Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c47g7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T12:59:04.152Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Holocene Climate and Cultural Evolution in Late Prehistoric–Early Historic West Asia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Michael Staubwasser  and
Harvey Weiss
Michael Staubwasser*
Affiliation:
Universität Hannover, Institut für Mineralogie, Callinstrasse 3, 30167 Hannover, Germany
Harvey Weiss
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology and Environmental Studies Program, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
*
⁎Corresponding author. E-mail addresses:m.staubwasser@mineralogie.uni-hannover.de (M. Staubwasser), harvey.weiss@yale.edu (H. Weiss).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The precipitation climatology and the underlying climate mechanisms of the eastern Mediterranean, West Asia, and the Indian subcontinent are reviewed, with emphasis on upper and middle tropospheric flow in the subtropics and its steering of precipitation. Holocene climate change of the region is summarized from proxy records. The Indian monsoon weakened during the Holocene over its northernmost region, the Ganges and Indus catchments and the western Arabian Sea. Southern regions, the Indian Peninsula, do not show a reduction, but an increase of summer monsoon rain across the Holocene. The long-term trend towards drier conditions in the eastern Mediterranean can be linked to a regionally complex monsoon evolution. Abrupt climate change events, such as the widespread droughts around 8200, 5200 and 4200 cal yr BP, are suggested to be the result of altered subtropical upper-level flow over the eastern Mediterranean and Asia.

The abrupt climate change events of the Holocene radically altered precipitation, fundamental for cereal agriculture, across the expanse of late prehistoric–early historic cultures known from the archaeological record in these regions. Social adaptations to reduced agro-production, in both dry-farming and irrigation agriculture regions, are visible in the archaeological record during each abrupt climate change event in West Asia. Chronological refinement, in both the paleoclimate and archaeological records, and transfer functions for both precipitation and agro-production are needed to understand precisely the evident causal linkages.

Keywords

Climate changeWest AsiaMonsoonNeolithicEarly Bronze Age
Type
Introduction
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 66 , Issue 3 , November 2006 , pp. 372 - 387
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alexandrovskiy, A.L., van der Plicht, J., Belinskiy, A., and Khoklova, O. Chronology of soil evolution and climatic changes in the dry steppe zone of the northern Caucasus, Russia, during the 3rd millennium BC. Radiocarbon 43, (2001). 629–635.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alijani, B. Variations of 500 hPa flow patterns over Iran and surrounding areas and their relationship with the climate of Iran. Theoretical and Applied Climatology 72, (2002). 41–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
An, C.-B., Tang, L.Y., Barton, L., and Chen, F.H. Climate change and cultural response around 4000 cal yr BP in the western part of Chinese Loess Plateau. Quaternary Research 63, (2005). 347–352.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
An, C.-B., Feng, Z.-D., and Barton, L. Dry or humid? Mid Holocene humidity changes in arid and semi-arid China. Quaternary Science Reviews 25, (2006). 351–361.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, D.M., and Prell, W.L. The structure of the Southwest monsoon winds over the Arabian Sea during the late quaternary—Observations, simulations, and marine geologic evidence. Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans 97, (1992). 15481–15487.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, D.M., Overpeck, J.T., and Gupta, A.K. Increase in the Asian southwest monsoon during the past four centuries. Science 297, (2002). 596–599.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Arz, H.W., Lamy, F., Patzold, J., Muller, P.J., and Prins, M. Mediterranean moisture source for an early-Holocene humid period in the northern Red Sea. Science 300, (2003). 118–121.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Arz, H.W., Lamy, F., and Pätzold, J. A pronounced dry event recorded around 4.2 kyr in brine sediments from the Northern Red Sea. Quaternary Research 66, (2006). 432–441.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bar-Matthews, M., Ayalon, A., and Kaufman, A. Late quaternary paleoclimate in the eastern Mediterranean region from stable isotope analysis of speleothems at Soreq Cave, Israel. Quaternary Research 47, (1997). 155–168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bar-Matthews, M., Ayalon, A., Gilmour, M., Matthews, A., and Hawkesworth, C.J. Sea–land oxygen isotopic relationships from planktonic foraminifera and speleothems in the Eastern Mediterranean region and their implication for paleorainfall during interglacial intervals. Geochimica Et Cosmochimica Acta 67, (2003). 