VOLOS: Scientists have solved the mystery of the collapse of an ancient civilization living on the fringes of the Tibetan Plateau around 2,000 BC, and it seems that climate change is to blame.
That’s at least according to a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which details how cooling global temperatures at the end of the Holocene Climatic Optimum – a 4,000 year period of warm weather – would have made it impossible for these ancient people to cultivate millet, their primary food source.
Until now, scientists were left wondering why this Tibetan society died out, and also why the area’s original inhabitants either left so abruptly or changed their lifestyles. This study may have finally given them the answer.
The results also help explain the success of farmers who practiced wheat and barley agriculture in the region 300 years later.
Unlike millet, wheat and barley don’t require a lot of heat to survive and are highly tolerant to frost. This makes them ideal crops for the harsh environment of eastern Tibet, which is located at a high altitude and thus experiences frigid weather. These crops were introduced to the region around 1700 BC, after which time they may have become important sources of sustenance.
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