Holocene Climate Variability of Mesopotamia and its Impact on the History of Civilisation
Max Engel, Helmut Brückner
Abstract
Mesopotamia, known as the cradle of civilisation, gave rise to the first complex, urban-type societies with sophisticated political hierarchies. Its rich history full of important cultural achievements was accompanied by fundamental environmental changes over the Holocene. While geo-bio-archives from the broader region reflect slightly varying climate histories, there is a clear consensus on a more humid climate regime during the Early Holocene, triggering early rain-fed agricultural practices in Northern Mesopotamia that present the foundation of initial urbanisation. In the southern basin, declining rainfall and higher competition for natural resources at a somewhat later stage in combination with the development of irrigation techniques and the transgression of the Arabian Gulf seem to have contributed to the formation of complex societies at sites such as Eridu, Ur, and Uruk, where landscape dynamics are well-preserved in the stratigraphic record. Against the background of long-term climate trends, it seems that Rapid Climate Change events—short-term climatic anomalies such as identified around 8200, 5200, or 4200 BP—have also taken their toll on Mesopotamians. Many links between changes in climate and landscape, and socio-technical adaptation based on interdisciplinary research seem straightforward, especially where confirmation exists through cuneiform texts or archaeological evidence. The gap in chronological resolution between rather precise information on historical social development on the one hand and on climatic changes with a much higher uncertainty on the other hand may render the ‘fit’ between records elusive and advocates caution in any attempt at environmental determinism when trying to explain cultural history.