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The Late Bronze Age collapse and Ancient Dark Age from the viewpoint of climatology and food availability. Shown is the LBA – IA sequence from the alluvial deposits of the Rumailiah River, north of Gibala-Tell Tweini. The pollen-derived climatic proxy is drawn as PCA-Axis 1 scores (A – B). The Late Bronze Age and Iron Age modi fi ed conventional chronology is shown with the PCA-Axis 1 scores (A). Grey shades indicate cultural changes. Cultivated species and Poaceae cerealia time-series are plotted on a linear age-scale (C). The main historical events are indicated at the top of the diagrams. Radiocarbon ages are displayed as 2 σ calibration range. The black dots correspond to the intercepts with the calibration curve.
Source publication
The alluvial deposits near Gibala-Tell Tweini provide a unique record of environmental history and food availability estimates covering the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. The refined pollen-derived climatic proxy suggests that drier climatic conditions occurred in the Mediterranean belt of Syria from the late 13th/early 12th centuries BC t...
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... et al., 1998). Three semi-quantitative climatic indexes (SQCI-s) have also been computed from pollen data ( Kaniewski et al., 2008). The process used to convert environmental data into climatic proxy has been here modified and includes now the PdB and SQCI time-series in the principal components analysis (PCA) numerical matrix. The refined data ( Fig. 3) are described using the computed age-scale model based on the AMS 14 C ...
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... more floods. After ca. 2850 cal yr BP, the influx of fractions N500 μm is replaced by an influx of mainly finer sand (fraction 31.24-500 μm), which comes to an end at about 2750 cal yr BP. The subsequent period is characterized by a distinct lower content of oxydables and sharp fluctuations in the mineralogical content and the fractions N500 μm. (Fig. 3C) were considered as an indirect proxy of food availability. A straightforward relation is evidenced between drought phases and periods of low crop production, which could induce ...
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... well-preserved charred botanical macro-remains retrieved in situ at two locations from ashes in Level 6E were AMS 14 C dated: from location 1, one olive stone (Olea europaea), and from location 2, two deciduous oak fragments, respectively from a branch 10 cm in diameter and from isolated charcoals degraded from the outer rings of this branch (Fig. 4, Table 3). These dates, with close conventional ages (Table 3), give an accurate chronology for this fire destruction of Gibala with a weighted average value ( Bruins et al., 2003;Manning et al., 2006) of 2835 ± 20 14 C yr BP (Fig. 4, Table 3). The IntCal04 calibration curve (Reimer et al., 2004) provides calibration ages of 2995-2875 cal yr BP ...
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... AMS 14 C age 2970 ± 40 14 C yr BP (Beta-229048) (Table 1) dates the last peak of the wetter phase preceding the onset of the drought event (Fig. 3). Unfortunately, the shape and the wiggles in the calibration curve around 3150 cal yr BP have the effect of a plateau (Reimer et al., 2004) excluding a narrow resolution, even with several 14 C ages at the same level (Manning, 2006(Manning, -2007. The 14 C age indeed shows large confidence limits with 3270-3000 cal yr BP at the 2σ ...
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... during a period covering the LBA IIB (1300-1200 BC) and the first half of the IA I (1200-900 BC). A tentative chronology of the sediment column above 395 cm in core TW-1 is based on the extrapolation of the deposition rate of 9.35 mm yr − 1 from just below, suggesting an age of 2450 cal yr BP for the deposits at 30 cm below the surface (Fig. 3). The presence of a relative high number of weathered and nearly fresh IA shard fragments at different levels until the surface and the absence of more recent shards may confirm this IA age. It is believed that these shards are intercalated in the deposits during the fluvial aggradation process, but one can oppose that all these ...
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... on the LBA collapse and the Dark Age, the AMS dates in each core show an orderly relationship with depth and are therefore considered reliable until ca. 2750 cal yr BP. The suggested connections for the period 2750-2450 cal yr BP (Fig. 3) are ...
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... event are particularly difficult to provide. The 3160 cal yr BP intercept is chronologically close to the 1194-1175 BC fall of Ugarit. The weak discrepancy between the written sources and the radiocarbon intercept may suggest that the drought event and the drought-induced decline in crop production start in the late 13th/ early 12th centuries BC (Fig. 3C). Information from historical data that document episodes of food shortage in the Eastern Mediterranean, are rare. The clay tablet RS 34.152 from Emar is a vivid testimony to severe food shortage and to the deteriorating conditions in inner Syria around 1185 BC. The Emar year names bear witness to a staggering rise in grain prices in ...
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... worth mentioning that Hatti may have very probably come to rely on grain importation during the last century of the Kingdom. Following the 1259 BC treaty between Ramses II and Hattusili III, grain was probably imported from Egypt into Anatolia on a regular basis (Bryce, 2005). This could indicate that even during the LBA humid climatic conditions (Fig. 3B), the Hatti Kingdom was no longer self- sustainable in food procurement and had to rely on food import. At the end of the 13th century BC, Pharaoh Merneptah (1213-1203 BC) sent to the Hittites the earliest known shipment of grain in the form of famine aid (Warburton, 2003;Bryce, 2005). The Hittite king Amuwanda III described the ...
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... evidence for the crises during the late 13th/early 12th centuries BC in the Eastern Mediterranean may serve as anchor points between the historical sources and the radiocarbon-dated decline in crop production in coastal Syria (Fig. 3C). The data suggest that the fall of Ugarit and secondary cities has to be placed within the drought period which may have started at the end of the 13th century BC. Inhabitants of the destroyed and abandoned LBA cities probably sought refuge in the mountain villages which were somewhat protected by being located away from the coast ...
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... centuries BC until 9th/8th centuries BC. The AMS 14 C date for the basal sample in the TW-2 core (Fig. 2) gives an age of 2810 ± 30 14 C yr BP (Poz-28165), with a 2σ confidence of 3000-2845 cal yr BP (intercept at 2920 cal yr BP) ( Table 2). The second AMS 14 C age for the drought event has been obtained for the higher peak in the PCA-Axis1 curve (Fig. 3) and dated at 2750 ± 40 14 C yr BP (Beta-229047) with a 2σ confidence of 2950-2760 cal yr BP (intercept at 2850 cal yr BP) ( Table 1). The end of the drought event is enclosed in an interval between 2720 ± 40 14 C yr BP (Beta-261722) and 2640 ± 30 14 C yr BP (Beta-261721). In this interval, defined by a 2σ confidence of, respectively, ...
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... BC (Brinkman, 1968;Neumann and Parpola, 1987). Written sources from Babylon mention crop failures, famine, outbreak of plague and repeated nomad incursions at that time ( Neumann and Parpola, 1987). The historically defined Dark Age (1200-825 BC) (Weiss, 1982;Haggis, 1993) is synchronous with the period of drought and diminishing crop production (Fig. 3C) documented ...
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... destruction of occupation Level 6E marks the second conflagration of Gibala (Fig. 4) and occurs at the MCC IA I-II transition, after ca. 2 centuries of drought and harvest failures (Figs. 3B and C). This conflagration Level contains typical store jars well preserved in room context, typologically dated in the 11th century BC (Fig. 4). In Level 6E, and also in the older Levels 6F-G-H, LBA potteries, characteristic for Levels 7A-B-C are absent, as well as typical forms, which appearing later in the IA II Levels 6C-D (Vansteenhuyse, ...
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... charred plant remains. The conflagration of the site and the charred remains in the TW-2 core may indicate a direct 14 C link between the archaeological and the environmental data at Gibala. This would suggest that the second conflagration of Gibala, with the destruction of the later IA I urbanization (Level 6E-F), is linked to the humid episode (Fig. 3). During the highest peak of drought, an occupation of low density is so far known from the site and crop production is at its minimum. Gibala clearly re-flourished during the 9th century ...
