Cold and dry outbreaks in the eastern Mediterranean 3200 years ago

Kaniewski, David; Marriner, Nick; Cheddadi, Rachid; Morhange, Christophe; Bretschneider, Joachim; Jans, Greta; Otto, Thierry; Luce, Frédéric; Campo, Elise Van

doi:10.1130/g46491.1

Cited by 31 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…The climate reconstruction from Tell Tweini, coastal Syria (mainland), closely mirrors the data from Hala Sultan Tekke for the period 3500–2500 BP (Kaniewski et al, 2019a). In situ bioarcheological studies from Pyla‐ Kokkinokremnos (~15 km from Hala Sultan Tekke, Cyprus) and Tell Tweini (~220 km to the northwest) support this correlation as similar dry environments were recorded during the LBA collapse (Kaniewski et al, 2019b). On Cyprus, populations were able to overcome summer drought by pumping freshwater from the aquifers of the Tremithos River (Ploethner et al, 1986; Ghilardi et al, 2011) as the lake only fills during winter time, fed by precipitation.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 76%

“…Around 3200 BP (~ Cp 3 ), LBA societies declined and finally disintegrated, affected by both internal conflicts and migrations (the Sea Peoples phenomenon), leading to deep‐seated sociocultural changes that lasted roughly 300 years. While this crisis was essentially rooted in political struggles and socioeconomic tensions, recent studies have suggested that a centuries‐long drought and climate cooling underpinned the decline (Kaniewski et al, 2008, 2019a‐b).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several cold periods were recorded in Cyprus during the last 6,000 years ( Figure 2), with the main anomalies centered on the 5.2 ka BP (Renssen et al, 2006;Zanchetta et al, 2014), 4.2 ka BP (Weiss, 2017), and 3.2 ka BP (Kaniewski et al, 2008(Kaniewski et al, , 2019a(Kaniewski et al, -2019b events. The cold periods reconstructed in the present study also match cooler phases in Europe including the Late Antique Little Ice Age (LIA) (Büntgen et al, 2011(Büntgen et al, , 2016 and the onset of the pre-industrial LIA (also termed Late Medieval; Jones et al, 2006; Figure 1).…”

Section: Climate Instabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Climate Change and Social Unrest: A 6,000‐Year Chronicle From the Eastern Mediterranean

Kaniewski

Marriner

Cheddadi

et al. 2020

Geophysical Research Letters

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The history of the Eastern Mediterranean is punctuated by major crises that have influenced many of the region's established socioeconomic models. Recent studies have underscored the role of drought and temperature oscillations in driving changes but attempts to quantify their magnitude remain equivocal, hindering long-term assessments of the potential interplay between climate and society. Here, we fill this knowledge gap using a 6,000-year pollen-based reconstruction of temperature and precipitation from Hala Sultan Tekke, Cyprus. We find that major social changes and plague outbreaks often occurred in tandem with cooler climate conditions, with anomalies ranging from −3 ± 0.4°C to −1 ± 0.5°C, coupled with changing precipitation patterns. We suggest that major climate changes may weaken societies by affecting primary livelihood systems. This long-term view highlights recurrent cold periods in the Eastern Mediterranean's climate history and advocates that, despite frequent adversity and pandemics, Near Eastern populations adapted and were ultimately resilient to major climate changes.Plain Language Summary During the last 6,000 years, the Eastern Mediterranean's climate has been characterized by several periods of marked climate deterioration and cooling. Many of these cooler phases were punctuated by historical crises and outbreaks of plague, suggesting that climate may partially influence social unrest and the spread of scourges. Drought has always been a significant component of past climate changes, but temperature deviations also appear to be as important in fully comprehending the complex interplay between climate and societies.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 76%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Climate Instabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Climate Change and Social Unrest: A 6,000‐Year Chronicle From the Eastern Mediterranean

Kaniewski

Marriner

Cheddadi

et al. 2020

Geophysical Research Letters

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“…The society in the past was extremely fragile in front of major climate change episodes and their broader consequences (Kaniewski et al., 2019; Zhang et al., 2008). Fundamentally, the rice agriculture was vulnerable to natural disasters, especially to drought or flood which can result in lower yields or less cultivated acreages.…”