3181–3199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bond, G., Kromer, B., Beer, J., Muscheler, R., Evans, M.N., Showers, W., Hoffmann, S., Lotti-Bond, R., Hajdas, I., and Bonani, G. Persistent solar influence on north Atlantic climate during the Holocene. Science 294, (2001). 2130–2136.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Booth, R.K., Jackson, S.T., Forman, S.L., Kutzbach, J.E., Bettis, E.A., Kreig, J., and Wright, D.K. A severe centennial-scale drought in mid-continental North America 4200 years ago and apparent global linkages. Holocene 15, (2005). 321–328.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bush, A.B.G. A positive climatic feedback mechanism for Himalayan glaciation. Quaternary International 65–6, (2000). 3–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bush, A.B.G. Modelling of late Quaternary climate over Asia: a synthesis. Boreas 33, (2004). 155–163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calvert, S.E., and Fontugne, M.R. On the late Pleistocene–Holocene sapropel record of climatic and oceanographic variability in the eastern Mediterranean. Paleoceanography 16, (2001). 78–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chedadi, R., Lamb, H.F., Guiot, J., van der Kaars, Holocene climate change in Morocco: a quantitative reconstruction from pollen data. Climate Dynamics 14, (1998). 883–890.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coombes, P., and Barber, K. Environmental determinism in Holocene research: causality or coincidence?. Area 37, (2005). 303–311.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cubasch, U., Voss, R., Hegerl, G.C., Waszkewitz, J., and Crowley, T.J. Simulation of the influence of solar radiation variations on the global climate with an ocean–atmosphere general circulation model. Climate Dynamics 13, (1997). 757–767.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cullen, H.M., and deMenocal, P.B. North Atlantic influence on Tigris-Euphrates streamflow. International Journal of Climatology 20, (2000). 853–863.3.0.CO;2-M>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cullen, H.M., deMenocal, P.B., Hemming, S., Hemming, G., Brown, F.H., Guilderson, T., and Sirocko, F. Climate change and the collapse of the Akkadian empire: evidence from the deep sea. Geology 28, (2000). 379–382.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davies, C.P. Holocene Paleoclimates of Southern Arabia from Lacustrine Deposits of the Dhamar Highlands. Yemen. Quaternary Research 66, (2006). 454–464.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
deMenocal, P., Ortiz, J., Guilderson, T., and Sarnthein, M. Coherent high- and low-latitude climate variability during the Holocene warm period. Science 288, (2000). 2198–2202.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dever, W. Social structure in the Early Bronze IV period in Palestine. Levy, T. The Archaeology of Society in the Hold Land. (1995). Facts on File, New York. 282–296.Google Scholar
Durand, J.M. Les documents épistolaires du palais de Mari. Littératures anciennes du Proche-Orient, 17. (1998). Les Editions du Cerf, Paris. 481–482.Google Scholar
Drysdale, R., Zanchetta, G., Hellstrom, J., Maas, R., Fallick, A., Pickett, M., Cartwright, I., and Piccini, L. Late Holocene drought responsible for the collapse of Old World civilizations is recorded in an Italian cave flowstone. Geology 34, (2006). 101–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eichmann, R., (1989). Uruk, die Stratigraphie: Grabungen 1912–1977 in den Bereichen 'Eanna' und 'Anu-Ziqqurrat'. P. von Zabern, Mainz.Google Scholar
Eichmann, R., (2001). Die leichte Bauweise in den archaischen Schichten von Uruk-Warka. In: Boehmer, R. M., Maran, J., (Eds.), Lux Orientis: Archäologie zwischen Asien und Europa, Festschrift für Harald Hauptmann zum 65. Geburtstag, M. Leidorf, Rahden., pp. 121–131.Google Scholar
Ellison, C.R.W., Chapman, M.R., and Hall, I.R. Surface and deep ocean interactions during the cold climate event 8200 yrs ago. Science 312, (2006). 1929–1932.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elmoslimany, A.P. Ecology and late-quaternary history of the kurdo-zagrosian oak forest near lake zeribar, western Iran. Vegetatio 68, (1986). 55–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elmoslimany, A.P. Ecological significance of common nonarboreal pollen—Examples from drylands of the middle-east. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 64, (1990). 343–350.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Emeis, K.C., Struck, U., Schulz, H.M., Rosenberg, R., Bernasconi, S., Erlenkeuser, H., Sakamoto, T., and Martinez-Ruiz, F. Temperature and salinity variations of Mediterranean Sea surface waters over the last 16,000 yrs from records of planktonic stable oxygen isotopes and alkenone unsaturation ratios. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 158, (2000). 259–280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Enzel, Y., Ely, L.L., Mishra, S., Ramesh, R., Amit, R., Lazar, B., Rajaguru, S.N., Baker, V.R., and Sandler, A. High-resolution Holocene environmental changes in the Thar Desert, northwestern India. Science 284, (1999). 125–128.