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Drought stress variability in ancient Near Eastern agricultural systems evidenced by δ 13 C in barley grain

Bibliographic Data

ID23373120
AuthorsSimone Riehl (0000-0002-1744-0032, Institute for Archaeological Science and), Konstantin Pustovoytov (0000-0003-2838-5371, University of Hohenheim), Konstantin E Pustovoytov (Institute of Soil Science and Land Evaluation, University of Hohenheim, 70593 Stuttgart, Germany; and), Heike Weippert (Institute of Soil Science and Land Evaluation, University of Hohenheim, 70593 Stuttgart, Germany; and), Stefan Klett (Institute for Archaeological Science and), Frank Hole (Yale University)
Year2014
Volume111
Issue34
Pages12348-12353
Publication date2014-08-26
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0027-8424 • E-ISSN: 1091-6490
PublisherNational Academy of Sciences (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1073/pnas.1409516111
PMID25114225
PMCIDPMC4151733
OpenAlexW1984739611
LanguageEN
Citations received64
References cited55

Significance Collapse and resilience of ancient Near Eastern societies is intrinsically tied to agricultural production. Despite intensive palaeoclimate research, the role of environmental conditions in ancient agricultural production is little understood. Stable carbon isotope analysis on cereal grains from archaeological sites provides a direct evidence for drought stress. This paper demonstrates that drought stress correlated with major climatic fluctuations and affected many agricultural settlements in the ancient Near East but that its regional impact was diverse and influenced by geographic factors and human technology. The results lead to a better understanding of how ancient agricultural societies performed under fluctuating climate and regionally diverse environmental conditions.

Agricultural productivity · Agriculture · Agroforestry · Archaeology · Biology · Climate change · Geography · Human settlement · Psychological resilience · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Ecology · Environmental Science · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Isotope Analysis in Ecology

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