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"By combining data from coastal Cyprus and coastal Syria, this study shows that the LBA crisis coincided with the onset of a ca. 300-year drought event 3200 years ago. This climate shift caused crop failures, dearth and famine, which precipitated or hastened socio-economic crises and forced regional human migrations at the end of the LBA in the Eastern Mediterranean and southwest Asia. The integration of environmental and archaeological data along the Cypriot and Syrian coasts offers a first comprehensive insight into how and why things may have happened during this chaotic period. The 3.2 ka BP event underlines the agro-productive sensitivity of ancient Mediterranean societies to climate and demystifies the crisis at the Late Bronze Age-Iron Age transition."

"By combining data from coastal Cyprus and coastal Syria, this study shows that the LBA crisis coincided with the onset of a ca. 300-year drought event 3200 years ago. This climate shift caused crop failures, dearth and famine, which precipitated or hastened socio-economic crises and forced regional human migrations at the end of the LBA in the Eastern Mediterranean and southwest Asia. The integration of environmental and archaeological data along the Cypriot and Syrian coasts offers a first comprehensive insight into how and why things may have happened during this chaotic period. The 3.2 ka BP event underlines the agro-productive sensitivity of ancient Mediterranean societies to climate and demystifies the crisis at the Late Bronze Age-Iron Age transition."

Human migration and social change are closely linked to changes in Earth's climate. Climate shifts have both helped to foster the rise of civilizations and contributed to their demises. Over the last few decades, proxy records (tree rings, sediment cores, mineral deposits, etc.) of ancient climates and past climate shifts have become available. Studies of these records show that past periods of significant climate change often correspond to periods of social change across remote parts of the globe. While no universally accepted definition for civilization exists, here civilizations are defined as societies that rely on permanent infrastructure (i.e. cities, granaries and irrigation systems) and intensive cultivation of crops for their survival, meaning that they cannot respond to climate change simply by moving to where the weather is better nor can they readily switch to different food sources.

Human migration and social change are closely linked to changes in Earth's climate. Climate shifts have both helped to foster the rise of civilizations and contributed to their demises. Over the last few decades, proxy records (tree rings, sediment cores, mineral deposits, etc.) of ancient climates and past climate shifts have become available. Studies of these records show that past periods of significant climate change often correspond to periods of social change across remote parts of the globe. While no universally accepted definition for civilization exists, here civilizations are defined as societies that rely on permanent infrastructure (i.e. cities, granaries and irrigation systems) and intensive cultivation of crops for their survival, meaning that they cannot respond to climate change simply by moving to where the weather is better nor can they readily switch to different food sources.