Looking at the past to understand what’s happening today. In this way you could summarize how Archaeology and Anthropology contribute to our comprehension of Climate Change and its impact on our societies.
Archeologist Brian Fagan, author of the book The Great Warming Climate Change and The Rise and Fall of Civilizations, explains how ancient Climate Change affected the Earth in the past and how some civilizations (such are the Pueblo Indian from Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, at the beginning of the 11th century, or the Egyptian civilization in 2180 BC) were able to adapt to the changed climate while other civilizations perished under the effect of a silent elephant walking across centuries.
Watch the video interview with Brian Fagan at the International Workshop The Social Dimension of Adaptation to Climate Change in Venice.
Studying Ancient Climate Change: The Great Warming
The lessons of the past give us clues to what we should look to for the future.
If you combine the long-term view with the view of today, you get a unique picture of how humans have adapted to ancient Climate Change
Archaeology is the study of ancient societies over long periods of time, not only hundreds or thousands of years, but even millions of years, and we can give a long-term perspective to the study of humanity. Anthropology studies modern and living societies. If you combine the long-term view with the view of today, you get a unique picture of how humans have adapted to ancient climate change. The Great Warming is a book about a period called the medieval warm period, which was from about 800 to 1250. This was a period of modestly warming temperatures and its consequence was a series of droughts in the western United States, Central America, Peru, Northeast Brazil, and in China. The effects of these droughts on humanity were very serious indeed. It led to the collapse in the Maya civilization. It was a major factor in the ways in which the societies of the Andes and of the Peruvian Coast evolved. It was clearly, although we do not know much about it, a major factor in the development and tragedies of the Chinese civilization. I realized that if we had looked at this a thousand years ago, we would have some interesting lessons about the possibilities of drought today. A thousand years ago in California, there was a drought that lasted over a hundred years. This kind of long-term drought in our society with large cities and with minimal people around is clearly very serious. I really think that the lessons of the past give us clues to what we should look to for the future.
The Silent Elephant in the Room
Who (or what) is the silent elephant walking across centuries? A metaphor invented to describe dangers and threats from the past to the present of Climate Change
When I was studying the climate of the world, a thousand years ago historically, I discovered that there had been very widespread droughts. Then when I looked at modern droughts (because you cannot understand the droughts of a thousand years ago without looking at modern drought) I was struck that people did not talk much about drought. It was not a subject that even people in California talked about, where we have a lot of drought. I realized that it was, in a way, a silent partner in climate change. I remember that many years ago in Africa, I had accidentally walked into the middle of a herd of elephants. I was in a forest clearing, and the elephants were completely quiet. This is a good metaphor for a huge factor in climate change and human society which we have not until recently talked about. I had a silent elephant in the room and for some reason people think this is a very good analogy.
Adaptation to Ancient Climate Change: Two Successful Stories
Twelve hundreds years ago the Pueblo Indians survived the fifty-years drought; more than twenty centuries Before Christ the Egyptian civilization found the way to face the impacts of climate change.
There are numerous examples of success, but with small societies. I think one of the most important examples is from Chaco Canyon, New Mexico where the Pueblo Indians about twelve hundred years ago built a series of large pueblos, which became major ceremonial centers. In 1040, there was a fifty-years drought. This is not an area where agriculture is easy even if there is plentiful rain, so they moved away. The society did not collapse, but family-by-family, household-by-household, the people moved away. They went to live with relatives in other communities who had rain and more food. Society continued because the people to whom they moved knew that if they had a problem, they could have also moved to them. It is a situation of exchange. It was a success for adaptation based on relationships, on family relationships, and on kinship.
Another interesting example is ancient Egypt, which in 2180 bc, experienced a hundred-year drought, and this led to much less plentiful floods in The Nile. The result was that a powerful state ruled by a king, who told everybody that he was a god that controlled the floods and food supplies, collapsed because he could not feed the people. Then Egypt became a series of small kingdoms ruled by very competent leaders who fed their people by controlling the frontiers rationing food, and so on. It took a hundred years for Egypt to come back again. But when it came back the pharaohs had learned a lesson. They now called themselves not gods, but shepherds of the people. At the same time they invested heavily in irrigation agriculture and food storage. So if there was a time of shortage, they could feed the people. As a result, Egyptian civilization lasted for 2000 more years.
Looking at the past to understand what’s happening today. In this way you could summarize how Archaeology and Anthropology contribute to our comprehension of Climate Change and its impact on our societies.
