[DSRP Evidence](https://dsrpevidence.org/)

# Defining the Anthropocene

## Details

**Authors** Lewis, Simon L. and Maslin, Mark A.

**Year** 2015

**Publisher** Nature

**Kind of work** article

**Discipline** Geology

**Secondary disciplines** Environment & Sustainability

**Applied** false

[Read it at the publisher](https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14258) 
10.1038/nature14258

## In authors' words

### What they set out to do (purpose)

To assess whether the formal criteria for defining a new geological epoch are met by human impact on the Earth, and where its start should be placed.

### How they did it (methods)

Review of stratigraphic and Earth-system evidence against the formal criteria for a new epoch, comparing candidate start dates.

### What they found (results)

The authors report that the geological evidence appears to meet the formal criteria for a human-driven epoch. They identify two candidate start dates, 1610 and 1964, as likely to satisfy the requirements for a boundary.

## Commentary

### In short

A review that tests the case for a new human-driven geological epoch against the formal criteria for epochs and finds two candidate start dates, 1610 and 1964.

### Response

The paper is a case of drawing a boundary: an epoch is defined by a stratigraphic marker that separates it from what came before, and the choice of date is argued against criteria (D). The proposed causes link human activity to signals in the Earth system (R). Caveats: only the abstract and a publisher summary were read, so the fit of the other patterns was not assessed, and the extent to which different start dates reflect different vantage points was not checked.

**Patterns it shows** D, R

Shows the structure is there

**Added** 2026-10-17

**How to cite this** Lewis, Simon L. and Maslin, Mark A. (2015). Defining the Anthropocene. Nature.