Settlement, environment, and climate change in SW Anatolia: Dynamics of regional variation and the end of Antiquity

This paper develops a regional dataset of change at 381 settlements for Lycia-Pamphylia in southwest Anatolia (Turkey) from volume 8 of the Tabula Imperii Byzantini-a compilation of historical toponyms and archaeological evidence. This region is rich in archaeological remains and high-quality paleo-...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2022-06, Vol.17 (6), p.e0270295-e0270295
Main Authors: Jacobson, Matthew J, Pickett, Jordan, Gascoigne, Alison L, Fleitmann, Dominik, Elton, Hugh
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural production
Archaeology
Bias
Biology and Life Sciences
Byzantine civilization
Climate change
Climatic changes
Cultural change
Datasets
Earth Sciences
Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Economic factors
Environmental protection
Evaluation
Influence
Inscriptions
Precipitation
Regional development
Regions
Social factors
Social Sciences
Socioeconomic factors
Socioeconomics
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Summary:This paper develops a regional dataset of change at 381 settlements for Lycia-Pamphylia in southwest Anatolia (Turkey) from volume 8 of the Tabula Imperii Byzantini-a compilation of historical toponyms and archaeological evidence. This region is rich in archaeological remains and high-quality paleo-climatic and -environmental archives. Our archaeological synthesis enables direct comparison of these datasets to discuss current hypotheses of climate impacts on historical societies. A Roman Climatic Optimum, characterized by warmer and wetter conditions, facilitating Roman expansion in the 1.sup.st -2.sup.nd centuries CE cannot be supported here, as Early Byzantine settlement did not benefit from enhanced precipitation in the 4.sup.th -6.sup.th centuries CE as often supposed. However, widespread settlement decline in a period with challenging archaeological chronologies (c. 550-650 CE) was likely caused by a "perfect storm" of environmental, climatic, seismic, pathogenic and socio-economic factors, though a shift to drier conditions from c. 460 CE appears to have preceded other factors by at least a century.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0270295