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Enzel, Y., Bookman, R., Sharon, D., Gvirtzman, H., Dayan, U., Ziv, B., and Stein, M. Late Holocene climates of the Near East deduced from Dead Sea level variations and modem regional winter rainfall. Quaternary Research 60, (2003). 263–273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eshel, G. Mediterranean climates. Israel Journal of Earth Science 51, (2002). 157–168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eshel, G., and Farrell, B.F. Mechanisms of eastern Mediterranean rainfall variability. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences 57, (2000). 3219–3232.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eshel, G., and Farrell, B.F. Thermodynamics of Eastern Mediterranean rainfall variability. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences 58, (2001). 87–92.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, J.P., Smith, R.B., and Oglesby, R.J. Middle East climate simulation and dominant precipitation processes. International Journal of Climatology 24, (2004). 1671–1694.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Falkenstein, A. La cite-temple sumerienne. Cahiers d'histoire mondiale 1, (1954). 784–814.Google Scholar
Felis, T., Patzold, J., Loya, Y., Fine, M., Nawar, A.H., and Wefer, G. A coral oxygen isotope record from the northern Red Sea documenting NAO, ENSO, and North Pacific teleconnections on Middle East climate variability since the year 1750. Paleoceanography 15, (2000). 679–694.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fisher, M., and Membery, D.A. Chapter 2, climate. Ghanzafar, A., and Fisher, M. Vegetation of the Arabian Peninsula. (1998). Kluver, dordrecht. 5–38.Google Scholar
Fleitmann, D., Burns, S.J., Mudelsee, M., Neff, U., Kramers, J., Mangini, A., and Matter, A. Holocene forcing of the Indian monsoon recorded in a stalagmite from Southern Oman. Science 300, (2003). 1737–1739.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flohn, H. Klimaprobleme am Roten Meer. Erdkunde 19, (1965). 179–191.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frisia, S., Borsato, A., Mangini, A., Spötl, C., Madonia, G., and Sauro, U. Holocene climate variability in Sicily from a discontinuous stalagmite record: implications for Mesolithic to Neolithic transition. Quaternary Research 66, (2006). 388–400.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gadgil, S. The Indian monsoon and its variability. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 31, (2003). 429–467.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gadgil, S., and Joseph, P.V. On breaks of the Indian monsoon. Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences—Earth and Planetary Sciences 112, (2003). 529–558.Google Scholar
Gasse, F. Hydrological changes in the African tropics since the Last Glacial Maximum. Quaternary Science Reviews 19, (2000). 189–211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gasse, F., and van Campo, E. Abrupt postglacial climate events in West Asia and North-Africa Monsoon Domains. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 126, (1994). 435–456.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glassner, J.-J. La chute d'Akkadé: l'evènement et sa mémoire vol. 5, (1986). Beiträge zum Vorderen Orient, Berlin.Google Scholar
Glassner, J.-J. Ecrire à Sumer: l'invention du cunéiforme. (2000). Editions du Seuil, Paris.Google Scholar
Gordon, A., Grace, W., Schwerdtfeger, P., and Byron-Scott, R. Dynamic Meteorology: A Basic Course. (1998). Wiley, New York.Google Scholar
Griffiths, H.I., Schwalb, A., and Stevens, L.R. Environmental change in southwestern Iran: the Holocene ostracod fauna of Lake Mirabad. Holocene 11, (2001). 757–764.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grootes, P.M., and Stuiver, M. Oxygen 18/16 variability in Greenland snow and ice with 103-to 105-year time resolution. Journal of Geophysical Research 102, (1997). 26455–26470.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grotjahn, R. Atmospheric Circulation: Observation and Theories. (1993). Oxford Univ. Press, New York.Google Scholar
Guichard, M. Le Šubartum occidental a l'avènement de Zimri-Lim. Mémoires de N.A.B.U. 7, (2002). 119–168.Google Scholar
Gupta, A.K., Anderson, D.M., and Overpeck, J.T. Abrupt changes in the Asian southwest monsoon during the Holocene and their links to the North Atlantic Ocean. Nature 421, (2003). 354–357.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harris, D., (2002). Development of the agro-pastoral economy in the Fertile Crescent during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period. In: Cappers, R., Bottema, S. (Eds.), The Dawn of Farming in the Near East, . Ex Oriente, Berlin., pp. 67–83. Heimpel, W., (2003). Letters to the King of Mari, . Eisenbraun's, Winona Lake.Google Scholar
Heinrich, E. Die Tempel und Heiligtümer im alten Mesopotamien. (1982). DeGruyter, Berlin.Google Scholar
Hoelzmann, P., Gasse, F., Dupont, L.M., Salzmann, U., Staubwasser, M., Leuschner, D.C., and Sirocko, F. Paleoenvironmental changes in the arid and subarid belt (Sahara–Sahel–Arabian Peninsula) from 150 kyr to present. Battarbee, R.W. et al. Past Climate Variability through Europe and Africa. (2004). Springer, Dordrecht.Google Scholar