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... end of the 9th or the 8th century BC (Caubet, 1989). The IA IIa – b transition is dated at 825 BC according to the Modi fi ed Conventional Chronology (MCC) (Mazar, 2005; Mazar and Bronk Ramsey, 2008). This transition is close to the intercept date at which the Dark Age ended in coastal Syria. Egyptian, Aegean, and Assyrian empires recovered with diversi fi ed agro-production (manna ash, olive tree, vine tree, walnut tree), pastoral activities, and sustained a cultural revival (Weiss, 1982). The archaeologically de fi ned end of the Dark Age and the radiocarbon-dated end of the drought event are concordant in time. The major environmental shift, interpreted as a result of lower amounts of precipitation in the Syrian coastal area (Figs. 3A and B) since 2970 ± 40 14 C yr BP (Beta-229048), is synchronous with a dry southern basin and a low lake level in the northern basin for the Dead Sea (Bookman et al., 2004). The lowest value of the northern lake was reached at 3350 cal yr BP, before the onset of the Syrian climatic shift, and the level stays low throughout the drought event. The change in rainfall inducing a shortage of water supply in coastal Syria is derived from a synthesis of regional palaeoenvironmental proxy data, taking into account climatic signals and the temporal resolution represented in the records also correlated with minima in the Tigris and Euphrates river discharges from 1150 to 950 BC (Kay and Johnson, 1981; Neumann and Parpola, 1987; Alpert and Neumann, 1989), and with higher δ 18 O values in the Ashdod coast record (Schilman et al., 2001, 2002). During this period, the Babylonian and Assyrian empires go into decline between 1200 and 900 BC (Brinkman, 1968; Neumann and Parpola, 1987). Written sources from Babylon mention crop failures, famine, outbreak of plague and repeated nomad incursions at that time (Neumann and Parpola, 1987). The historically de fi ned Dark Age (1200 – 825 BC) (Weiss, 1982; Haggis, 1993) is synchronous with the period of drought and diminishing crop production (Fig. 3C) documented here. Several not mutually exclusive mechanisms have been considered to explain the late Holocene centennial-scale climate variability, among which solar forcing (Versteegh, 2005) and ocean circulation changes (Bond et al., 2001) are plausible candidates. A comparison of the δ 14 C solar proxy with the pollen-derived climatic proxy reveals a good correspondence between lowest atmospheric δ 14 C values indicative of higher solar irradiance and the 350-yr drought event. These results suggest that middle-to-late Holocene precipitation changes over the Near East are associated with solar variability. Centennial – millennial droughts in the Eastern Mediterranean were also related to cooling periods in the North Atlantic for the past 55 ka BP (Bartov et al., 2003). A correspondence between the drought event in coastal Syria and the second peak of Bond event 2, identi fi ed in North Atlantic core MC52-V29-191 by the bimodal increase of ice- rafted hematite stained grains, would con fi rm the role of the North Atlantic in modulating the Eastern Mediterranean climate at the centennial scale. The fi rst con fl agration of Gibala has destroyed the LBA city. The corresponding destruction Level 7A contains typical Late Helladic IIIB ceramics. The destruction of this southernmost harbour town of the Ugarit Kingdom shows no discrepancy with Ugarit, which has been set ablaze at the LBA – IA transition. The destruction of occupation Level 6E marks the second con fl agration of Gibala (Fig. 4) and occurs at the MCC IA I – II transition, after ca . 2 centuries of drought and harvest failures (Figs. 3B and C). This con fl agration Level contains typical store jars well preserved in room context, typologically dated in the 11th century BC (Fig. 4). In Level 6E, and also in the older Levels 6F – G – H, LBA potteries, characteristic for Levels 7A – B – C are absent, as well as typical forms, which appearing later in the IA II Levels 6C – D (Vansteenhuyse, 2010). For the end of the Early IA I, major destruction levels are attested at Megiddo (2990 – 2880 cal yr BP), Yoqne'am (2995 – 2880 cal yr BP), Tell Qasile (3000 – 2890 cal yr BP), and Tell Hadar (3005 – 2880 cal yr BP) (Mazar and Bronk Ramsey, 2008) (Fig. 1). These southern Levantine sites correspond to fl ourishing, wealthy cities and settlements that were destroyed by violent con fl agrations. The radiocarbon age of the destruction Level 6E at Gibala (2 σ 3000 – 2870 cal yr BP) is close to the AMS 14 C age obtained at the bottom of the TW-2 core (3000 – 2845 cal yr BP), which dates a high accumulation of charred plant remains. The con fl agration of the site and the charred remains in the TW-2 core may indicate a direct 14 C link between the archaeological and the environmental data at Gibala. This would suggest that the second con fl agration of Gibala, with the destruction of the later IA I urbanization (Level 6E – F), is linked to the humid episode (Fig. 3). During the highest peak of drought, an occupation of low density is so far known from the site and crop production is at its minimum. Gibala clearly re- fl ourished during the 9th century BC. The reasons behind the second destruction of Gibala are unknown. A fi rst hypothesis may concern a second phase of migration following the same west – east axis comparable to the fi rst wave, causing the con fl agration of the re-occupied coastal towns. These climate-induced migrations since the end of the LBA would suggest that populations abandoned drought-stressed areas and tracked towards new more favorable environments. These repeated nomad incursions from the west were clearly identi fi ed at Babylon (Neumann and Parpola, 1987). In costal Syria, the hypothesis of a second wave of migration is not supported by archaeological proof. The second hypothesis of an earthquake around 1000 BC that may have destroyed Gibala is also not supported by any geological evidence in coastal Syria (Reida Sbeinati et al., 2005). Earthquake storms in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean have been only suggested for the late 13th/12th century crisis, not for later periods (Nur and Cline, 2000). The integrated palaeoenvironmental and archaeological records from the Syrian coast suggests that climate shift may have been one of the causes behind the LBA collapse and the beginning of the IA. The Gibala-Tell Tweini data bring new hypotheses on the complex interactions between abrupt, high-magnitude, sustained Holocene climate change and social adaptations across time, space and socio- economic contingencies (deMenocal, 2001; Staubwasser and Weiss, 2006). Gibala is also a rare settlement, alongside Tell Kazel, Ras Ibn Hani and Ras el-Bassit, with Early IA I settlement after the LBA collapse. The Rumailiah River and the Ain Fawar spring-complex provided a stable water supply for resettlement on the surrounding alluvial plain despite climate shifts and successive destructions during the following Dark Age. Gibala also shows that there was no systematic one way reaction of the people regarding adverse environmental situations. At the late 13th/early 12th centuries BC period, the climate change may have induced cultural collapse. During the IA I and II, people were able to cope with the adverse situations. Moreover, past patterns of cultural responses to climate variability do not predict political and socio-economic impacts of future climate changes. They require, however, evaluating each abrupt climate change with contemporaneous social and political contingencies, and adaptive possibilities (Lewis, 1987; Reuveny, 2007). This research is funded by the Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, the Onderzoeksfonds Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, the Inter-university Attraction Poles Programme VI/34, Belgian Science Policy, Belgium, by the Paul Sabatier-Toulouse3 University, and the MISTRAL, INSU-CNRS Paleo2 MEDORIANT program. We wish to thank the Senior Editor, Professor Derek Booth, the Associate Editor, Professor Curtis W. Marean, and the three anonymous reviewers for their critical remarks and useful recommendations. Supplementary data associated with this article can be found, in the online version, at ...
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... pollen data (Kaniewski et al., 2008). The process used to convert environmental data into climatic proxy has been here modi fi ed and includes now the PdB and SQCI time-series in the principal components analysis (PCA) numerical matrix. The re fi ned data (Fig. 3) are described using the computed age-scale model based on the AMS 14 C intercepts. The fl uvial deposition has taken place in a 50-m-wide con fi ned valley belonging to the Rumailiah River. The detail of the sediment characteristics in TW-1 core (Fig. S1) is highly different, with a major break at ca . 3150 cal yr BP. This is the result of the combination of the huge differences between the mean sedimentation rates, 0.8 mm yr − 1 for the period ca . 3950 – 3150 cal yr BP versus 9.35 mm yr − 1 for the period ca . 3150 – 2850 cal yr BP (and extrapolated until ca . 2450 cal yr BP). No clear lag deposits have been observed in the cores, suggesting non-erosive contacts. The sedimentological transition between the older and the younger units is situated in the samples with a calculated age ca . 3150 – 3050 yr cal BP, somewhat younger than the pollen-derived environmental changes. The differences between these two units are also re fl ected in the carbonate content (and inversely in the other detritic materials), which is signi fi cantly higher in the younger deposits. Also the overall percentage of oxydables is lower, especially after ca . 2750 cal yr BP. Throughout the deposits, the fi ne fraction ( b 7.81 μ m) is largely dominant. After ca . 3150 – 3050 yr cal BP the deposits become coarser, as evidenced by a decrease of the fraction 7.81 – 31.24 μ m and increases of the fractions N 31.24 μ m. This is especially true during the drought event, which marks the highest in fl ux of coarser sediments, interpreted as deposition by more fl oods. After ca . 2850 cal yr BP, the in fl ux of fractions N 500 μ m is replaced by an in fl ux of mainly fi ner sand (fraction 31.24 – 500 μ m), which comes to an end at about 2750 cal yr BP. The subsequent period is characterized by a distinct lower content of oxydables and sharp fl uctuations in the mineralogical content and the fractions N 500 μ m. The PCA-Axis 1 ordination of the TW-1 data accounts for most of the variance, with +.749 of total inertia (Figs. 3A and B). Arid/saline SQCI-s (+.1107), PdB Hot desert (+.6188), and PdB Warm steppe (+.2705) are loaded in positive values whereas negative values correspond to wet SQCI-s ( − .5886), PdB Warm mixed forest ( − .4067), and PdB Xerophytic woods/shrubs ( − .047). The re fi ned pollen-based climate record shows moist climate conditions at ca . 3450 – 3150 cal yr BP, with a wetter pulse at ca . 3160 cal yr BP (Figs. 3A and B). The climatic instability starts abruptly at ca . 3150 cal yr BP and is characterized by increasing drought, peaking at ca . 2860 cal yr BP, but interrupted by a short wet pulse centred on ca . 2940 – 2920 cal yr BP. A pronounced wet peak at ca . 2775 – 2750 cal yr BP marks the abrupt end of the 350-yr drought event. A subsequent minor dry event, between ca . 2720 and 2675 cal yr BP (extrapolated age-scale), is followed by a ca . 125-yr-long gradually increasing wet phase until ca . 2550 cal yr BP. Relative frequencies of pollen indicators of crop cultivation and arboriculture (Fig. 3C) were considered as an indirect proxy of food availability. A straightforward relation is evidenced between drought phases and periods of low crop production, which could induce famines. Three well-preserved charred botanical macro-remains retrieved in situ at two locations from ashes in Level 6E were AMS 14 C dated: from location 1, one olive stone ( Olea europaea ), and from location 2, two deciduous oak fragments, respectively from a branch 10 cm in diameter and from isolated charcoals degraded from the outer rings of this branch (Fig. 4, Table 3). These dates, with close conventional ages (Table 3), give an accurate chronology for this fi re destruction of Gibala with a weighted average value (Bruins et al., 2003; Manning et al., 2006) of 2835 ± 20 14 C yr BP (Fig. 4, Table 3). The IntCal04 calibration curve (Reimer et al., 2004) provides calibration ages of 2995 – 2875 cal yr BP (2 σ , probability +1.0) and 2965 – 2945 cal yr BP (1 σ , probability +0.7) with an intercept age of 2950 cal yr BP. AMS C ages 2970 ± 40 C yr BP (Beta-229048) at 680-cm depth (13.09 m a.s.l.) and 2750 ± 40 14 C yr BP (Beta-229047) at 395 cm in the TW-1 core are crucial as they date a 2.85-m sediment column deposited during about 300 yr, with a mean deposition rate of 9.35 mm yr − 1 (Table 1; Fig. 2). The highly variable palynological composition (Fig. S2) and the intern variation in sediment characteristics (Fig. S1) provide evidence for a gradual deposition. These sediments are always completely different from the deposits below (Fig. S1). The AMS 14 C age 2970 ± 40 14 C yr BP (Beta-229048) (Table 1) dates the last peak of the wetter phase preceding the onset of the drought event (Fig. 3). Unfortunately, the shape and the wiggles in the calibration curve around 3150 cal yr BP have the effect of a plateau (Reimer et al., 2004) excluding a narrow resolution, even with several 14 C ages at the same level (Manning, 2006 – 2007). The 14 C age indeed shows large con fi dence limits with 3270 – 3000 cal yr BP at the 2 σ level and 3220 – 3070 cal yr BP at the 1 σ level (Table 1). This age range certainly puts the beginning of the climatic deterioration during a period covering the LBA IIB (1300 – 1200 BC) and the fi rst half of the IA I (1200 – 900 BC). A tentative chronology of the sediment column above 395 cm in core TW-1 is based on the extrapolation of the deposition rate of 9.35 mm yr − 1 from just below, suggesting an age of 2450 cal yr BP for the deposits at 30 cm below the surface (Fig. 3). The presence of a relative high number of weathered and nearly fresh IA shard fragments at different levels until the surface and the absence of more recent shards may con fi rm this IA age. It is believed that these shards are intercalated in the deposits during the fl uvial aggradation process, but one can oppose that all these potteries may have been reworked. A (sub) recent or late historical age for the upper part of the alluvial deposits is excluded on morphological grounds because we have to take into account the time needed for the subsequent vertical erosion of the Rumailiah River, resulting in a 6-m-deep ravine in the coring area. The erosion of the main river is also re fl ected in the TW-2 core of the af fl uent valley by the erosion hiatus bracketed between the intercept ages 2750 cal yr BP (2640±40 C yr BP; Beta-261721) and 1065 cal yr BP (1170±35 14 C yr BP; Poz-28589). The latter sample is situated at 12.65 m a.s.l. and implies that at that time the Rumailiah River was at least situated at the same altitude, so that a ravine of at least 4 m existed already by then. Focusing on the LBA collapse and the Dark Age, the AMS dates in each core show an orderly relationship with depth and are therefore considered reliable until ca . 2750 cal yr BP. The suggested connections for the period 2750 – 2450 cal yr BP (Fig. 3) are hypothetical. As a fi rst approximation, the intercept age of 3160 cal yr BP can be used to date the beginning of the climatic deterioration. This intercept age corresponds with the generally accepted age for the collapse of the LBA cultures in the Eastern Mediterranean dated at ca . 1200 BC based on a complex integration from archaeological data and on literary sources, mainly from Ugarit. The northern Levantine Ugarit (Tell Ras Shamra), with its rich correspondence in the late 13th to early 12th centuries BC, is of main interest for the knowledge of the end of the LBA (Yon, 1989; Bryce, 2005), and the LBA collapse. Its harbours played a crucial role in grain shipments from Egypt and Canaan to Ura, the Hittite port on the coast of Cilicia in southern Anatolia. The chronological correspondence suggests a causal link between the climatic deterioration established in Mediterranean Syria, the decline in crop production and the LBA collapse, a theory already formulated by Carpenter (1966), Weiss (1982) and others. There are no written sources for these periods with direct information on climate or climate changes except the Aristotle's statement about the Mycenaean drought around 1200 BC (Neumann, 1985). Useful information is related to food production, grain shortages, famine, and Sea People migrations. Near Eastern epigraphic and archaeological data document the invasions of the Sea Peoples (Yon, 2006; Gilboa, 2006 – 2007) and internal disintegration (Caubet, 1989) as the proximate cause for the LBA collapse in the northern Levant. The chronology of the Sea Peoples invasions is mainly based on letters just preceding the collapse of Ugarit (Yon, 1989; Singer, 1999; Dietrich and Loretz, 2002; Yon, 2006) and on Egyptian sources (Singer, 1999; Beckman, 2000). The Sea Peoples invasions were documented on the Ramses III's Medinet Habou Temple where they are illustrated with women and children suggesting movements of large kin-based units (Beckman, 2000). The fall of Ugarit is currently dated between 1194 and 1175 BC, between the terminus post quem supplied by the letter of the Egyptian Beya (1194 – 1186 BC) and the terminus ante quem of Ramses III's eight year (1175 BC) (Singer, 1999; Beckman, 2000). Freu (1988) concludes that tablet RS 86.2230 has been sent to Ugarit between 1197 and 1193 BC during the reign of Pharaoh Siptah and not during Sethnakht's reign, so that Ugarit has to be destroyed after 1195 BC and not before 1190 BC. A precise historical date of 1192 – 1185 BC is suggested by the combination of Ras Shamra clay tablet 86.2230 with the new dating of eclipse KTU 1.78 at 1192 BC (Dietrich and Loretz, 2002). The clay tablet RS 34.152, sent from Emar to Ugarit, is dated to ca . 1185 BC, before the fall of Emar at ca . 1175 BC (Cohen and d'Alfonso, 2008). ...
