palaeoenvironmentpaleoenvironmentn.
/ˌpalɪəʊᵻnˈvʌɪrə(n)m(ə)nt/, /ˌpeɪlɪəʊᵻnˈvʌɪrə(n)m(ə)nt/, U.S. /ˈˌpeɪlioʊənˈvaɪrə(n)m(ə)nt/, /ˈˌpeɪlioʊənˈvaɪ(ə)rnm(ə)nt/; see also environment n. An environment at a period in the past.In quot. 1957: the branch of study concerned with the ecology of the past.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > balance of nature > environment or habitat > [noun] > types of
supralittoral1839
refuge1889
refugium1902
home range1904
open vegetation1905
open community1909
controlled environment1914
palaeoenvironment1957
1957 R. J. Braidwood in Identification Non-artifactual Archaeol. Materials (National Acad. Sci.-National Res. Council (U.S.)) 16/2 This field or axis of interrelated disciplines (perhaps ‘Pleistocene ecology’ or ‘paleo-environment’ or ‘Quaternary geography’—I shall not attempt to name it!) would definitely include Man as an element in, and a factor acting upon, the environmental scene.
1975 Nature 20 Mar. 187/2 Reconstructions of palaeoenvironments often rely heavily on fossils, and thus engender circular arguments about the habitats occupied by different elements in the fauna.
1991 Geogr. Mag. Feb. (Analysis) 1/1 The debate about the possibility of future global climatic changes has provided a stimulus for work on the nature and variability of palaeoenvironments.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1957