Hong, Y.T., Hong, B., Lin, Q.H., Zhu, Y.X., Shibata, Y., Hirota, M., Uchida, M., Leng, X.T., Jiang, H.B., Xu, H., Wang, H., and Yi, L. Correlation between Indian Ocean summer monsoon and North Atlantic climate during the Holocene. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 211, (2003). 371–380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hong, Y.T., Hong, B., Lin, Q.H., Shibata, Y., Hirota, M., Zhu, Y.X., Leng, X.T., Wang, Y., Wang, H., and Yi, L. Inverse phase oscillations between the East Asian and Indian Ocean summer monsoons during the last 12,000 yrs and paleo-El Nino. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 231, (2005). 337–346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacobsen, T. Early political development in Mesopotamia. Zeitschrfit für Assyriologie 52, (1957). 91–140.Google Scholar
Joseph, P.V., and Sijikumar, S. Intraseasonal variability of the low-level jet stream of the Asian summer monsoon. Journal of Climate 17, (2004). 1449–1458.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jung, S.J.A., Davies, G.R., Ganssen, G.M., and Kroon, D. Synchronous Holocene sea surface temperature and rainfall variations in the Asian monsoon system. Quaternary Science Reviews 23, (2004). 2207–2218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kahana, R., Ziv, B., Enzel, Y., and Dayan, U. Synoptic climatology of major floods in the Negev Desert, Israel. International Journal of Climatology 22, (2002). 867–882.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kalnay, E., Kanamitsu, M., and Kistler, R. The NCEP/NCAR 40-year reanalysis project. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 77, (1996). 437–471.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karim, A., and Veizer, J. Water balance of the Indus River Basin and moisture source in the Karakoram and western Himalayas: implications from hydrogen and oxygen isotopes in river water. Journal of Geophysical (2002). 107 Google Scholar
Krishnamurti, T.N., and Surgi, N. Observational aspects of summer monsoon. Chang, C.-P., and Krishnamurti, T.N. Monsoon Meteorology. (1987). Clarendon Press, Oxford. 3–25.Google Scholar
Krishnan, K., Zhang, C., and Sugi, M. Dynamics of breaks in the Indian summer monsoon. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences 57, (2000). 1354–1372.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krom, M., Stanley, J., Cliff, R., and Woodward, J. Nile river sediment fluctuations over the past 7000 yr and their key role in sapropel development. Geology 30, (2002). 71–74.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kudrass, H.R., Hofmann, A., Doose, H., Emeis, K., and Erlenkeuser, H. Modulation and amplification of climatic changes in the Northern Hemisphere by the Indian summer monsoon during the past 80 k.y. Geology 29, (2001). 63–66.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kumke, T., Hense, A., Schölzel, C., Andreev, A.A., Brüchmann, C., Gebhardt, C., Helle, G., Kienel, U., Kühl, N., Litt, T., Neumann, F., and Schleser, G. Transfer functions for paleoclimate reconstructions—Applications. Fischer, H., Floeser, G., Kumke, T., Lohmann, G., Miller, H., Negendank, J.F.W., and von Storch, H. The KIHZ Project: Towards a Synthesis of Holocene Proxy Data and Climate Models. (2004). Springer, Berlin. 245–262.Google Scholar
Lamb, H.F., Gasse, F., Benkaddour, A., El Hamouti, N., van der Kaars, S., Perkins, W.T., Pearce, N.J., and Roberts, C.N. Relation between century-scale Holocene arid intervals in tropical and temperate zones. Nature 373, (1995). 134–137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lamy, F., Arz, H.W., Bond, G.C., Bahr, A., and Patzold, J. Multicentennial-scale hydrological changes in the Black Sea and northern Red Sea during the Holocene and the Arctic/North Atlantic oscillation. Paleoceanography 21, (2006). A1008 http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2005PA001184CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lemcke, G., and Sturm, M. δ18O and trace element measurements as proxies for the reconstruction of climate changes at lake Van. Dalfes, H.N., Kukla, G., Weiss, H. Third Millenium BC Climate Change and Old World Collapse. NATO ASI Ser. 1 vol. 49, (1997). Springer, New York. 653–678.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lolis, C.J., Bartzokas, A., and Katsoulis, B.D. Spatial and temporal 850 hPA air temperature and sea-surface temperature covariances in the Mediterranean region and their connection to atmospheric circulation. International Journal of Climatology 22, (2002). 663–676.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Madella, M., and Fuller, D.Q. Palaeoecology and the Harappan Civilisation of South Asia: a reconsideration. Quaternary Science Reviews 25, (2006). 1283–1301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maekawa, K. The development of the É-MÍ in Lagash during Early Dynastic III. Mesopotamia 8–9, (1973–1974). 77–144.Google Scholar
