MEXICO: An international team of scientists uncovered several specimens of ancient graffiti inside a cave in China that describe harrowing events in the history of the area including conflict, drought and instances of cannibalism that span for 500 years.
The researchers, led by experts from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, examined the inscriptions found in a cave located in China’s central region.
By combining data from these texts with those collected through a chemical analysis of the cave’s stalagmites, the team was able to create a detailed picture of how widespread droughts affect societies over a period of time. It marks the first instance where an in situ comparison was conducted in order to analyze geographical and historical records.
The findings of the study, featured in the Scientific Reports journal, also describe a potentially significant reduction in the amount of rainfall in the area in the coming years, which underlies the importance of initiating contingency programs that could help societies of the world deal with more commonly occurring droughts.
The ancient Chinese texts were discovered on the walls of Dayu Cave located in the country’s Qinling Mountains. The writings describe the events surrounding seven droughts that occurred in the region from 1520 to 1920.
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