An examination of two documented periods of climate change in the greater Middle East reveals local evidence of resilience and even of a flourishing ancient society despite the climate changes seen in the larger region.
An examination of two documented periods of climate change in the greater Middle East, between approximately 4,500 and 3,000 years ago, reveals local evidence of resilience and even of a flourishing ancient society despite the climate changes seen in the larger region.
Working at Tell Tayinat in southeastern Turkey, archaeologists at the University of Toronto and Cornell University demonstrate in a new study that human responses to climate change are variable and must be examined using extensive and precise data gathered locally.
The study, published in PLoS ONE this week, highlights how challenge and collapse in some areas were matched by resilience and opportunities elsewhere.
“The study shows the end of the Early Bronze Age occupation at Tayinat was a long and drawn-out affair that, while it appears to coincide with the onset of a megadrought 4,200 years ago, was actually the culmination of processes that began much earlier,” says Tim Harrison, professor and chair of the department of Near and Middle Eastern civilizations in U of T’s Faculty of Arts & Science at and director of the Tayinat Archaeological Project. “The archaeological evidence does not point towards significant local effects of the climate episode, as there is no evidence of drought stress in crops.
Continue reading at University of Toronto.
Image via Tayinat Archaeological Project.