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... until ca . 2450 cal yr BP). No clear lag deposits have been observed in the cores, suggesting non-erosive contacts. The sedimentological transition between the older and the younger units is situated in the samples with a calculated age ca . 3150 – 3050 yr cal BP, somewhat younger than the pollen-derived environmental changes. The differences between these two units are also re fl ected in the carbonate content (and inversely in the other detritic materials), which is signi fi cantly higher in the younger deposits. Also the overall percentage of oxydables is lower, especially after ca . 2750 cal yr BP. Throughout the deposits, the fi ne fraction ( b 7.81 μ m) is largely dominant. After ca . 3150 – 3050 yr cal BP the deposits become coarser, as evidenced by a decrease of the fraction 7.81 – 31.24 μ m and increases of the fractions N 31.24 μ m. This is especially true during the drought event, which marks the highest in fl ux of coarser sediments, interpreted as deposition by more fl oods. After ca . 2850 cal yr BP, the in fl ux of fractions N 500 μ m is replaced by an in fl ux of mainly fi ner sand (fraction 31.24 – 500 μ m), which comes to an end at about 2750 cal yr BP. The subsequent period is characterized by a distinct lower content of oxydables and sharp fl uctuations in the mineralogical content and the fractions N 500 μ m. The PCA-Axis 1 ordination of the TW-1 data accounts for most of the variance, with +.749 of total inertia (Figs. 3A and B). Arid/saline SQCI-s (+.1107), PdB Hot desert (+.6188), and PdB Warm steppe (+.2705) are loaded in positive values whereas negative values correspond to wet SQCI-s ( − .5886), PdB Warm mixed forest ( − .4067), and PdB Xerophytic woods/shrubs ( − .047). The re fi ned pollen-based climate record shows moist climate conditions at ca . 3450 – 3150 cal yr BP, with a wetter pulse at ca . 3160 cal yr BP (Figs. 3A and B). The climatic instability starts abruptly at ca . 3150 cal yr BP and is characterized by increasing drought, peaking at ca . 2860 cal yr BP, but interrupted by a short wet pulse centred on ca . 2940 – 2920 cal yr BP. A pronounced wet peak at ca . 2775 – 2750 cal yr BP marks the abrupt end of the 350-yr drought event. A subsequent minor dry event, between ca . 2720 and 2675 cal yr BP (extrapolated age-scale), is followed by a ca . 125-yr-long gradually increasing wet phase until ca . 2550 cal yr BP. Relative frequencies of pollen indicators of crop cultivation and arboriculture (Fig. 3C) were considered as an indirect proxy of food availability. A straightforward relation is evidenced between drought phases and periods of low crop production, which could induce famines. Three well-preserved charred botanical macro-remains retrieved in situ at two locations from ashes in Level 6E were AMS 14 C dated: from location 1, one olive stone ( Olea europaea ), and from location 2, two deciduous oak fragments, respectively from a branch 10 cm in diameter and from isolated charcoals degraded from the outer rings of this branch (Fig. 4, Table 3). These dates, with close conventional ages (Table 3), give an accurate chronology for this fi re destruction of Gibala with a weighted average value (Bruins et al., 2003; Manning et al., 2006) of 2835 ± 20 14 C yr BP (Fig. 4, Table 3). The IntCal04 calibration curve (Reimer et al., 2004) provides calibration ages of 2995 – 2875 cal yr BP (2 σ , probability +1.0) and 2965 – 2945 cal yr BP (1 σ , probability +0.7) with an intercept age of 2950 cal yr BP. AMS C ages 2970 ± 40 C yr BP (Beta-229048) at 680-cm depth (13.09 m a.s.l.) and 2750 ± 40 14 C yr BP (Beta-229047) at 395 cm in the TW-1 core are crucial as they date a 2.85-m sediment column deposited during about 300 yr, with a mean deposition rate of 9.35 mm yr − 1 (Table 1; Fig. 2). The highly variable palynological composition (Fig. S2) and the intern variation in sediment characteristics (Fig. S1) provide evidence for a gradual deposition. These sediments are always completely different from the deposits below (Fig. S1). The AMS 14 C age 2970 ± 40 14 C yr BP (Beta-229048) (Table 1) dates the last peak of the wetter phase preceding the onset of the drought event (Fig. 3). Unfortunately, the shape and the wiggles in the calibration curve around 3150 cal yr BP have the effect of a plateau (Reimer et al., 2004) excluding a narrow resolution, even with several 14 C ages at the same level (Manning, 2006 – 2007). The 14 C age indeed shows large con fi dence limits with 3270 – 3000 cal yr BP at the 2 σ level and 3220 – 3070 cal yr BP at the 1 σ level (Table 1). This age range certainly puts the beginning of the climatic deterioration during a period covering the LBA IIB (1300 – 1200 BC) and the fi rst half of the IA I (1200 – 900 BC). A tentative chronology of the sediment column above 395 cm in core TW-1 is based on the extrapolation of the deposition rate of 9.35 mm yr − 1 from just below, suggesting an age of 2450 cal yr BP for the deposits at 30 cm below the surface (Fig. 3). The presence of a relative high number of weathered and nearly fresh IA shard fragments at different levels until the surface and the absence of more recent shards may con fi rm this IA age. It is believed that these shards are intercalated in the deposits during the fl uvial aggradation process, but one can oppose that all these potteries may have been reworked. A (sub) recent or late historical age for the upper part of the alluvial deposits is excluded on morphological grounds because we have to take into account the time needed for the subsequent vertical erosion of the Rumailiah River, resulting in a 6-m-deep ravine in the coring area. The erosion of the main river is also re fl ected in the TW-2 core of the af fl uent valley by the erosion hiatus bracketed between the intercept ages 2750 cal yr BP (2640±40 C yr BP; Beta-261721) and 1065 cal yr BP (1170±35 14 C yr BP; Poz-28589). The latter sample is situated at 12.65 m a.s.l. and implies that at that time the Rumailiah River was at least situated at the same altitude, so that a ravine of at least 4 m existed already by then. Focusing on the LBA collapse and the Dark Age, the AMS dates in each core show an orderly relationship with depth and are therefore considered reliable until ca . 2750 cal yr BP. The suggested connections for the period 2750 – 2450 cal yr BP (Fig. 3) are hypothetical. As a fi rst approximation, the intercept age of 3160 cal yr BP can be used to date the beginning of the climatic deterioration. This intercept age corresponds with the generally accepted age for the collapse of the LBA cultures in the Eastern Mediterranean dated at ca . 1200 BC based on a complex integration from archaeological data and on literary sources, mainly from Ugarit. The northern Levantine Ugarit (Tell Ras Shamra), with its rich correspondence in the late 13th to early 12th centuries BC, is of main interest for the knowledge of the end of the LBA (Yon, 1989; Bryce, 2005), and the LBA collapse. Its harbours played a crucial role in grain shipments from Egypt and Canaan to Ura, the Hittite port on the coast of Cilicia in southern Anatolia. The chronological correspondence suggests a causal link between the climatic deterioration established in Mediterranean Syria, the decline in crop production and the LBA collapse, a theory already formulated by Carpenter (1966), Weiss (1982) and others. There are no written sources for these periods with direct information on climate or climate changes except the Aristotle's statement about the Mycenaean drought around 1200 BC (Neumann, 1985). Useful information is related to food production, grain shortages, famine, and Sea People migrations. Near Eastern epigraphic and archaeological data document the invasions of the Sea Peoples (Yon, 2006; Gilboa, 2006 – 2007) and internal disintegration (Caubet, 1989) as the proximate cause for the LBA collapse in the northern Levant. The chronology of the Sea Peoples invasions is mainly based on letters just preceding the collapse of Ugarit (Yon, 1989; Singer, 1999; Dietrich and Loretz, 2002; Yon, 2006) and on Egyptian sources (Singer, 1999; Beckman, 2000). The Sea Peoples invasions were documented on the Ramses III's Medinet Habou Temple where they are illustrated with women and children suggesting movements of large kin-based units (Beckman, 2000). The fall of Ugarit is currently dated between 1194 and 1175 BC, between the terminus post quem supplied by the letter of the Egyptian Beya (1194 – 1186 BC) and the terminus ante quem of Ramses III's eight year (1175 BC) (Singer, 1999; Beckman, 2000). Freu (1988) concludes that tablet RS 86.2230 has been sent to Ugarit between 1197 and 1193 BC during the reign of Pharaoh Siptah and not during Sethnakht's reign, so that Ugarit has to be destroyed after 1195 BC and not before 1190 BC. A precise historical date of 1192 – 1185 BC is suggested by the combination of Ras Shamra clay tablet 86.2230 with the new dating of eclipse KTU 1.78 at 1192 BC (Dietrich and Loretz, 2002). The clay tablet RS 34.152, sent from Emar to Ugarit, is dated to ca . 1185 BC, before the fall of Emar at ca . 1175 BC (Cohen and d'Alfonso, 2008). Unfortunately, no absolute radiocarbon dates have been published for the destruction layer at Ugarit. In coastal Syria, secure linkages between the LBA collapse and the onset of the drought event are particularly dif fi cult to provide. The 3160 cal yr BP intercept is chronologically close to the 1194 – 1175 BC fall of Ugarit. The weak discrepancy between the written sources and the radiocarbon intercept may suggest that the drought event and the drought-induced decline in crop production start in the late 13th/ early 12th centuries BC (Fig. 3C). Information from historical data that document episodes of food shortage in the Eastern Mediterranean, are rare. The clay tablet RS 34.152 from Emar is a vivid testimony to severe food shortage and to the deteriorating conditions in inner Syria around 1185 BC. The Emar ...
