Response of the Akrotiri Marsh, island of Cyprus, to Bronze Age climate change

Abstract

Here we present two multiproxy records covering the last 5000 years from the Akrotiri Marsh in southern Cyprus. Pollen and diatom analysis of radiocarbon dated marsh sediments with an average chronological resolution of one date every thousand years, reveal expansion and contraction of the marsh in response to mid-late Holocene climate events, with peak aridity reconstructed in the early Bronze Age, inferred between 4.3 and 4.1 cal ka BP, and repeated dry intervals in the Late Bronze Age, inferred between 3.4 and 3.1 cal ka BP. The record provides important contextual climate data to the debate surrounding reported Early and Late Bronze Age societal collapse events present in numerous archaeological archives throughout the Mediterranean and Near Eastern region. This is the first multiproxy record from the island of Cyprus potentially displaying the 4.2 ka BP event. The characteristics of the inferred 3.2 ka BP event are very similar to the manifestation of the event in the east of Cyprus and on the southern Levantine mainland. These results contribute to the regional understanding of Bronze Age climates on Cyprus, give insight into the expression of global climate forcing mechanisms such as the North Atlantic Oscillation and the Siberian High, and provide potential evidence for reduced anthropogenic land-use during the 4.2 ka BP and 3.2 ka BP Events supporting what is documented in archaeological archives. • Two 5000-year-old multiproxy records from the Akrotiri Marsh, southern Cyprus • Both the 4.2 K and 3.2 K climate events had an impact on the island's water balance. • Pollen & diatoms infer Early Bronze Age peak aridity between 4.3 & 4.1 cal ka BP • Repeat dry intervals in Late Bronze Age from 3.4 to 3.1 cal ka BP, W-Shaped event • Insight into the expression of the North Atlantic Oscillation and the Siberian High