A hydromorphic reevaluation of the forgotten river civilizations of Central Asia
Creators
- 1. Earth and Climate Cluster, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands;
- 2. School of Geography and Lincoln Centre for Water and Planetary Health, University of Lincoln, LN6 7DW, United Kingdom;
- 3. Institute of Archaeology, University College London, WC1H 0PY London, United Kingdom;
- 4. School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, OX1 3QY Oxford, United Kingdom;
- 5. Institute of Geography and Water Safety, 050010 Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan
- 6. nstitute of Geography and Water Safety, 050010 Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan
Description
Our paper challenges the long-held view that the fall of Central Asia’s river civilizations was determined by warfare and the destruction of irrigation infrastructure during the Mongol invasion. An integration of radiometric dating of long-term river dynamics in the region with irrigation canal abandonment shows that periods of cultural decline correlate with drier conditions during multicentennial length periods when the North Atlantic Oscillation had mostly positive index values. There is no evidence that large-scale destruction of irrigation systems occurred during the Arab or Mongol invasion specifically. A more nuanced interpretation identifies chronic environmental challenges to floodwater farming over the last two millennia, punctuated by multicentennial-length periods with favorable hydromorphic and hydroclimatological conditions that enabled irrigation agriculturists to flourish.
Files
Toonenetal.2020PNAS1.pdf
Files
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Additional details
Related works
- Is cited by
- Journal article: 10.1073/pnas.2009553117 (DOI)
Funding
- 825.10.022 11082
- Dutch Research Council