Context 17
... downstream of a pronounced river bend. TW-1 has been selected from a S – N core transect between the Tell foot and the river. Colluvial deposits at the Tell foot are very thin and are separated from the alluvial deposits by a 10-m section with the limestone bedrock at the surface. The alluvial deposits are aggraded in a former ca . 50-m- wide valley delimited by 1 – 2 m high morphological scarps. The present Rumailiah River has eroded a 6-m-deep ravine in these deposits so that the top is largely fossilized and out of the reach of most inundations. The TW-2 core (450 cm; 35°22 ′ 13.16 ′′ N, 35°56 ′ 11.36 ′′ E; 16.06 m a. s.l., 1.6 km from the Mediterranean) was sampled from the alluvial deposits (bottom very probably reached) of a small fi rst order spring- fed river valley bordering the Tell towards the south (Ain Fawar). The core is situated in the middle of the actual fl oodplain, here 40 m wide. The spring valley belongs morphologically to the Rumailiah basin because the alluvial deposits of both valley systems are constrained by gravel deposits and merge seaward from Gibala-Tell Tweini. The con fl uence of both rivers is defunct as the spring-fed river has been diverted. The TW-1 core was sampled with a percussion-driven end- fi lling ramguts corer (length 100 cm; Ø 7.5 cm), and the much softer sediments in the TW-2 with a manual guts corer (length 100 cm; Ø 3.0 cm). Deposits were retrieved in multiple drives, but no sediment was lost during coring operations. No potential gaps or unconfor- mities were observed in the core logs and fi eld data. The TW-1 core chronology relies on four accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14 C ages on charcoal at depths of 785 cm, 755 cm (both in 800 – 700 cm ramguts drive), 680 cm (in 600 – 700 cm drive), and 395 cm (in 360 – 440 cm drive) (Table 1). In the TW-1 core, datable plant remains are lacking from the sediment column, above core depth 395 cm, which has the conventional age 2750 ± 40 14 C yr BP (Beta-229047) (Table 1). The TW-2 core chronology is based on three AMS 14 C ages on charcoal at following depths: 448 cm (in 450 – 351 cm drive), 403 (in 450 – 351 cm drive), and 341 cm depth (in 275 – 351 cm drive) (Table 2). In the TW-2 core, a major hiatus occurs between 341 cm (2640 ± 40 14 C yr BP; Beta-261721) and 315 cm (1170 ± 35 14 C yr BP; Poz-28589) depth. The upper column, without shard fragments, is AMS 14 C dated as Middle Ages – Modern Era (not included). The AMS dates in each core show an orderly relationship with depth and are therefore considered reliable. All radiocarbon ages are calibrated by IntCal04-Calib Rev 5.0.1 (Reimer et al., 2004). Compaction corrected deposition rates have been computed between the intercepts of adjacent 14 C ages. Although any single value, neither the intercept nor any other calculation, adequately describes the complex shape of a radiocarbon probability density function (Telford et al., 2004), a single value has to be used to calculate the time scale for numerical analyses. The age of each sample was calculated by interpolation. The cores TW-1 and TW-2 have been correlated using pollen and pollen-derived Biome (PdB) data and elevations a.s.l. of the fl uvial deposits from the main and the af fl uent valley (Fig. 2). A total of 83 samples from cores TW-1 and TW-2 have been analyzed (Fig. S1) according to a fl ow chart previously described (Kaniewski et al., 2007). The grain-size distributions were subdivided into fractions with similar behaviour and shown as two matrices: - clay and very fi ne silt ( b 7.8 μ m), fi ne and medium silt (7.8 – 31.2 μ m), coarse silt till medium sand (31.2 – 500 μ m) and N 500 μ m volume fractions - oxydables, carbonate and rest fractions. The sediment deposits in the TW-1 and TW-2 cores consist of a potential continuous sedimentation of carbonate-rich clays, fi ne silt, and sand with sporadic gravel concentrations (Figs. 2 and S1). The same 83 samples from cores TW-1 and TW-2 were prepared for pollen analyses using standard palynological procedures. Pollen grains were counted under ×400 and ×1250 magni fi cation using a Leitz microscope. Pollen frequencies (%) are based on the total pollen sum (average 400 pollen grains) excluding local hygrophytes and spores of non-vascular cryptogams (Fig. S2). The ratios of arboreal and non-arboreal pollen provide an estimate of the relative forest density (Fig. S2). Cultivated plants and cereals time-series have been plotted on the linear age-scale. Pollen data have been converted into Plant Functional Types (PFTs) and a pollen-derived biomization of the PFT-s has been elaborated (Prentice et al., 1996; Tarasov et al., 1998). Three semi-quantitative climatic indexes (SQCI-s) have also been computed from pollen data (Kaniewski et al., 2008). The process used to convert environmental data into climatic proxy has been here modi fi ed and includes now the PdB and SQCI time-series in the principal components analysis (PCA) numerical matrix. The re fi ned data (Fig. 3) are described using the computed age-scale model based on the AMS 14 C intercepts. The fl uvial deposition has taken place in a 50-m-wide con fi ned valley belonging to the Rumailiah River. The detail of the sediment characteristics in TW-1 core (Fig. S1) is highly different, with a major break at ca . 3150 cal yr BP. This is the result of the combination of the huge differences between the mean sedimentation rates, 0.8 mm yr − 1 for the period ca . 3950 – 3150 cal yr BP versus 9.35 mm yr − 1 for the period ca . 3150 – 2850 cal yr BP (and extrapolated until ca . 2450 cal yr BP). No clear lag deposits have been observed in the cores, suggesting non-erosive contacts. The sedimentological transition between the older and the younger units is situated in the samples with a calculated age ca . 3150 – 3050 yr cal BP, somewhat younger than the pollen-derived environmental changes. The differences between these two units are also re fl ected in the carbonate content (and inversely in the other detritic materials), which is signi fi cantly higher in the younger deposits. Also the overall percentage of oxydables is lower, especially after ca . 2750 cal yr BP. Throughout the deposits, the fi ne fraction ( b 7.81 μ m) is largely dominant. After ca . 3150 – 3050 yr cal BP the deposits become coarser, as evidenced by a decrease of the fraction 7.81 – 31.24 μ m and increases of the fractions N 31.24 μ m. This is especially true during the drought event, which marks the highest in fl ux of coarser sediments, interpreted as deposition by more fl oods. After ca . 2850 cal yr BP, the in fl ux of fractions N 500 μ m is replaced by an in fl ux of mainly fi ner sand (fraction 31.24 – 500 μ m), which comes to an end at about 2750 cal yr BP. The subsequent period is characterized by a distinct lower content of oxydables and sharp fl uctuations in the mineralogical content and the fractions N 500 μ m. The PCA-Axis 1 ordination of the TW-1 data accounts for most of the variance, with +.749 of total inertia (Figs. 3A and B). Arid/saline SQCI-s (+.1107), PdB Hot desert (+.6188), and PdB Warm steppe (+.2705) are loaded in positive values whereas negative values correspond to wet SQCI-s ( − .5886), PdB Warm mixed forest ( − .4067), and PdB Xerophytic woods/shrubs ( − .047). The re fi ned pollen-based climate record shows moist climate conditions at ca . 3450 – 3150 cal yr BP, with a wetter pulse at ca . 3160 cal yr BP (Figs. 3A and B). The climatic instability starts abruptly at ca . 3150 cal yr BP and is characterized by increasing drought, peaking at ca . 2860 cal yr BP, but interrupted by a short wet pulse centred on ca . 2940 – 2920 cal yr BP. A pronounced wet peak at ca . 2775 – 2750 cal yr BP marks the abrupt end of the 350-yr drought event. A subsequent minor dry event, between ca . 2720 and 2675 cal yr BP (extrapolated age-scale), is followed by a ca . 125-yr-long gradually increasing wet phase until ca . 2550 cal yr BP. Relative frequencies of pollen indicators of crop cultivation and arboriculture (Fig. 3C) were considered as an indirect proxy of food availability. A straightforward relation is evidenced between drought phases and periods of low crop production, which could induce famines. Three well-preserved charred botanical macro-remains retrieved in situ at two locations from ashes in Level 6E were AMS 14 C dated: from location 1, one olive stone ( Olea europaea ), and from location 2, two deciduous oak fragments, respectively from a branch 10 cm in diameter and from isolated charcoals degraded from the outer rings of this branch (Fig. 4, Table 3). These dates, with close conventional ages (Table 3), give an accurate chronology for this fi re destruction of Gibala with a weighted average value (Bruins et al., 2003; Manning et al., 2006) of 2835 ± 20 14 C yr BP (Fig. 4, Table 3). The IntCal04 calibration curve (Reimer et al., 2004) provides calibration ages of 2995 – 2875 cal yr BP (2 σ , probability +1.0) and 2965 – 2945 cal yr BP (1 σ , probability +0.7) with an intercept age of 2950 cal yr BP. AMS C ages 2970 ± 40 C yr BP (Beta-229048) at 680-cm depth (13.09 m a.s.l.) and 2750 ± 40 14 C yr BP (Beta-229047) at 395 cm in the TW-1 core are crucial as they date a 2.85-m sediment column deposited during about 300 yr, with a mean deposition rate of 9.35 mm yr − 1 (Table 1; Fig. 2). The highly variable palynological composition (Fig. S2) and the intern variation in sediment characteristics (Fig. S1) provide evidence for a gradual deposition. These sediments are always completely different from the deposits below (Fig. S1). The AMS 14 C age 2970 ± 40 14 C yr BP (Beta-229048) (Table 1) dates the last peak of the wetter phase preceding the onset of the drought event (Fig. 3). Unfortunately, the shape and the wiggles in the calibration curve around 3150 cal yr BP have the effect of a plateau (Reimer et al., 2004) excluding a narrow resolution, even with several 14 C ages at the same level (Manning, 2006 – 2007). The ...