Magny, M., and Haas, J.N. A major widespread climatic change around 5300 cal. Yr BP at the time of the Alpine Iceman. Journal of Quaternary Science 19, (2004). 423–430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marchant, R., and Hooghiemstra, H. Rapid environmental change in African and South American tropics around 4000 yrs before present. Earth-Science Reviews 66, (2004). 217–260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Margueron, J.-Cl. Mari: métropole de l'Euphrate. (2004). Picard, Paris.Google Scholar
Matthiae, P. Fouilles à Ebla en 1993–1994: le palais de la ville bas-nord. Compte rendus de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, Avril-Juin (1995). 651–681.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mayewski, P.A., Rohling, E., Stager, E., Karlen, J.C., Maasch, W., Meeker, A., Meyerson, L.D., Gasse, E.A., van Kreveld, F., Holmgren, S., Lee-Thorp, K., Rosqvist, J., Rack, G., Staubwasser, F., Schneider, M., and Steig, R.R. Holocene climate variability. Quaternary Research 62, (2004). 243–255.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McClure, H.A. Radiocarbon chronology of late quaternary lakes in Arabian Desert. Nature 263, (1976). 755–756.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meehl, G.A. Coupled land–ocean–atmosphere processes and South Asian Monsoon variability. Science 266, (1994). 263–267.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Migowski, C., Stein, M., Prasad, S., Negendank, J.F.W., (2006). Dead Sea levels, climate variability and human culture development in the Holocene Near East. Quaternary Research, THIS VOLUME.Google Scholar
Moorey, R. The late prehistoric administrative building at Jamdat Nasr. Iraq 38, (1976). 95–106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrill, C., Overpeck, J.T., and Cole, J.E. A synthesis of abrupt changes in the Asian summer monsoon since the last deglaciation. The Holocene 13, (2003). 465–476.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Myers, P.G. Flux-forced simulations of the paleocirculation of the Mediterranean. Paleoceanography 17, (2002). 1009 doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2000PA000613CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neff, U., Burns, S.J., Mangini, A., Mudelsee, M., Fleitmann, D., and Matter, A. Strong coherence between solar variability and the monsoon in Oman between 9 and 6 kyr ago. Nature 411, (2001). 290–293.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nissen, H.-J. The early history of the ancient Near East. (1988). University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Nutzel, W. Einführung in die Geo-Archäologie des Vorderen Orients. (2004). Reichert, Wiesbaden.Google Scholar
Orthmann, W., (1989). Halawa. (1980–1986). Habelt, Bonn.Google Scholar
Overpeck, J., Anderson, D., Trumbore, S., and Prell, W. The southwest Indian Monsoon over the last 18000 yrs. Climate Dynamics 12, (1996). 213–225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palumbo, G. The Early Bronze IV. MacDonald, B., and Bienkowski, R. The Archaeology of Jordan. (2001). Sheffield Academic Press, Sheffield. 233–269.Google Scholar
Parker, A.G., Eckersley, L., Smith, M.M., Goudie, A.S., Stokes, S., White, K., and Hodson, M.J. Holocene vegetation dynamics in the northeastern Rub'al-Khali desert, Arabian Peninsula: a pollen, phytolith and carbon isotope study. Journal of Quaternary Science 19, (2004). 665–676.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parker, A.G., Goudie, A.S., Stroke, S., White, K., Hodson, M.J., Manning, M., and Kennet, D. A record of Holocene Climate Change from lake geochemical analyses in southeastern Arabia. Quternary Research 66, (2006). 465–476.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peltenburg, E. Tell Jerablus-Tahtani, 1992–1996, a summary. del Olmo Lete, G., and Montero Fenellos, J.-L. Archaeology of the Upper Syrian Euphrates. (1999). Editorial Ausa, Barcelona. 97–105.Google Scholar
Phadtare, N.R. Sharp decrease in summer monsoon strength 4000–3500 cal yr BP in the central higher Himalaya of India based on pollen evidence from alpine peat. Quaternary Research 53, (2000). 122–129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Possehl, G. Climate and the eclipse of the ancient cities of the Indus. Dalfes, H.N., Kukla, G., Weiss, H. Third Millenium BC Climate Change and Old World Collapse. NATO ASI Ser. 1 vol. 49, (1997). Springer, New York. 193–244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Possehl, G.L. The transformation of the Indus civilization. Journal of World Prehistory 11, (1997). 425–472.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Possehl, G. The drying up of the Sarasvati. Bawden, G., and Reycraft, R. Environmental Disaster and the Archaeology of Human Response. (2000). University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque. 63–74.Google Scholar
Postgate, N. The transition from Uruk to Early Dynastic: continuities and discontinuities in the record of settlement. Finkbeiner, U., and Rollig, W. Đamdat Nasr: Period or Regional style?. (1986). Reichert, Wiesbaden. 90–106.Google Scholar
