Late Holocene Climatic Events, the Main Factor of the Cultural Decline in North Central Iran During the Bronze Age

Babak Shaikh Baikloo Islam; Ahmad Chaychi Amirkhiz; Kamal Al-Din Niknami

doi:10.4312/dp.47.25

Authors

Babak Shaikh Baikloo Islam Islamic Azad University, Department of History and Archaeology, Tehran, Iran
Ahmad Chaychi Amirkhiz Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism, Iranian Center for Archaeological Research, Tehran, Iran
Kamal Al-Din Niknami University of Tehran, Department of Archaeology, Iran

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4312/dp.47.25

Keywords:

Bronze Age, Late Holocene, drought, North Central Iran, cultural decline

Abstract

During the Bronze Age, the cultural region of North Central Iran (NCI) suffered a longterm cultural decline, probably due to severe droughts. According to paleoclimate research, during the overall period c. 5.4–3.5 ka BP, four widely observable climatic events occurred at c. 5.3–5.0, 4.9–4.7, 4.2–3.9, and 3.8–3.5 ka BP, and these appear to have caused widespread environmental damage in the Near East. Archaeological evidence of the NCI-region reveals political events that can be associated with the observed climatic variability. Paleoclimate research and archaeological studies can attribute, in combination, the cultural decline of NCI during the Bronze Age to the Late Holocene climate change.