Context 18
... 500 μ m. The PCA-Axis 1 ordination of the TW-1 data accounts for most of the variance, with +.749 of total inertia (Figs. 3A and B). Arid/saline SQCI-s (+.1107), PdB Hot desert (+.6188), and PdB Warm steppe (+.2705) are loaded in positive values whereas negative values correspond to wet SQCI-s ( − .5886), PdB Warm mixed forest ( − .4067), and PdB Xerophytic woods/shrubs ( − .047). The re fi ned pollen-based climate record shows moist climate conditions at ca . 3450 – 3150 cal yr BP, with a wetter pulse at ca . 3160 cal yr BP (Figs. 3A and B). The climatic instability starts abruptly at ca . 3150 cal yr BP and is characterized by increasing drought, peaking at ca . 2860 cal yr BP, but interrupted by a short wet pulse centred on ca . 2940 – 2920 cal yr BP. A pronounced wet peak at ca . 2775 – 2750 cal yr BP marks the abrupt end of the 350-yr drought event. A subsequent minor dry event, between ca . 2720 and 2675 cal yr BP (extrapolated age-scale), is followed by a ca . 125-yr-long gradually increasing wet phase until ca . 2550 cal yr BP. Relative frequencies of pollen indicators of crop cultivation and arboriculture (Fig. 3C) were considered as an indirect proxy of food availability. A straightforward relation is evidenced between drought phases and periods of low crop production, which could induce famines. Three well-preserved charred botanical macro-remains retrieved in situ at two locations from ashes in Level 6E were AMS 14 C dated: from location 1, one olive stone ( Olea europaea ), and from location 2, two deciduous oak fragments, respectively from a branch 10 cm in diameter and from isolated charcoals degraded from the outer rings of this branch (Fig. 4, Table 3). These dates, with close conventional ages (Table 3), give an accurate chronology for this fi re destruction of Gibala with a weighted average value (Bruins et al., 2003; Manning et al., 2006) of 2835 ± 20 14 C yr BP (Fig. 4, Table 3). The IntCal04 calibration curve (Reimer et al., 2004) provides calibration ages of 2995 – 2875 cal yr BP (2 σ , probability +1.0) and 2965 – 2945 cal yr BP (1 σ , probability +0.7) with an intercept age of 2950 cal yr BP. AMS C ages 2970 ± 40 C yr BP (Beta-229048) at 680-cm depth (13.09 m a.s.l.) and 2750 ± 40 14 C yr BP (Beta-229047) at 395 cm in the TW-1 core are crucial as they date a 2.85-m sediment column deposited during about 300 yr, with a mean deposition rate of 9.35 mm yr − 1 (Table 1; Fig. 2). The highly variable palynological composition (Fig. S2) and the intern variation in sediment characteristics (Fig. S1) provide evidence for a gradual deposition. These sediments are always completely different from the deposits below (Fig. S1). The AMS 14 C age 2970 ± 40 14 C yr BP (Beta-229048) (Table 1) dates the last peak of the wetter phase preceding the onset of the drought event (Fig. 3). Unfortunately, the shape and the wiggles in the calibration curve around 3150 cal yr BP have the effect of a plateau (Reimer et al., 2004) excluding a narrow resolution, even with several 14 C ages at the same level (Manning, 2006 – 2007). The 14 C age indeed shows large con fi dence limits with 3270 – 3000 cal yr BP at the 2 σ level and 3220 – 3070 cal yr BP at the 1 σ level (Table 1). This age range certainly puts the beginning of the climatic deterioration during a period covering the LBA IIB (1300 – 1200 BC) and the fi rst half of the IA I (1200 – 900 BC). A tentative chronology of the sediment column above 395 cm in core TW-1 is based on the extrapolation of the deposition rate of 9.35 mm yr − 1 from just below, suggesting an age of 2450 cal yr BP for the deposits at 30 cm below the surface (Fig. 3). The presence of a relative high number of weathered and nearly fresh IA shard fragments at different levels until the surface and the absence of more recent shards may con fi rm this IA age. It is believed that these shards are intercalated in the deposits during the fl uvial aggradation process, but one can oppose that all these potteries may have been reworked. A (sub) recent or late historical age for the upper part of the alluvial deposits is excluded on morphological grounds because we have to take into account the time needed for the subsequent vertical erosion of the Rumailiah River, resulting in a 6-m-deep ravine in the coring area. The erosion of the main river is also re fl ected in the TW-2 core of the af fl uent valley by the erosion hiatus bracketed between the intercept ages 2750 cal yr BP (2640±40 C yr BP; Beta-261721) and 1065 cal yr BP (1170±35 14 C yr BP; Poz-28589). The latter sample is situated at 12.65 m a.s.l. and implies that at that time the Rumailiah River was at least situated at the same altitude, so that a ravine of at least 4 m existed already by then. Focusing on the LBA collapse and the Dark Age, the AMS dates in each core show an orderly relationship with depth and are therefore considered reliable until ca . 2750 cal yr BP. The suggested connections for the period 2750 – 2450 cal yr BP (Fig. 3) are hypothetical. As a fi rst approximation, the intercept age of 3160 cal yr BP can be used to date the beginning of the climatic deterioration. This intercept age corresponds with the generally accepted age for the collapse of the LBA cultures in the Eastern Mediterranean dated at ca . 1200 BC based on a complex integration from archaeological data and on literary sources, mainly from Ugarit. The northern Levantine Ugarit (Tell Ras Shamra), with its rich correspondence in the late 13th to early 12th centuries BC, is of main interest for the knowledge of the end of the LBA (Yon, 1989; Bryce, 2005), and the LBA collapse. Its harbours played a crucial role in grain shipments from Egypt and Canaan to Ura, the Hittite port on the coast of Cilicia in southern Anatolia. The chronological correspondence suggests a causal link between the climatic deterioration established in Mediterranean Syria, the decline in crop production and the LBA collapse, a theory already formulated by Carpenter (1966), Weiss (1982) and others. There are no written sources for these periods with direct information on climate or climate changes except the Aristotle's statement about the Mycenaean drought around 1200 BC (Neumann, 1985). Useful information is related to food production, grain shortages, famine, and Sea People migrations. Near Eastern epigraphic and archaeological data document the invasions of the Sea Peoples (Yon, 2006; Gilboa, 2006 – 2007) and internal disintegration (Caubet, 1989) as the proximate cause for the LBA collapse in the northern Levant. The chronology of the Sea Peoples invasions is mainly based on letters just preceding the collapse of Ugarit (Yon, 1989; Singer, 1999; Dietrich and Loretz, 2002; Yon, 2006) and on Egyptian sources (Singer, 1999; Beckman, 2000). The Sea Peoples invasions were documented on the Ramses III's Medinet Habou Temple where they are illustrated with women and children suggesting movements of large kin-based units (Beckman, 2000). The fall of Ugarit is currently dated between 1194 and 1175 BC, between the terminus post quem supplied by the letter of the Egyptian Beya (1194 – 1186 BC) and the terminus ante quem of Ramses III's eight year (1175 BC) (Singer, 1999; Beckman, 2000). Freu (1988) concludes that tablet RS 86.2230 has been sent to Ugarit between 1197 and 1193 BC during the reign of Pharaoh Siptah and not during Sethnakht's reign, so that Ugarit has to be destroyed after 1195 BC and not before 1190 BC. A precise historical date of 1192 – 1185 BC is suggested by the combination of Ras Shamra clay tablet 86.2230 with the new dating of eclipse KTU 1.78 at 1192 BC (Dietrich and Loretz, 2002). The clay tablet RS 34.152, sent from Emar to Ugarit, is dated to ca . 1185 BC, before the fall of Emar at ca . 1175 BC (Cohen and d'Alfonso, 2008). Unfortunately, no absolute radiocarbon dates have been published for the destruction layer at Ugarit. In coastal Syria, secure linkages between the LBA collapse and the onset of the drought event are particularly dif fi cult to provide. The 3160 cal yr BP intercept is chronologically close to the 1194 – 1175 BC fall of Ugarit. The weak discrepancy between the written sources and the radiocarbon intercept may suggest that the drought event and the drought-induced decline in crop production start in the late 13th/ early 12th centuries BC (Fig. 3C). Information from historical data that document episodes of food shortage in the Eastern Mediterranean, are rare. The clay tablet RS 34.152 from Emar is a vivid testimony to severe food shortage and to the deteriorating conditions in inner Syria around 1185 BC. The Emar year names bear witness to a staggering rise in grain prices in the “ year of hardship/famine ” . Impoverished families were forced to sell their children to wealthy merchants in order to sustain themselves (Singer, 2000; Cohen and Singer, 2006). The clay tablet RS 18.38, dated from the late 13th century BC, indicates grain shipments from Egypt to the Hittites, suggesting grain shortages in Eastern Anatolia (Bryce, 2005). A particular note of urgency occurs in a letter sent from the Hittite court to the Ugaritic king, either Niqmaddu III (1210 – 1200 BC) or Hammurabi (1200 – 1194/1175), demanding ship and crew for the transport of 2000 kor of grain ( ca . 450 tons) from the Syrian coastal district Mukish to Ura. The letter ended by stating that it is a matter of life or death (tablet RS 20.212) (Nougayrol et al., 1968). In Egypt, a famine struck the country during the reign of Merneptah (1213 – 1203 BC) (Bryson et al., 1974). The drop of Nile discharges during the reign of Ramses III (1186 – 1153 BC) has led to crop failures/low harvests (Butzer, 1976) and riots (Faulkner, 1975). It is worth mentioning that Hatti may have very probably come to rely on grain importation during the last century of the Kingdom. Following the 1259 BC treaty between Ramses II and Hattusili III, grain was probably imported from Egypt into Anatolia on a ...
