International scientists are first examined the effect of climate change on the fate of the ancient civilizations of the Middle East by the method of the analysis of stable isotopes of carbon in fossil grains of barley.
By results of work can be found in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Although the weather changes on the history of societies of antiquity is well known scientific precedent, the specific mechanism of action of the conditions of the surrounding environment on the productivity of farming communities remains poorly studied. Simon real (Simone Riehl) from Tubingen Institute (Germany), also her colleagues tried archaeological and palaeoclimatic data: the only link, in their opinion, is the test of stable isotopes of carbon. They have compared 1037 samples of grains of barley, taken in 33 archaeological complexes of the Fertile Crescent. The chronological range of research - from the neolith (10 thousand years BC) to the iron age (500 BC).
On lands with arid climate (deserts and semi-deserts) shocks in carbon-13 in plants is considered a significant indicator - they point to the stress caused by the drought. Ie, irrigation of the land and the abundance of precipitation is the main feature, which managed to work scientists (consistency of crops and soils salinity not affect isotopes).
Renovated thus the history of drought in the ancient middle East have demonstrated their connection with the main events of the climate history of the Holocene, to start with the dry period 4200-th years B.C. Directly is connected with the collapse of the countries of the early bronze age: Ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian kingdoms of Akkad.
Also, scientists found significant regional differences in the response to drought. In the coastal areas of the Levant its effect was minimal, however inland farmers had actively inclined to irrigation.
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Russian News
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