Prasad, S., and Enzel, Y. Holocene paleoclimates of India. Quaternary Research 66, (2006). 442–453.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Preusser, F., Radies, D., Driehorst, F., and Matter, A. Late quaternary history of the coastal WahibaSands, Sultanate of Oman. Journal of Quaternary Science 20, (2005). 395–405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ramage, C.S. Summer atmospheric circulation over Arabian Sea. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences 23, (1966). 144–148.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reimer, P.J., Baillie, M.G.L., Bard, E., Bayliss, A., Beck, J.W., Bertrand, C.J.H., Blackwell, P.G., Buck, C.E., Burr, G.S., Cutler, K.B., Damon, P.E., Edwards, R.L., Fairbanks, R.G., Friedrich, M., Guilderson, T.P., Hogg, A.G., Hughen, K.A., Kromer, B., McCormac, F.G., Manning, S.W., Ramsey, C.B., Reimer, R.W., Remmele, S., Southon, J.R., Stuiver, M., Talamo, S., Taylor, F.W., van der Plicht, J., and Weyhenmeyer, C.E. IntCal04 Terrestrial radiocarbon age calibration, 26-0 ka BP. Radiocarbon 46, (2004). 1029–1058.Google Scholar
Ricketts, R.D., Johnson, T.C., Brown, E.T., Rasmussen, K.A., and Romanovski, V.V. The Holocene limnology of lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan: trace elements and stable isotope composition of ostracodes. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 176, (2001). 207–227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rimbu, N., Lohmann, G., Felis, T., and Patzold, J. Arctic oscillation signature in a Red Sea coral. Geophysical Research Letters 28, (2001). 2959–2962.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rimbu, N., Lohmann, G., Felis, T., and Patzold, J. Shift in ENSO teleconnections recorded by a northern Red Sea coral. Journal of Climate 16, (2003). 1414–1422.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ristvet, L., Weiss, H. in press. The Hâbûr Region in the Late Third and Early Second Millennium B.C.. In: Orthmann, W. (Ed.), The History and Archaeology of Syria. Vol. 1., Saarbrucken: Saarbrucken Verlag, . http://research.yale.edu/leilan/RistvetWeissHAS_10.pdf Google Scholar
Roberts, N., Reed, J.M., Leng, M.J., Kuzucuoglu, C., Fontugne, M., Bertaux, J., Woldring, H., Bottema, S., Black, S., Hunt, E., and Karabiyikoglu, M. The tempo of Holocene climatic change in the eastern Mediterranean region: new high-resolution crater-lake sediment data from central Turkey. The Holocene 11, (2001). 721–736.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, S., Black, S., Sellwood, B., and Valdes, P. A review of paleoclimate and paleoenvironments in the Levant and Eastern Mediterranean from 25,000 to 5000 yrs BP: setting the environmental background for the evolution of human civilization. Quaternary Science Reviews 25, (2006). 1517–1541.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodwell, M.J., and Hoskins, B.J. Monsoons and the dynamics of deserts. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 122, (1996). 1385–1404.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodwell, M.J., Rowell, D.P., and Folland, C.K. Oceanic forcing of the wintertime North Atlantic oscillation and European climate. Nature 398, (1999). 320–323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rohling, E.J. Environmental control on Mediterranean salinity and delta O-18. Paleoceanography 14, (1999). 706–715.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rohling, E.J., and Pälike, H. Centennial-scale climate cooling with a sudden cold event around 8,200 yrs ago. Nature 434, (2005). 975–979.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rohling, E.J., Mayewski, P.A., Abu-Zied, R.H., Casford, J.S.L., and Hayes, A. Holocene atmosphere–ocean interactions: records from Greenland and the Aegean Sea. Climate Dynamics 18, (2002). 587–593.Google Scholar
Rohling, E.J., Abu-Zied, R., Casford, C.S.L., Hayes, A., and Hoogakker, B.A.A, in press. The Mediterranean Sea: Present and Past. In: Woodward, J. Physical Geography of the Mediterranean Basin. Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Rossignol-Strick, M. The Holocene climatic optimum and pollen records of sapropel 1 in the eastern Mediterranean, 9000–6000 BP. Quaternary Science Reviews 18, (1999). 515–530.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rudolf, B., Hauschild, H., Rueth, W., and Schneider, U. Terrestrial Precipitation Analysis: Operational Method and Required Density of Point Measurements. Desbois, M., Desalmond, F. Global Precipitations and Climate Change. NATO ASI Series 1 Vol. 26, (1994). Springer-Verlag, 173–186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Russell, J.M., and Johnson, TC. A high-resolution geochemical record from Lake Edward, Uganda Congo and the timing and causes of tropical African drought during the late Holocene. Quaternary Science Reviews 24, (2005). 1375–1389.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sangiorgi, F., Capotondi, L., Nebout, N., Vigliotti, L., Brinkhaus, H., Giunta, S., Lotter, A., Morigi, A., Negri, A., and Reichart, G. Holocene seasonal sea-surface temperature variations in the southern Adriatic Sea inferred from a multiproxy approach. Journal of Quaternary Science 18, (2003). 723–732.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sarkar, A., Ramesh, R., Somayajulu, B.L.K., Agnihotri, R., Jull, A.J.T., and Burr, G.S. High resolution Holocene monsoon record from the eastern Arabian Sea. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 177, (2000). 