER ID - garcin2018phac T1 - Plant-waxes hydrogen and carbon isotopic composition and pollen data of sediment core B14 (Lake Barombi) AU - Garcin, Yannick AU - Deschamps, Pierre AU - Ménot, Guillemette AU - de Saulieu, Geoffroy AU - Schefuß, Enno AU - Sebag, David AU - Dupont, Lydie M AU - Oslisly, Richard AU - Brademann, Brian AU - Mbusnum, Kevin G AU - Onana, Jean-Michel AU - Ako, Andrew A AU - Epp, Laura Saskia AU - Tjallingii, Rik AU - Strecker, Manfred R AU - Brauer, Achim AU - Sachse, Dirk PY - 2018/01/09/ T2 - Supplement to: Garcin, Y et al. (2018): Early anthropogenic impact on Western Central African rainforests 2,600 y ago. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(13), 3261-3266, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1715336115 PB - PANGAEA DO - 10.1594/PANGAEA.884676 UR - https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.884676 N2 - A potential human footprint on Western Central African rainforests before the Common Era has become the focus of an ongoing controversy. Between 3,000 y ago and 2,000 y ago, regional pollen sequences indicate a replacement of mature rainforests by a forest-savannah mosaic including pioneer trees. Although some studies suggested an anthropogenic influence on this forest fragmentation, current interpretations based on pollen data attribute the ''rainforest crisis'' to climate change toward a drier, more seasonal climate. A rigorous test of this hypothesis, however, requires climate proxies independent of vegetation changes. Here we resolve this controversy through a continuous 10,500-y record of both vegetation and hydrological changes from Lake Barombi in Southwest Cameroon based on changes in carbon and hydrogen isotope compositions of plant waxes. d13C-inferred vegetation changes confirm a prominent and abrupt appearance of C4 plants in the Lake Barombi catchment, at 2,600 calendar years before AD 1950 (cal y BP), followed by an equally sudden return to rainforest vegetation at 2,020 cal y BP. dD values from the same plant wax compounds, however, show no simultaneous hydrological change. Based on the combination of these data with a comprehensive regional archaeological database we provide evidence that humans triggered the rainforest fragmentation 2,600 y ago. Our findings suggest that technological developments, including agricultural practices and iron metallurgy, possibly related to the large-scale Bantu expansion, significantly impacted the ecosystems before the Common Era. ER -