Vegetation, fire and climate history are investigated in the 10 000‐year record of Zarishat fen located today in the steppe grasslands of Armenia (Near East). Pollen‐based climate quantification provides a reconstruction of seasonal parameters. The development of in‐situ water‐dependant plants and of forests at lower altitude at 8200 cal a BP echoes the shift from an arid and cold [annual precipitation (Pann) = 452 mm; mean temperature of the coldest month (MTCO) = −11.1 °C)] Early Holocene to a more humid and warmer (Pann = 721 mm; MTCO = −6.8 °C) Mid–Late Holocene. This marks the onset of lower seasonality, in particular more effective precipitation brought during late spring by the Westerlies. Paralleling the Mediterranean precipitation pattern, precipitation in the Near East and Central Asia decreased during the Mid–Late Holocene in favour of higher seasonality controlled in winter/spring by the Siberian High. Fire history and sedge‐based fen development record drier phases at approximately 6400, 5300–4900, 3000, 2200–1500 and 400 cal a BP, which resemble the precipitation pattern of the South‐Western Mediterranean and contrast with the Holocene pattern in the South‐Central and South‐Eastern Mediterranean regions. Arid phases in Armenia are believed to be related to multi‐centennial‐scale variation of Westerly activity (North Atlantic Oscillation‐like).

International audienceThis paper argues that the wide geographical distribution of desert kites, which are huge archaeological structures of stone visible from satellite images, must be more broadly acknowledged as a momentous factor in the study of their variability and function. This is important so that researchers can more accurately understand and interpret their impact on biodiversity, landscapes and subsistence patterns. The first results and perspectives of the Globalkites research project are discussed and presented. Often considered as hunting traps, the kites could have also been used for animal husbandry. In a broader archaeological context, where kites seem to have been operating from the Neolithic to recent historical times, we propose an interdisciplinary approach at the crossroads of anthropology (archaeology and ethnology), geomatics and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), geostatistics, mathematics and computerized data processing and geoarchaeological and bioarchaeological sciences (isotope studies, paleoclimatology, archaeozoology…). The principal aims of the project are to clearly articulate the variability of the structures and their relationship with the function and chronology of the kites. It is also crucial to discuss the wide distribution of these structures across the Middle East and Central Asia as a global phenomenon and the ideas that explain the dispersal and movements of people and/or traditions must be addressed

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