Frozen Baikal Lake, in winter
Humans had to quickly adapt in various parts of the world. Event serves as a warning for these days.
The last glacier period ended about 11,700 years ago, but about 8,200 years ago, humans have been forced to face a dramatic drop in global temperatures that became known to history as the COOKING EVENT 8200 AP (Before the present, time marking used in archeology, paleontology and geology).
At that time, the Temperatures descended up to 6 ° C In a few decades, and humans have had to quickly adapt to new environmental conditions. Some communities migrated, while others remained at the scene and changed their subsistence strategies. But as a study recently shows at Quaternary Environments and Humans, societies responded differently.
The team led by Rick Schulting From Oxford University examined almost 300 traces dating by radiocarbon and environmental records from northwestern Europe to southern Siberia, based on regional environmental and archaeological data. He used pollen and charcoal data from lake sediment that helped to highly reconstruct climates and changes in past vegetation.
The team discovered a whole range of adaptation strategies. In the Oslo Fiord, Norway, for example, the settlements increased, indicating that coastal communities probably depended on stable marine resources such as fish, seals and shellfish; In Siberia, similar aquatic abundance meant that there were minimal signs of disturbance between local populations.
In the region the region of Lake Onega, in northwestern Russia, there was an increase in the use of cemeteries. Not because there were mass deaths, but as a reflection of the growing social agglomeration around reliable food sources, such as fish and thieves.
In western Scotland, the populations seem to have abandoned the coastal areas, possibly in search of refuge in the countryside, far from the most rigorous maritime climate.
All this It serves as a warning to these days. “Just as 8200 years ago, today’s humans will also have to find ways to adapt to the resulting crisis,” he tells Mikael Manninen of the University of Helsinchia in Finland.
“We know, by modern climate change, that environmental impacts vary dramatically from one region to another,” says Philippe Crombé of the University of Ghent, Belgium. “This study makes it clear that it was true in the past.”
“People don’t care if it’s 1 or 2 degrees warmer or colder until it affects precipitation patterns, animal migrations, available plant types,” says Oxford’s Rick Schultting.
“If you are a hunter-length, you can simply go away when the atmosphere becomes hostile suddenly, but this is much more difficult and when you have roads, cities and supply chains. This type of mobility is a luxury we no longer have,” explains the researcher.
