Abstract
The concept of the Anthropocene emphasizes the unprecedented scale of human influence on the Earth system, often extending this influence retrospectively to explain major prehistoric environmental changes, including the Late-Pleistocene extinction of megafauna. This study critically examines the widely held hypothesis of human-mediated megafaunal extinction by analyzing the relationship between human population dynamics and extinction patterns. Using the best available reconstructions of global human population growth and comparing them with established timelines of megafaunal species decline, the study finds no empirical correlation between rapid population growth and extinction pulses. Human population levels during the critical period (15.5–11.5 ka BP) were extremely low, with negligible growth rates and minimal annual increases, suggesting limited capacity for large-scale ecological disruption through hunting or habitat modification. The analysis further demonstrates that population growth trajectories were smooth and hyperbolic, lacking sudden accelerations that could plausibly account for the rapid loss of numerous megafaunal species. These findings challenge the validity of attributing global megafaunal extinctions primarily to human activities and instead point toward alternative explanations, particularly climate-driven environmental changes and complex ecological factors. The study cautions against projecting modern anthropogenic impacts onto prehistoric contexts characterized by fundamentally different demographic and technological conditions.
Keywords. Anthropocene; Megafaunal extinction; Human population dynamics; Late Pleistocene; Climate change.
JEL. J10; J11; Q01; Q54; N50.
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