Early Holocene abrupt climate events: Superimposed on the generally warm and wet Early Holocene climate are relatively abrupt cold and arid events, such as occurring around 9.3/9.2 ka and 8.2 ka BP. Especially the latter event has been correlated to socio-economic changes observed in the archaeological record, such as the spread of the Neolithic to the west (into Western Anatolia and beyond) and east (Weeks 2013; Weninger et al. 2009), and changes within long-lived sites like Sabi Abyad in Syria (Akkermans et al. 2010; van der Plicht et al. 2011). Nonetheless, it remains to be seen if these events had a large climatic and environmental impact in the Near East.

Members of our group have re-assessed the archaeological chronology to establish if socio-economic changes occurred at the same time as these relatively short-lived climatic events. They have concluded that early farming communities were resilient in the face of climatic change. To see if you agree, read our paper in Quaternary Science Reviews here.

References:

Akkermans, P. M. M. G., et al. (2010), ‘Weathering climate change in the Near East: dating and Neolithic adaptations 8200 years ago’, Antiquity Project Gallery, 325.

van der Plicht, J., et al. (2011), ‘Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria: Radiocarbon chronology, cultural change, and the 8.2 ka event’, Radiocarbon, 53 (2), 229-43.

Weeks, Lloyd (2013), ‘The Neolithisation of Fars, Iran’, in Roger Matthews and Hassan Fazeli Nashli (eds.), The Neolithisation of Iran (Oxford: Oxbow Books), 97-107.

Weninger, B., et al. (2009), ‘The Impact of Rapid Climate Change on prehistoric societies during the Holocene in the Eastern Mediterranean’, Documenta Praehistorica, Vol Xxxvi, 36, 7-59.