209–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, G., Curvers, H., Geritsen, F.A., MacCormack, J., Miller, N.F., and Weber, J.A. Excavation and survey in the Jabbul plain. American Journal of Archaeology 104, (2000). 419–462.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scrivner, A.E., Vance, D., and Rohling, E.J. New neodymium isotope data quantify Nile involvement in Mediterranean anoxic episodes. Geology 32, (2004). 565–568.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sirocko, F., Sarnthein, M., Erlenkeuser, H., Lange, H., Arnold, M., and Duplessy, J.C. Century-scale events in monsoonal climate over the past 24,000 yrs. Nature 364, (1993). 322–324.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sirocko, F., GarbeSchonberg, D., McIntyre, A., and Molfino, B. Teleconnections between the subtropical monsoons and high-latitude climates during the last deglaciation. Science 272, (1996). 526–529.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spanos, S., Maheras, P., Karacostas, T., and Pennas, P. Objective climatology of 500-hPa cyclones in central and east Mediterranean Region during warm-dry period of the year. Theoretical and Applied Climatology 75, (2003). 167–178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Staubwasser, M., Sirocko, F., Grootes, P.M., and Erlenkeuser, H. South Asian monsoon climate change and radiocarbon in the Arabian Sea during early and middle Holocene. Paleoceanography 17, (2002). 1063 doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2000PA000608CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Staubwasser, M., Sirocko, F., Grootes, P., and Segl, M. Climate change at the 4.2 ka BP termination of the Indus valley civilization and Holocene south Asian monsoon variability. Geophysical Research Letters 30, (2003). 1425 doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2002GL016822CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Staubwasser, M. An overview of Holocene South Asian monsoon records—Monsoon domains and regional contrasts. Journal of the Geological Society of India 68, (2006). 433–446.Google Scholar
Stevens, L.R., Wright, H.E., and Ito, E. Proposed changes in seasonality of climate during the Lateglacial and Holocene at Lake Zeribar, Iran. Holocene 11, (2001). 747–755.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stevens, L.R., Ito, E., Schwalb, A., and Wright, H.E. Timing of atmospheric precipitation in the Zagros Mountains inferred from a multi-proxy record from Lake Mirabad, Iran. Quaternary Research 66, (2006). 494–500.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swain, A.M., Kutzbach, J.E., and Hastenrath, S. Estimates of Holocene Precipitation for Rajasthan, India, Based on Pollen and Lake-Level Data. Quaternary Research 19, (1983). 1–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thamban, M., Rao, V.P., Schneider, R.R., and Grootes, P.M. Glacial to Holocene fluctuations in hydrography and productivity along the southwestern continental margin of India. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 165, (2001). 113–127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, L.G. Ice core evidence for climate change in the tropics: implication for our future. Quaternary Science Reviews 19, (2000). 19–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, L.G., Mosley-Thompson, E., Davis, M.E., Henderson, K.A., Brecher, H.H., Zagorodnov, V.S., Mashiotta, T.A., Lin, P.N., Mikhalenko, V.N., Hardy, D.R., and Beer, J. Kilimanjaro ice core records: evidence of Holocene climate change in tropical Africa. Science 298, (2002). 589–593.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thompson, L., Mosley-Thompson, G., Brecher, E., Davis, H., Leon, M., Les, B., Lin, D., Mashiotta, P.-N., and Mountain, T. Abrupt tropical climate change: past and present. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103, (2006). 10536–10543.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Trigo, I.F., Davies, T.D., and Bigg, G.R. Objective climatology of cyclones in the Mediterranean region. Journal of Climate 12, (1999). 1685–1696.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tsvieli, Y., and Zangvil, A. Synoptic climatological analysis of ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ Red Sea Troughs over Israel. International Journal of Climatology 25, (2005). 1997–2015.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Türkes, M., and Erlat, E. Influences of the North Atlantic oscillation on precipitation variability and changes in Turkey. Il Nuovo Cimento (2006). 29C doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1393/ncc/i2005-10228-8Google Scholar
Valladas, H., Evin, J., and Arnold, M. Datation par la methode du carbone 14 des couches Obeid 0 et 1 de Tell Oueilli (Iraq). Huot, J.-J. Oueili: travaux de 1987 et 1989. (1996). Editions Recherce sur les Civilizations, Paris. 381–384.Google Scholar
Van Loon, M. Selenkahiyeh. (2001). Nederlands Historisch-Archaeologish Instituut te Istanbul, Leiden.Google Scholar
Visicato, G. The Bureaucracy of Šuruppak. (1995). Ugarit Verlag, Münster.Google Scholar
Visicato, G. The Power and the Writing: the early scribes of Mesopotamia. (2000). CDL, Bethesda.Google Scholar
