Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Earth Science News .




CLIMATE SCIENCE
Climate change not to blame for Bronze Age collapse
by Staff Writers
Bradford, UK (SPX) Nov 18, 2014


File image.

Scientists will have to find alternative explanations for a huge population collapse in Europe at the end of the Bronze Age as researchers prove definitively that climate change - commonly assumed to be responsible - could not have been the culprit.

Archaeologists and environmental scientists from the University of Bradford, University of Leeds, University College Cork, Ireland (UCC), and Queen's University Belfast have shown that the changes in climate that scientists believed to coincide with the fall in population in fact occurred at least two generations later.

Their results, published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, show that human activity starts to decline after 900BC, and falls rapidly after 800BC, indicating a population collapse. But the climate records show that colder, wetter conditions didn't occur until around two generations later.

Fluctuations in levels of human activity through time are reflected by the numbers of radiocarbon dates for a given period. The team used new statistical techniques to analyse more than 2000 radiocarbon dates, taken from hundreds of archaeological sites in Ireland, to pinpoint the precise dates that Europe's Bronze Age population collapse occurred.

The team then analysed past climate records from peat bogs in Ireland and compared the archaeological data to these climate records to see if the dates tallied. That information was then compared with evidence of climate change across NW Europe between 1200 and 500 BC.

"Our evidence shows definitively that the population decline in this period cannot have been caused by climate change," says Ian Armit, Professor of Archaeology at the University of Bradford, and lead author of the study.

Graeme Swindles, Associate Professor of Earth System Dynamics at the University of Leeds, added, "We found clear evidence for a rapid change in climate to much wetter conditions, which we were able to precisely pinpoint to 750BC using statistical methods."

According to Professor Armit, social and economic stress is more likely to be the cause of the sudden and widespread fall in numbers. Communities producing bronze needed to trade over very large distances to obtain copper and tin. Control of these networks enabled the growth of complex, hierarchical societies dominated by a warrior elite. As iron production took over, these networks collapsed, leading to widespread conflict and social collapse. It may be these unstable social conditions, rather than climate change, that led to the population collapse at the end of the Bronze Age.

According to Katharina Becker, Lecturer in the Department of Archaeology at UCC, the Late Bronze Age is usually seen as a time of plenty, in contrast to an impoverished Early Iron Age. "Our results show that the rich Bronze Age artefact record does not provide the full picture and that crisis began earlier than previously thought," she says.

"Although climate change was not directly responsible for the collapse it is likely that the poor climatic conditions would have affected farming," adds Professor Armit. "This would have been particularly difficult for vulnerable communities, preventing population recovery for several centuries."

The findings have significance for modern day climate change debates which, argues Professor Armit, are often too quick to link historical climate events with changes in population.

"The impact of climate change on humans is a huge concern today as we monitor rising temperatures globally," says Professor Armit.

"Often, in examining the past, we are inclined to link evidence of climate change with evidence of population change. Actually, if you have high quality data and apply modern analytical techniques, you get a much clearer picture and start to see the real complexity of human/environment relationships in the past."


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
University of Bradford
Climate Science News - Modeling, Mitigation Adaptation






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








CLIMATE SCIENCE
Climate agreement to have big impact on China: US
Washington (AFP) Nov 17, 2014
China must make significant investments now to meet the targets of last week's agreement with the United States on greenhouse gas emissions, a senior US official said Monday, predicting a big impact on its economy. The agreement announced in Beijing by Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Barack Obama has come under fire from Republicans as allowing China to do nothing for 16 years, ... read more


CLIMATE SCIENCE
New sites will boost European search and rescue

Italy faces billion euro bill for killer rainfall

Trace amounts of radiation detected along U.S. West Coast

SMS alerts cut deaths from elephants in rural India

CLIMATE SCIENCE
A new approach to the delivery of satellites to orbit

An efficient method to measure residual stress in 3D printed parts

Boeing Stacks Two Satellites to Launch as a Pair

Swedish military gets upgraded radar facilityw/lll

CLIMATE SCIENCE
'Aquatic osteoporosis' jellifying lakes

Japanese blueprint sees modern Atlantis spiral deep into ocean

NASA sees the Southern Indian Ocean cyclone season awaken

Extinction risk not the answer for reef futures

CLIMATE SCIENCE
China's Xi commits to greater Antarctic ties with Australia

Polar bear population in parts of Alaska, Canada down by 40 percent

China's Xi commits to Antarctic deal with Australia

Researchers debate science, ethics of cloning wooly mammoth

CLIMATE SCIENCE
Second bird flu outbreak found on Dutch farm

Crops play a major role in the annual CO2 cycle increase

Great apes facing 'direct threat' from palm oil farming

WHO braces for bird flu spread in European poultry, urges vigilance

CLIMATE SCIENCE
Volcanic ash - getting a clearer picture

Small volcanoes could slow global warming: study

Three dead, nine injured as tremor hits Czech mine

Tsunami alert sparks panic in Indonesia

CLIMATE SCIENCE
Wildlife devastated in South Sudan war

I.Coast soldiers storm TV, protest over pay dispute

Five sentenced to death over killing of DR Congo colonel

Cameroon's army faces Boko Haram in ghost town on Nigerian border

CLIMATE SCIENCE
Scientists rediscover long-lost region of the brain

Were Neanderthals a sub-species of modern humans?

Did men evolve navigation skills to find mates?

Lost languages leave a mark on the brain




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.