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	The Archaeology of Climate Change in the Caribbean , Caribbean	Pre-Colombian populations in the Caribbean, from 5000 BC to AD 1492, lived through more than five metres relative sea level rise, marked variation in annual rainfall and periodic intensification of hurricane activity. This Leverhulme funded project exploits the time depth of cultural practice to provide archaeological lessons that can inform current responses to the impacts of climate change in the region. This parent project emerges from an interdisciplinary collaboration between Cuban, British and Canadian archaeologists and palaeoenvironmental scientists. This collaboration, that began in 2002, has included a wide-ranging study of archaeological and palaeoenvironmental data. The primary aim of this project is to explore the temporal and spatial scales at which cause and effect between archaeological and palaeoclimatic phenomena can be correlated, analysed and interpreted. Recent research has identified spatial and temporal patterns in the changing nature of pre-Colombian lifeways in the Caribbean. This archaeological information has then been closely correlated in space and time with the long and short-term impacts of climate variability and environmental change. It has then been possible to evaluate the relative advantages and disadvantages of past cultural practices in the face of environmental change and establish lessons that will contribute to contemporary mitigation strategies. It is clear that by developing research questions compatible with the data resolution available it is possible to identify ways of living in the past that helped mitigate the impacts of climate change. This research can provide modern day populations with practical information on settlement locations, food procurement strategies and household architecture that have not previously been considered and that can now be used to inform climate change mitigation strategies in the Caribbean.
	Los Buchillones Archaeology Project, Caribbean, Cuba, Ciego de Avila	The Los Buchillones Archaeology Project involves Cuban, Canadian, Mexican and British specialists in archaeological survey, excavation and material analyses from a number of newly identified sites in a case study area in northern Cuba. This case study area includes 2000 sq km in northern Ciego de Avila province and the Sabana-Camaguey archipelago. Fieldwork includes the continuing excavation of a number of archaeological sites and the analysis and classification of the full spectrum of material remains including XRF and SEM analyses of selected exported material. Palaeoenvironmental reconstructions from this case study area are being created through the analysis of a series of marine, lacustrine and terrestrial sediment cores that transect the case study area. Studies of local past human ecodynamics have been developed focusing on the impacts of relative sea level rise, precipitation change and palaeotempestology in this case study area. In 2010, we completed the construction of a new heritage research centre at our central site of Los Buchillones and this centre now employs a full time staff of 8 specialists, 5 technicians and 6 administrative staff all focused on developing this collaborative research.