HR: 1340h
AN: PP43A-0666    [Abstracts]
TI: ``Blessed rain'' as a drive for the abandonment of ancient settlements along the Israeli coast
AU: * Ashkenazy, Y
EM: ashkena@bgu.ac.il
AF: Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Dept. of Solar Energy and Environmental Physics, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, 84990 Israel
AU: Faust, A
EM: fausta@mail.biu.ac.il
AF: Bar Ilan University, Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archeology, Ramat Gan, ISR 52900
AB: Previous studies suggested that arid conditions in the ancient Near-East altered settlement pattern and even triggered the collapse of empires; more humid conditions in the semi-arid Near-East are expected to be more favorite for living. Here we present archaeological evidence for a drastic decline in settlement along the Israeli coast during most of the fifth millennium BP (Early Bronze Age II-III). Based on archaeological and climatic evidence we link this decline to an environment change at that time. We propose that increased precipitation intensified the already existing drainage problems and resulted with flooding, which lead to transformation of arable land into marshes and to spread of diseases, gradually causing settlement decline and abandonment.
DE: 4999 General or miscellaneous
SC: Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology [PP]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005