Wang, Y.J., Cheng, H., Edwards, R.L., He, Y.Q., Kong, X.G., An, Z.S., Wu, J.Y., Kelly, M.J., Dykoski, C.A., and Li, X.D. The Holocene Asian monsoon: links to solar changes and North Atlantic climate. Science 308, (2005). 854–857.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wasylikowa, K., Witkowski, A., Walanus, A., Hutorowicz, A., Alexandrowicz, S.W., and Langer, J.J. Palaeolimnology of Lake Zeribar, Iran, and its climatic implications. Quaternary Research 66, (2006). 477–493.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webster, P.J., Fasullo, J., (2003). Monsoon: Dynamical Theory. In: Holton, J., Pyle, J., Curry, J. (Eds), Encyclopedia of Atmospheric Sciences, Elsevier, Amsterdam., pp. 1370–1383.Google Scholar
Webster, P.J., Magana, V.O., Palmer, T.N., Shukla, J., Tomas, R.A., Yanai, M., and Yasunari, T. Monsoons: Processes, predictability, and the prospects for prediction. Journal of Geophysical Research—Oceans 103, (1998). 14451–14510.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weiss, H. Kish, Akkad and Agade. Journal of the American Oriental Society 95, (1975). 434–453.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weiss, H. Irrigation Agriculture. Science 200, (1978). 1377–1378.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weiss, H. Tell Leilân and Shubat-Enlil. Mari (Paris) 4, (1985). 269–292.Google Scholar
Weiss, H. The Origins of Tell Leilan and the Conquest of Space in Third Millennium Mesopotamia. Weiss, H. The Origins of cities in dry farming Syria and Mesopotamia in Third Millenium B.C.. (1986). Four Quarters, Guilford. 71–108.Google Scholar
Weiss, H. Akkade. Meyers, M. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, 1. (1997). 41–44. New York Google Scholar
Weiss, H. Beyond the Younger Dryas: Collapse as Adaptation to Abrupt Climate Change in Ancient West Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean. Bawden, G., and Reycraft, R. Confronting Natural Disaster: Engaging the Past to Understand the Future. (2000). University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 2000. 75–98.Google Scholar
Weiss, H. Ninevite Periods and Processes. Rova, E., and Weiss, H. The Origins of North Mesopotamian Civilization. (2003). Subartu IX, Brepols, Turnhout. 593–624.Google Scholar
Weiss, H., and Bradley, R.S. Archaeology—What drives societal collapse?. Science 291, (2001). 609–610.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weiss, H., Courty, M.A., Wetterstrom, W., Guichard, F., Senior, L., Meadow, R., and Curnow, A. The genesis and collapse of 3rd millennium north mesopotamian civilization. Science 261, (1993). 995–1004.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weldeab, S., Schneider, R., Kölling, M., and Wefer, G. Holocene African droughts relate to eastern equatorial African cooling. Geology 33, (2005). 981–984.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weninger, B., Alram-Stern, E., Bauer, E., Clare, L., Danzeglocke, U., Jöris, O., Kubatzki, L., Rollefson, C., Todorova, H., and van Andel, T. Climate Forcing due to the 8200 cal BP event observed at Early Neolithic sites in the Eastern Mediterranean. Quaternary Research 66, (2006). 401–420.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wunnemann, B., Mischke, S., and Chen, F.H. A Holocene sedimentary record from Bosten Lake, China. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology 234, (2006). 223–238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yang, S., and Webster, P.J. The effect of summer tropical heating on the location and intensity of the extratropical westerly jet streams. Journal of Geophysical Research—Atmospheres 95, (1990). 18705–18721.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zangvil, A., Karas, S., and Sasson, A. Connection between eastern Mediterranean seasonal mean 500 hPa height and sea-level pressure patterns and the spatial rainfall distribution over Israel. International Journal of Climatology 23, (2003). 1567–1576.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zettler, R. Subsistence and Settlement in a Marginal Environment: Tell es-Sweyhat, 1989–1995 Preliminary Report. (1997). MASCA, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Zhang, Q.-B., and Hebda, R. Abrupt climate change and variability in the past four millennia of the southern Vancouver Island, Canada. Geophysical Research Letters 32, (2005). L16708 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ziv, B., Saaroni, H., and Alpert, P. The factors governing the summer regime of the eastern Mediterranean. International Journal of Climatology 24, (2004). 1859–1871.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ziv, B., Dayan, U., and Sharon, D. A mid-winter, tropical extreme flood-producing storm in southern Israel: Synoptic scale analysis. Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics 88, (2004). 53–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ziv, B., Dayan, U., Kushnir, Y., Roth, C., and Enzel, Y. Regional and global atmospheric patterns governing rainfall in the southern Levant. International Journal of Climatology 26, (2006). 55–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar