Civilizations/Climate

CCR has been engaged in pioneering studies of the interrelationships of climate and cultures since its formation in the 1960s. Research results spanning many years have shown that the timing of important changes in the archaeological record often correspond closely with the timing of important changes in climate, changes that influence, for example, food and water resources, and trade. The archaeoclimatology lab has developed a climate modeling technique specifically designed to address the need of an archaeologist for an a priori hypothesis about the past climates of their particular excavation site.

Since the societies they are investigating lived in relatively restricted areas, and their cultures had life spans of usually a few centuries, such a model must refer to the local area and have as high a time resolution as possible. The model is based upon macrophysical principles, involving energy and hydrologic budget equations, statistical-dynamical relationships between primary circulation features and the meridional temperature gradient, and synoptic climatology. The time resolution of the climate simulations is limited only by the data density in the volcanic record. Collaborators include researchers working at archeological sites worldwide.