Context 19
... d'Alfonso, 2008). Unfortunately, no absolute radiocarbon dates have been published for the destruction layer at Ugarit. In coastal Syria, secure linkages between the LBA collapse and the onset of the drought event are particularly dif fi cult to provide. The 3160 cal yr BP intercept is chronologically close to the 1194 – 1175 BC fall of Ugarit. The weak discrepancy between the written sources and the radiocarbon intercept may suggest that the drought event and the drought-induced decline in crop production start in the late 13th/ early 12th centuries BC (Fig. 3C). Information from historical data that document episodes of food shortage in the Eastern Mediterranean, are rare. The clay tablet RS 34.152 from Emar is a vivid testimony to severe food shortage and to the deteriorating conditions in inner Syria around 1185 BC. The Emar year names bear witness to a staggering rise in grain prices in the “ year of hardship/famine ” . Impoverished families were forced to sell their children to wealthy merchants in order to sustain themselves (Singer, 2000; Cohen and Singer, 2006). The clay tablet RS 18.38, dated from the late 13th century BC, indicates grain shipments from Egypt to the Hittites, suggesting grain shortages in Eastern Anatolia (Bryce, 2005). A particular note of urgency occurs in a letter sent from the Hittite court to the Ugaritic king, either Niqmaddu III (1210 – 1200 BC) or Hammurabi (1200 – 1194/1175), demanding ship and crew for the transport of 2000 kor of grain ( ca . 450 tons) from the Syrian coastal district Mukish to Ura. The letter ended by stating that it is a matter of life or death (tablet RS 20.212) (Nougayrol et al., 1968). In Egypt, a famine struck the country during the reign of Merneptah (1213 – 1203 BC) (Bryson et al., 1974). The drop of Nile discharges during the reign of Ramses III (1186 – 1153 BC) has led to crop failures/low harvests (Butzer, 1976) and riots (Faulkner, 1975). It is worth mentioning that Hatti may have very probably come to rely on grain importation during the last century of the Kingdom. Following the 1259 BC treaty between Ramses II and Hattusili III, grain was probably imported from Egypt into Anatolia on a regular basis (Bryce, 2005). This could indicate that even during the LBA humid climatic conditions (Fig. 3B), the Hatti Kingdom was no longer self- sustainable in food procurement and had to rely on food import. At the end of the 13th century BC, Pharaoh Merneptah (1213 – 1203 BC) sent to the Hittites the earliest known shipment of grain in the form of famine aid (Warburton, 2003; Bryce, 2005). The Hittite king Amuwanda III described the terrible hunger suffered during his father's day in Anatolia and mentioned drought as the reason (Warburton, 2003). This evidence for the crises during the late 13th/early 12th centuries BC in the Eastern Mediterranean may serve as anchor points between the historical sources and the radiocarbon-dated decline in crop production in coastal Syria (Fig. 3C). The data suggest that the fall of Ugarit and secondary cities has to be placed within the drought period which may have started at the end of the 13th century BC. Inhabitants of the destroyed and abandoned LBA cities probably sought refuge in the mountain villages which were somewhat protected by being located away from the coast (Caubet, 1989; Yon, 1989). The fact that certain village names have been preserved from the LBA to the present leads these authors to believe that the village communities managed to survive, thanks to their inland location away from the coast. A causal process for the northern coastal Levant migration might also have been the transient ameliorating effect of moister conditions on crop and food resources, concentrating population movement from the coast toward more fertile areas such as the riparian and adjacent karst aquifer-related settlements/cities of the Orontes River. The Sea Peoples may have induced the fall of the coastal Ugarit (1194 – 1175 BC), Ras Ibn Hani, Ras el-Bassit, Tell Kazel, Tell Sukas, and Gibala (Level 7A) followed by the destruction of several cities of the Hittite Empire (Tarsus, Hattusas) (Beckman, 2000), near the Orontes River (Alalakh, Tunip, Hamath, Qadesh) (Fugmann, 1958; Woolley, 1958; Bartl and al-Maqdissi, 2007; Whincop, 2007), and near the Euphrates (Emar, Tell Bazi, Tell Faq'us, Tell Fray, Tell Suyuh) (Adamthwaite, 2001; Beyer, 2001; Otto, 2007; Cohen, 2009) (Fig. 1). The duration of the drought event in coastal Syria has been estimated by a series of AMS 14 C dates obtained in the two cores, TW- 1 (Table 1) and TW-2 (Table 2). Their ages range from the 13th/12th centuries BC until 9th/8th centuries BC. The AMS 14 C date for the basal sample in the TW-2 core (Fig. 2) gives an age of 2810 ± 30 14 C yr BP (Poz-28165), with a 2 σ con fi dence of 3000 – 2845 cal yr BP (intercept at 2920 cal yr BP) (Table 2). The second AMS 14 C age for the drought event has been obtained for the higher peak in the PCA-Axis1 curve (Fig. 3) and dated at 2750 ± 40 14 C yr BP (Beta-229047) with a 2 σ con fi dence of 2950 – 2760 cal yr BP (intercept at 2850 cal yr BP) (Table 1). The end of the drought event is enclosed in an interval between 2720 ± 40 14 C yr BP (Beta-261722) and 2640 ± 30 14 C yr BP (Beta-261721). In this interval, de fi ned by a 2 σ con fi dence of, respectively, 2885 – 2755 cal yr BP (intercept at 2790 cal yr BP) and 2845 – 2725 cal yr BP (intercept at 2750 cal yr BP) (Table 2), the drought suddenly ends. The TW-1 and TW-2 cores are consistent with a termination of the drought event during the 9th century, between 2790 and 2750 cal yr BP according to the intercepts. Archaeological data in coastal Syria show that dense occupation reappears during the end of the 9th or the 8th century BC (Caubet, 1989). The IA IIa – b transition is dated at 825 BC according to the Modi fi ed Conventional Chronology (MCC) (Mazar, 2005; Mazar and Bronk Ramsey, 2008). This transition is close to the intercept date at which the Dark Age ended in coastal Syria. Egyptian, Aegean, and Assyrian empires recovered with diversi fi ed agro-production (manna ash, olive tree, vine tree, walnut tree), pastoral activities, and sustained a cultural revival (Weiss, 1982). The archaeologically de fi ned end of the Dark Age and the radiocarbon-dated end of the drought event are concordant in time. The major environmental shift, interpreted as a result of lower amounts of precipitation in the Syrian coastal area (Figs. 3A and B) since 2970 ± 40 14 C yr BP (Beta-229048), is synchronous with a dry southern basin and a low lake level in the northern basin for the Dead Sea (Bookman et al., 2004). The lowest value of the northern lake was reached at 3350 cal yr BP, before the onset of the Syrian climatic shift, and the level stays low throughout the drought event. The change in rainfall inducing a shortage of water supply in coastal Syria is derived from a synthesis of regional palaeoenvironmental proxy data, taking into account climatic signals and the temporal resolution represented in the records also correlated with minima in the Tigris and Euphrates river discharges from 1150 to 950 BC (Kay and Johnson, 1981; Neumann and Parpola, 1987; Alpert and Neumann, 1989), and with higher δ 18 O values in the Ashdod coast record (Schilman et al., 2001, 2002). During this period, the Babylonian and Assyrian empires go into decline between 1200 and 900 BC (Brinkman, 1968; Neumann and Parpola, 1987). Written sources from Babylon mention crop failures, famine, outbreak of plague and repeated nomad incursions at that time (Neumann and Parpola, 1987). The historically de fi ned Dark Age (1200 – 825 BC) (Weiss, 1982; Haggis, 1993) is synchronous with the period of drought and diminishing crop production (Fig. 3C) documented here. Several not mutually exclusive mechanisms have been considered to explain the late Holocene centennial-scale climate variability, among which solar forcing (Versteegh, 2005) and ocean circulation changes (Bond et al., 2001) are plausible candidates. A comparison of the δ 14 C solar proxy with the pollen-derived climatic proxy reveals a good correspondence between lowest atmospheric δ 14 C values indicative of higher solar irradiance and the 350-yr drought event. These results suggest that middle-to-late Holocene precipitation changes over the Near East are associated with solar variability. Centennial – millennial droughts in the Eastern Mediterranean were also related to cooling periods in the North Atlantic for the past 55 ka BP (Bartov et al., 2003). A correspondence between the drought event in coastal Syria and the second peak of Bond event 2, identi fi ed in North Atlantic core MC52-V29-191 by the bimodal increase of ice- rafted hematite stained grains, would con fi rm the role of the North Atlantic in modulating the Eastern Mediterranean climate at the centennial scale. The fi rst con fl agration of Gibala has destroyed the LBA city. The corresponding destruction Level 7A contains typical Late Helladic IIIB ceramics. The destruction of this southernmost harbour town of the Ugarit Kingdom shows no discrepancy with Ugarit, which has been set ablaze at the LBA – IA transition. The destruction of occupation Level 6E marks the second con fl agration of Gibala (Fig. 4) and occurs at the MCC IA I – II transition, after ca . 2 centuries of drought and harvest failures (Figs. 3B and C). This con fl agration Level contains typical store jars well preserved in room context, typologically dated in the 11th century BC (Fig. 4). In Level 6E, and also in the older Levels 6F – G – H, LBA potteries, characteristic for Levels 7A – B – C are absent, as well as typical forms, which appearing later in the IA II Levels 6C – D (Vansteenhuyse, 2010). For the end of the Early IA I, major destruction levels are attested at Megiddo (2990 – 2880 cal yr BP), Yoqne'am (2995 – 2880 cal yr BP), Tell Qasile (3000 – 2890 cal yr BP), and Tell Hadar (3005 – 2880 cal yr BP) ...
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The analysis of pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs in a sequence from an endorreic lake in Almenara de Adaja (Valladolid, Northern Plateau) shows the sensibility of this record to both climatic and anthropogenic changes during the last 2800 years. All the phases of climatic variability described for this chronology have been detected, as the cold p...
Citations
... The driest condition occurred c. 3.2 ka BP on the Iranian Plateau and coincided with dramatic disruptions in Late Bronze Age settlements in ancient Mesopotamia and the eastern Mediterranean region typically labeled as a 'collapse' (Weiss, 1982b;Table 1;Haggis, 1993;Kaniewski et al., 2010;Paulette, 2012;Kaniewski et al., 2010;Weiss, 2016;Manning et al., 2020;Baten et al., 2023). Similarly, hot and dry conditions c. 3.2 ka BP have been reported in archeological excavations from Ugarit, Syria (Alpert and Neumann, 1989). ...
