Mid-Holocene climate variations revealed by high-resolution speleothem records from Soreq Cave, Israel and their correlation with cultural changes

Abstract

Mid-Holocene (7000—4000 yr BP) paleoclimate conditions were reconstructed for the eastern Mediterranean region through a high-resolution (3—20 yr) oxygen and carbon isotopic record in a speleothem from Soreq Cave, Israel. Mid-Holocene climate change is characterized by sinusoidal cycles lasting ~1500 years, that represent changes of ~400 mm (between ~700 and ~300 mm) in annual rainfall, coincident with major cultural changes. Two major cultural changes occurred during wet events at 6550—6450 yr BP and 4800—4700 yr BP, associated with the transitions from mid-Chalcolithic to late-Chalcolithic period and from the early Bronze II to early Bronze III, respectively. The transition from late Chalcolithic to early Bronze I occurred during a dry period at 5700—5600 yr BP. Superimposed on these cycles, several short-lived decadal- to centennial-scale climatic events were identified. Dry events occurred at 6650—6600 yr BP, 6250—6180 yr BP, 5700—5600 yr BP, 5250—5170 yr BP and 4200—4050 yr BP. The last two events coincide with the cultural collapse of the Uruk society in Mesopotamia and the Akkadian Empire. Short climatic wet events occurred at 6700—6680 yr BP, 6170—6100 yr BP, 5760—5740 yr BP and 5500—5450 yr BP.