Publication Date:
2022-11-23
Description:
Abrupt climate change in the past is thought to have disrupted societies by accelerating environmental
degradation, potentially leading to cultural collapse. Linking climate change directly to societal disruption
is challenging because socioeconomic factors also play a large role, with climate being secondary or
sometimes inconsequential. Combining paleolimnologic, historical, and archaeological methods provides
for a more secure basis for interpreting the past impacts of climate on society. We present pollen, nonpollen
palynomorph, geochemical, paleomagnetic and sedimentary data from a high-resolution 2700 yr
lake sediment core from central Italy and compare these data with local historical documents and
archeological surveys to reconstruct a record of environmental change in relation to socioeconomic
history and climatic fluctuations. Here we document cases in which environmental change is strongly
linked to changes in local land management practices in the absence of clear climatic change, as well as
examples when climate change appears to have been a strong catalyst that resulted in significant
environmental change that impacted local communities. During the Imperial Roman period, despite a
long period of stable, mild climate, and a large urban population in nearby Rome, our site shows only
limited evidence for environmental degradation. Warm and mild climate during the Medieval Warm
period, on the other hand, led to widespread deforestation and erosion. The ability of the Romans to
utilize imported resources through an extensive trade network may have allowed for preservation of the
environment near the Roman capital, whereas during medieval time, the need to rely on local resources
led to environmental degradation. Cool wet climate during the Little Ice Age led to a breakdown in local
land use practices, widespread land abandonment and rapid reforestation. Our results present a highresolution
regional case study that explores the effect of climate change on society for an underdocumented
region of Europe.
Description:
Published
Description:
72 - 94
Description:
1A. Geomagnetismo e Paleomagnetismo
Description:
3A. Ambiente Marino
Description:
4A. Clima e Oceani
Description:
JCR Journal
Description:
restricted
Keywords:
Central Italy
;
Mediterranean environments
;
Society and climate
;
Paleoenvironmental change
;
Pollen
;
Paleomagnetism
;
Geochemistry
;
Historical documents
;
Late Holocene
;
Roman Empire
;
01. Atmosphere::01.01. Atmosphere::01.01.02. Climate
;
01. Atmosphere::01.01. Atmosphere::01.01.03. Pollution
;
02. Cryosphere::02.03. Ice cores::02.03.03. Climate Indicators
;
02. Cryosphere::02.03. Ice cores::02.03.05. Paleoclimate
;
03. Hydrosphere::03.01. General::03.01.06. Paleoceanography and paleoclimatology
;
04. Solid Earth::04.05. Geomagnetism::04.05.06. Paleomagnetism
;
04. Solid Earth::04.05. Geomagnetism::04.05.07. Rock magnetism
Repository Name:
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV)
Type:
article
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