... The driest condition occurred c. 3.2 ka BP on the Iranian Plateau and coincided with dramatic disruptions in Late Bronze Age settlements in ancient Mesopotamia and the eastern Mediterranean region typically labeled as a 'collapse' (Weiss, 1982b;Table 1;Haggis, 1993;Kaniewski et al., 2010;Paulette, 2012;Kaniewski et al., 2010;Weiss, 2016;Manning et al., 2020;Baten et al., 2023). Similarly, hot and dry conditions c. 3.2 ka BP have been reported in archeological excavations from Ugarit, Syria (Alpert and Neumann, 1989). ...
... Similarly, hot and dry conditions c. 3.2 ka BP have been reported in archeological excavations from Ugarit, Syria (Alpert and Neumann, 1989). This period coincided with the decline in fluvial discharge in the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, resulting in crop failure and the prevalence of widespread famines in Mesopotamia, ushering a steady decline (Kay and Johnson, 1981;Neumann and Parpola, 1987;Alpert and Neumann, 1989;Schulman et al., 2001;Kaniewski et al., 2010;Weiss, 2016;Manning et al., 2020;Baten et al., 2023). ...
Since the early Neolithic (∼10,000 years ago), the Iranian Plateau has witnessed the development of sedentary human settlement facilitated by periods of favorable climatic conditions prompting gradual or sweeping changes. Climate factors significantly drove the hydroclimatic conditions in western and southeastern Iran, which varied in response to the Mid-Latitude Westerlies (MLW) and Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM). In addition, the input of dust and its eastward transport from the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa coincided with the North Atlantic cooling events. Peak wet conditions during the early Holocene in southeastern (c. 11.4–9.6 ka BP) and western Iran (c. 10.2–8.6 ka BP) indicate different timings in regional precipitation. The northward displacement of the Intertropical Convergence Zone at the beginning of the early Holocene caused the ISM to expand over southeastern Iran. At the same time, it strengthened the sub-tropical high-pressure and northward expansion over western Iran, resulting in dry conditions. Between 7.8 and 6.3 ka BP, gradual weakening and southward movement of the ISM and the decrease in intensity of the subtropical high-pressure systems over the Zagros region resulted in southeastern Iran becoming mild and the western region humid. Between 6.3 and 5.0 ka BP, a decrease in solar insolation ushered dusty and arid conditions on the Iranian plateau. Notably, human activities in the region started experiencing significant changes around the mid-Holocene. A concurrence exists during the wet (c. 5.0–4.5 ka BP) and dry (c. 4.2–3.2 ka BP) periods, coinciding with the rise and decline of multiple Bronze Age settlements. These settlements flourished in exchange and trade, pyro-technologies, and agro-pastoral production, demonstrating an increasing complexity in social organization and vulnerability to climate change. After transitioning into the Iron Age, southeastern Iran experienced relatively wet conditions c. 2.9 to 2.3 ka BP and 1.6 to 1.3 ka BP coincided with major territorial expansions and advancements under the Achaemenid and Sassanian dynasties. Merging the historical and archaeological data with palaeoenvironmental conditions indicates a concurrence of unfolding climatic and cultural changes, suggesting cascading effects that led to growth or settlement decline and abandonment.
... Well-dated palaeoclimate records from many different locations and archives show that the Holocene climate was punctuated by several so-called rapid climate changes (RCCs) and was not as climatological stable as presumed (Dansgaard et al. 1993). Some RCC's occur synchronously across the globe and are triggered by different climatic forcing functions and their interaction (Mayewski et al. 2004 (Alley et al. 1997;Mayewski et al. 2004;Kaniewski et al. 2010). The "simple" P/B-ratio based lake-level reconstruction already indicated shifts in moisture towards more arid climate conditions around 7,900 yrs cal BP for Lake Kinneret and was supposed to coincide with the so-called 8.2 kyr cold (arid) event; the most prominent RCC during the Holocene (Vossel et al. 2018). ...
Meso-eutrophic Lake Kinneret is the largest natural freshwater body in Israel and a major source of drinking and irrigation water for the region. Although the lake is currently the subject of extensive aquatic monitoring programmes, knowledge of the spatial distribution and habitat preferences of modern diatom assemblages is rather limited. We investigated the composition of diatom death assemblages and their associated depth and habitat distributions within the modern Lake Kinneret to create a tool for semi-quantitative calibration of Holocene lake-level change. A quantitative diatom-inferred water-depth model based on simple linear regression between modern diatom assemblages and water depth is presented in this study. Our calibrated lake-level reconstruction fits well to palaeo-shoreline measurements and appears to display greater sensitivity to minor lake-level variation than a simple plankton/benthos-ratio approach. A close similarity between Lake Kinneret and the Dead Sea is observable, indicating that they were subject to similar regional fluctuations in moisture availability. Our results confirm that the investigation of modern diatom death assemblages can be helpful to understand and calibrate the limnological history of lakes. Approaches like this should be considered more often in future palaeoenvironmental studies.
Keywords: modern diatom death assemblages, palaeolimnology, lake-level calibration, simple water-depth model, Levant
... Broomcorn millet was likely cultivated as a "disaster relief" crop to mitigate the impact of these harsh environmental conditions. By approximately 1200 BC, a significant climatic shift occurred, marked by colder and drier weather patterns and extreme events with long recurrence intervals, which may have contributed to the collapse of Late Bronze Age cultures in the region (Kaniewski et al., 2010;Drake, 2012;Finné et al., 2017). The Belozerskaya people may have increased millet cultivation in response to these extreme climatic conditions, ultimately leading some populations to rely on millet as a staple food source. ...
The early trans-Eurasian exchange and its influence on the dynamics of human-land relationships is an emerging topic involving multiple disciplines. The southwestern part of the Eastern European Plain was a key hub for early East-West interaction. Broomcorn millet, a crop domesticated in China, was introduced into the region about 3,600 years ago, significantly earlier than in other parts of Europe. This research employs systematic archaeobotanical flotation and AMS radiocarbon dating at two sites in Romania: Baia-În Muchie and Dobrovăț. The findings demonstrate that broomcorn millet cultivation in this region has persisted for over 2,000 years, exhibiting significant diachronic fluctuations. Millet was most intensively utilized during the Late Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age (1200-800 BC) and the Late Roman Empire (AD 250-400), periods which were characterized by rapid climatic changes. It may have been cultivated as a "disaster relief" crop to mitigate the challenges posed by extreme drought and cold. The millet grains from the study area are similar in dimensions to those reported in East Asia; however, grains from the Romanian sites are thinner and longer. The route traversing the Caucasus and the northern Black Sea likely served as a key passage through which millet entered Europe from West Asia. This research provides valuable data on the chronology of millet cultivation in the SW Eastern European Plain and enhances our understanding of early East-West exchanges and their impact on human-environment interactions in critical regions.
... As Cullen and others note, this abrupt climate shift had an unusually large amplitude compared to the rest of the Holocene, almost matching the mineralogical and geochemical amplitudes associated with the Younger Dryas period drought [65]. All available evidence suggests that the 4.2-kiloyear event, marked by cooling and unusual drought, led to dramatic changes in regional climates during the mid-Holocene (e.g., [70][71][72][73]). However, it remains uncertain what specific effects these changes had on Early Bronze Age populations in different regions around 2200 BC. ...
The fortified hilltop settlement of Monkodonja, located near Rovinj on the west coast of Istria, Croatia, provides insight into Bronze Age occupation and conflict in the Adriatic region. Established around 2000 BC, as evidenced by a series of C14 dates from human and animal bones, the settlement experienced significant construction phases, particularly in its defensive architecture. Its earliest fortifications, built with limestone blocks using dry-stone wall techniques, date to the 19th century BC, with major expansions in the 16th century BC, where the primary wall was doubled in width and reached over 3 m in thickness. Monkodonja’s architectural complexity, notably the West Gate and Acropolis fortifications, and certain types of artifacts reveal influences from southern regions such the eastern Aegean. However, the settlement appears to have met a violent end around the 15th century BC, suggested by destruction layers, widespread burning, and the presence of weapons such as a lance tip, bronze axe, and slingstones. Monkodonja’s destruction raises questions about broader military conflicts in the Adriatic region during this period. Possible causes could include localized warfare or connections to larger-scale disturbances. Research in Monkodonja is also significant in the context of the debate surrounding the emergence of the so-called Castellieri settlements in Istria at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. As early as the beginning of the 20th century, it was proposed that a migration of people to the Istrian peninsula brought this new settlement form and other influences, leading to a significant population increase. The appearance of the Castellieri settlement form coincides with a period marked by documented climatic changes and two major natural disasters in the form of volcanic eruptions.
... X. 234-236) (Dimitrios et al., 2022). Just two centuries later around 1200BCE, a change in climate began that led this area, and that of Anatolia, to experience a rather dry period, a well-documented arid climate crisis that affected the major civilisations of the eastern Mediterranean towards the end of the Bronze Age (Kaniewski et al., 2015;Kaniewski et al., 2010). A recent study published in Nature relates this climatic crisis to the disappearance of the Hittite civilisation (Manning et al. 2023), corroborating historical and archaeological studies on the collapse of various civilisations towards the end of the Bronze Age. ...
... The abandonment of the original areas is probably due to climatic recrudescences that led to a drier climate, as evidenced by research in areas bordering the Dead Sea, which first see a wetter climate between 1100 and 950 BCE and an increased production of tree pollen and olive trees, followed by two periods 950-750 BCE and 750-550 BCE characterised by a drastic reduction in rainfall and consequently in olive trees and tree species (Finkelstein et al, 2018). Similarly in Syria, other pollen analyses have testified to the occurrence of drier climatic conditions from 1200BCE until 800BCE, such that the flow rates of the Tigris and Euphrates were very low and this period coincided with the end of great empires, such as the Assyrian and Babylonian empires, during which time there were famines, plague epidemics and invasions of nomadic peoples (Kaniewski et al., 2010;Neumann and Parpola, 1987). Later more abundant wine production took place in the first millennium B.C. in ancient Greece and was later exported to Magna Graecia, then thanks to the Etruscans it reached central and northern Italy, a peninsula that was also called Enotria (country of vine stakes), from the particular type of vine cultivation (Bergamini et al., 2017). ...
... Some of these shifts led to catastrophic disruptions of human civilizations, such as the collapses of well-documented Chinese Neolithic cultures and the Eastern Mediterranean Late Bronze Age (Dark Age) at approximately 4 kyr BP and 3.15-2.95 kyr BP, respectively (Wu and Liu, 2004;Sun et al., 2019;Kaniewski et al., 2010;Margaritelli et al., 2020). Therefore, high-resolution reconstruction of both local and global shifts in temperature and precipitation patterns across the Holocene period is paramount for understanding millennial-centennial natural climate changes over the Holocene and the external and internal origins behind them. ...