Section: Society Development and The Motivation Of Cliff Paintingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Late-Holocene vegetation change reveals the environment of ancient people and the origin of Huashan cliff paintings in Guangxi, southwestern China

Zhang

Liao

et al. 2020

The Holocene

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Human activities in the historical period were determined by the natural environment and social characteristics. The Zuojiang Huashan Rock Art Cultural Landscape in Guangxi is the most important World Heritage for prehistorical culture in southwestern China. However, knowledge about the natural environment and associated historic human–climate interactions during the period of cliff painting creation remains scarce, which has been an obstacle to understanding the process of regional civilization. Here, we report a pollen record from the core distributing region of Huashan cliff paintings to interpret the natural environment and climate changes, and further to discuss how and why ancient people create these giant cliff paintings based on the relationships of human–climate interactions. Pollen results imply an existence of a mixed broad-leaf and conifer forest in the woodland landscape at Huashan region before 1860 cal. yr BP, after which pine forests were more prevalent. During the cliff painting period from 2370 to 2115 cal. yr BP, broad-leaf and conifer trees dominated the tree layer and provided the key source materials for painting. It can be reasonably assumed that people used stake or ladder to climb the cliffs and created the cliff paintings during a humid climate condition from 2560 to 2000 cal. yr BP. Furthermore, the humid climate during 2700 and 2400 cal. yr BP had been interrupted by short-term drought episodes. These turbulent climate episodes probably played the role of disasters and impacted on the human activities, leading to the social–political tensions and the out-break of war. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, social–political changes relieved the pressure from natural climate changes and led to a more stable society, in which the creating of cliff paintings was gradually fading. Our results manifest the necessity to analyze the natural environment and social–political background in combination in this study on ancient human activities.

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“…A plethora of historical, archaeological and geological evidence evokes synchroneity between major palaeoclimatic changes and socio-economic/political crises in West Asia ( Kaniewski et al. 2012 , 2018 , 2019 ; Sharifi et al., 2015 ). The timing of these events cannot be dismissed as simply pure coincidence and, regarding their geographical extent, the factors driving these changes were undoubtedly large scale ( Kennett and Kennett 2007 ; Caspers 1971 ; Hole 1994 ; Gurjazkaite et al., 2018 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change: A driver of future conflicts in the Persian Gulf Region?

Beni

Marriner

Sharifi³

et al. 2021

Heliyon

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Ongoing global change and its direct environmental impacts, in addition to securing economic transition to the post-oil era, could trigger complex socio-economic and political crises in oil-dependent economies of the Persian Gulf Region (PGR). To evaluate the role of climate change and related policies in degrading the environment and its socio-economic impacts in the PGR, we have used a variety of available global datasets and published data. The results show that the countries of the PGR pursue some types of socio-economic reforms to alleviate the impacts of climate change. However, it seems that these attempts are not compatible with the environment's capacity. The main problem stems from the fact that political differences between the PGR nations prevent them from managing the Persian Gulf environment as an integrated natural system and consequently they have to limit their efforts within their borders, regardless of what happens in other parts of the system. The shift to alternative revenue sources by the countries needs socioeconomic preparedness while there are environmental obstacles, political tensions and geopolitical rivalries. Unless there is a cooperative approach to mitigate the effects of climate change, accompanied by a reorientation of PGR economies, the situation is likely to worsen rather than improve. To address the challenges of climate change, integrated regional collaborations are needed. Collective action, such as more investment in regional research and development and education, is required if the PGR is to successfully transition from a commodity-based to a knowledge-based economy.

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Cold and dry outbreaks in the eastern Mediterranean 3200 years ago

Cited by 31 publications

References 40 publications

Climate Change and Social Unrest: A 6,000‐Year Chronicle From the Eastern Mediterranean

Climate Change and Social Unrest: A 6,000‐Year Chronicle From the Eastern Mediterranean

Late-Holocene vegetation change reveals the environment of ancient people and the origin of Huashan cliff paintings in Guangxi, southwestern China

Climate change: A driver of future conflicts in the Persian Gulf Region?

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