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Holocene Climate Variability and Cultural Evolution in the Near East from the Dead Sea Sedimentary Record

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Claudia Migowski ,
Mordechai Stein ,
Sushma Prasad ,
Jörg F.W. Negendank  and
Amotz Agnon
Claudia Migowski
Affiliation:
GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, Sec. 3.3 Climate Dynamics and Sediments, Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Mordechai Stein*
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malkhe Yisrael St., Jerusalem 95501, Israel Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Givat Ram, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
Sushma Prasad
Affiliation:
GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, Sec. 3.3 Climate Dynamics and Sediments, Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Jörg F.W. Negendank
Affiliation:
GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, Sec. 3.3 Climate Dynamics and Sediments, Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Amotz Agnon
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Givat Ram, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
*
⁎Corresponding author. Geological Survey of Israel, 30 Malkhe Yisrael St., Jerusalem 95501, Israel. Fax: +972 2 5662581. E-mail address:motis@vms.huji.ac.il (M. Stein).
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Abstract

A comprehensive record of lake level changes in the Dead Sea has been reconstructed using multiple, well dated sediment cores recovered from the Dead Sea shore. Interpreting the lake level changes as monitors of precipitation in the Dead Sea drainage area and the regional eastern Mediterranean palaeoclimate, we document the presence of two major wet phases (∼ 10–8.6 and ∼ 5.6–3.5 cal kyr BP) and multiple abrupt arid events during the Holocene. The arid events in the Holocene Dead Sea appear to coincide with major breaks in the Near East cultural evolution (at ∼ 8.6, 8.2, 4.2, 3.5 cal kyr BP). Wetter periods are marked by the enlargement of smaller settlements and growth of farming communities in desert regions, suggesting a parallelism between climate and Near East cultural development.

Keywords

Dead SeaHolocenePaleoclimatePaleohydrologyNear EastCulture history
Type
Special Issue Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 66 , Issue 3 , November 2006 , pp. 421 - 431
Copyright
University of Washington

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