Numerous studies, spanning experimental, instrumental, historical, and modeled approaches, have delved into understanding climate change across the Holocene era and millennial-scale occurrences. However, the chronology and causes of centennial-scale climate events during the Holocene remain controversial. In this study, we overviewed 10 of the best-resolved and most accurately dated records detailing climate change in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) over the Holocene, obtained from different proxies across different climatic zones, and constructed a stack of temperature changes in the NH. Based on the constructed stack, we identified and categorized 15 notable Holocene centennial cooling events (HCCEs) in the NH (period with temperature decreases). To test the chronological validity of the constructed HCCEs, we compared them with the most accurately dated and highly resolved climate records during the last 3 kyr, which have been extensively investigated by the scientific community. Based on the close alignment of the outlined HCCEs with temperature records, we suggest that other HCCEs also match centennial climate cooling events over the last 10 kyr. To understand the origins of the established HCCEs, we compared them with potential climate influencing factors: total solar irradiance (TSI), explosive volcanic activity, Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC)-limited slowdowns, Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) fluctuations, and El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO variability. Early Holocene HCCE 5, terminated by a prominent 8.2-ka cold event, was likely driven by the superposition of the AMOC limited slowdown, TSI minimum, and volcanic activity. The Holocene Thermal Maximum (HTM) happened between HCCEs 5 and 4a and was interrupted by HCCE 4c and 4b, coeval, with a significant southward shift of the ITCZ, likely related to cooling in the tropical zone. However, the sequence of HCCEs 3b, 3a, and 2b (over 4.53–3.42 BP), accompanied by small changes in the TSI, was likely forced by an increase in ENSO variability, leading to remarkable changes in the tropical processes and a southward shift of the ITCZ, coeval with the collapse of the Chinese Neolithic cultures and onset of the Holocene Neoglacial. Subsequent HCCEs 2a–0a were likely forced by the TSI minimum combined with the influence of ENSO and volcanism over the last 2 ka.
... Modern natural vegetation in the area belongs to the Mediterranean phytogeographical zone [65], which today is mostly degraded to cultivated areas, pasture lands or maquis shrublands. The archaeobotanical assemblage is dominated by annual crops (cereals and pulses) and their weeds (e.g., ryegrass), as well as fruits like grapes, figs and olives [31] (S1 Fig in S1 File). Beside cultivated plants, a variety of wild plants were recovered. ...
... In the Iron Age the grapes show an increase in δ 15 N, and while this is not statistically significant (p > 0.06), the mean is above the natural forage which could indicate some addition of manure or be related to increased aridity, since at least the foliar δ 15 N increases with decreasing mean annual precipitation (see discussion of the cereals). As the increase in δ 15 N corresponds to a significant decrease in Iron Age I Δ 13 C values (Independent-samples t-test; p = 0.0), the evidence suggests the grapes are reflecting more a climatic and less manuring isotopic signal at Tell Tweini during the Iron Age I. Evidence in support of the possibility of water deficits affecting grape cultivation in relation with drier climatic conditions comes from the palynological studies in the region [27,31]. In particular, a pollen core from the alluvial deposits of the Rumailah River found a large-scale shift to more arid conditions during the Iron Age [28]. ...
... The recovered species indicate that animals were brought into the settlement from diverse habitats, including steppe environments (gazelle), but probably mostly woodland (fallow deer, wild boar). According to Kaniewski et al. [31], the closest forest to Tell Tweini were only a few kilometers away and were composed of oak woodland and warm mixed forests which show a decreasing trend in the Iron Age. In the faunal assemblages from Tell Tweini gazelles appear only in the Late Bronze Age and increase in relative importance in the subsequent Iron Age. ...
One of the largest isotopic datasets of the ancient Eastern Mediterranean region is evaluated, based on plants (n = 410), animals (n = 210) and humans (n = 16) from Tell Tweini (Syria). Diachronic analysis of plant and faunal specimens from four main periods of occupation: Early Bronze Age (2600–2000 BC), Middle Bronze Age (2000–1600 BC), Late Bronze Age (1600–1200 BC) and Iron Age (1200–333 BC) were investigated. Mean Δ¹³C results from seven plant species reveal emmer and free threshing wheat, olives, bitter vetch, rye grass and barley were adequately or well-watered during all periods of occupation. The grape Δ¹³C results suggest excellent growing conditions and particular care for its cultivation. The δ¹⁵N results indicate that especially the emmer and free threshing wheats received some manure inputs throughout the occupation sequence, while these were likely further increased during the Iron Age, encompassing also the olive groves and grape vineyards. Generally, domestic animals (cattle, sheep, goats) had C3 terrestrial diets and were kept together in similar environments. However, some animals consumed significant amounts of marine or C4 plants, possibly from disturbed habitats due to land use pressure or salt tolerant grasses and shrubs from wetland environments, which were recorded in the direct vicinity of the site. Middle Bronze Age humans consumed a C3 terrestrial diet with no measurable input from C4, freshwater or marine protein sources. Interestingly, the human diet was relatively low in animal protein and appears comparable to what is considered today a typical Mediterranean diet consisting of bread (wheat/barley), olives, grapes, pulses, dairy products and small amounts of meat. The combined isotopic analysis of plants, animals and humans from Tell Tweini represents unbroken links in the food chain which create unparalleled opportunities to enhance our current understanding of environmental conditions, climate change and lifeways in past populations from the Eastern Mediterranean.
... The exact timing, however, of the various dry periods addressed by the global records may vary due to differences among the specific datasets, the location, as well as the methods used to reconstruct past climate and their resolution (Bond et al., 2001;Mayewski et al., 2004;Rasmussen et al., 2014). For example, some suggest that the Holocene Climatic Optimum came to end approximately at 6-5 ka when the climate conditions turned into more arid (Cullen et al., 2000;Kaniewski et al., 2010;Roberts et al., 2011), while others suggest that the onset of aridity occurred later, around 4-3 ka (Koutsodendris et al., 2013;Roberts, 2014) (Figure 4). The compared records here show that the increase in aridity started at around 6 ka or earlier and continued until full arid conditions were reached at around 5 ka ( Figure 6). ...
The analysis of the ASTC1 sediment core from the south Aegean Sea region offers critical insights into the complex interplay of geological and climatic factors over the Holocene period. The data reveals fluctuating climatic conditions during the last 8.7 ka as seen through the elemental concentrations obtained by XRF core scanning combined with a qualitative mineral analysis within a robust chronological framework. Short-term fluctuations in both Ti/Al and Zr/Si ratios suggest brief oscillations of increased aridity which partially coincide with the Holocene “Rapid Climate Change” events (RCCs). Among them, the most pronounced in our record are those centered between 8.5–8 ka, 3–2.5 ka (Greek Dark Ages), and 0.6–0.3 ka (Little Ice Age). The arid and humid events identified in the sediment record align with major archaeological periods in Greece, suggesting a potential influence of climatic conditions on the development and decline of civilizations in the region. Moreover, a general arid trend as of 6 ka toward the present was evidenced in our record and aligns with other high-resolution climatic data from the Northern Hemisphere, suggesting climatic teleconnections. Spectral analysis of the ASTC1 record reveals cyclical climate patterns with periodicities of approximately 2500, 1200, and 550 years, which coincide with the Bond and Hallstatt cycles. The phase relation of these cycles in our record, the Greenland ice record, and the North Atlantic Drift ice indices show that colder conditions in the higher latitudes are expressed as events of enhanced aridity in our record and generally in the lower latitudinal regions.
... 540-542;Lamb et al., 1995;Magny et al., 2002;Watson, 1996). In general, a period of climate instability seems to have begun between the end of the second and the beginning of the first millennium BC (Emeis et al., 2000;Giraudi, 2004), dates which may well correspond to the arid phase discussed above, despite the approximate chronology currently available, and are compatible with RCC much better documented in the Eastern Mediterranean where the 3.2 kya event has been securely identified (Kaniewski, Guiot, & Van Campo, 2015;Kaniewski et al., 2011Kaniewski et al., , 2013, and considered by many as the initial phenomenon setting in motion the crisis of the LBA interconnected Mediterranean. Whether the prevalent aspect was instability or outright drought may depend on the areas, but the effect must have been a different combination of poorer and less consistent harvests and of actual disruptive changes in hydrology, especially in areas dependent on small watersheds for springs needed both for human domestic use and for animal drinking. ...
Bronze Age sites in the coastal area of Sarrala, in Eastern Sardinia, have been subjected to survey and excavation over the last half-century. The study area, whose social and economic evolution and changing scales of interactions are traced through settlement patterns and building analysis, is interpreted in light of more general trends suggested by stable isotopes, archaeogenetics, and paleoclimatology. The local picture of progressive demographic growth and infilling of the landscape, with a subsequent concentration of population and labor, follows a sequence widely detected in Sardinia. More specific identifiable aspects include a comparatively higher fragmentation/competition (ratio of complex vs simple nuraghes; ratio of tombs vs nuraghes) and a consistent pattern in the distribution of non-local building materials in the latest phase at the sites showing archaic features, taken as a clue of a long-lasting authority at select sites. These elements are compatible with organized pastoral exploitation of the available territory, structured according to patrilocality and closeness to ancestral lineages and residences. The interplay of internal dynamics relative to constraints and opportunities is discussed, such as climate change and long-distance trade connections, with possible implications for interpreting Nuragic society.
... This dry period can also be associated with the cooling phase in the Aegean Sea, also around 3300 cal BP (Rohling et al., 2002), and with the severe long-term drought in the Eastern Mediterranean, which dramatically affected agriculture and triggered societal collapse in the Late Bronze and Iron ages, generally between 3150-2800 cal yr BP (Kaniewski et al., 2010;Kagan et al., 2015;Langgut et al., 2015). Overall, the formation of our POS could be roughly related to the end of the longest Holocene cooling phase in the Mediterranean associated with the 3.2-ka event characterized by cooling of −0.38 ± 0.19°C, over ca. ...
We examined a Late Holocene sea-level stillstand using phreatic overgrowths on speleothems (POS) recovered from Medvjeđa Špilja [Bear Cave] (northern Adriatic Sea) from −1.28 ± 0.15 m below present mean sea level. Different mineralogical analyses were performed to characterize the POS and better understand the mechanisms of their formation. Results reveal that the fibrous overgrowth is formed of calcite and that both the supporting soda straw and the overgrowth have very similar trace element compositions. This suggests that the drip-water and groundwater pool from which the POS formed have similar chemical compositions. Four subsamples were dated by means of uranium-series. We found that ca. 2800 years ago, the relative sea level was stable for about 300 years at a depth of approximately −1.28 ± 0.15 m below the current mean sea level. This finding roughly corresponds with the end of a relatively stable sea-level period, between 3250 and 2800 cal yr BP, previously noted in the southern Adriatic. Our research confirms the presence of POS in the Adriatic region and establishes the Medvjeđa Špilja pool as a conducive environment for calcite POS formation, which encourages further investigations at this study site.
