Human social complexity was significantly lower during climate cooling events of the past 10 millennia

• Published in: Cliodynamics: The Journal of Quantitative History and Cultural Evolution
• Main Author: Paul L. Hooper
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: eScholarship Publishing, University of California 2021
• Subjects: social complexity; bond event; climate; historical ecology; History (General); D1-2009; Economic history and conditions; HC10-1085; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.21237/C7clio12054304; https://doaj.org/article/4b1ddb4decdb4dfc88e6a13c6dbbe1f6

Human civilizations depend on the climate. Changes in climate affect the production of food and other resources that support populations and their economies. We asked whether the millennium-scale climate cooling events identified by Gerard Bond predicted social complexity in the Seshat cross-cultural database. The results show that social complexity was significantly lower during the coldest two centuries of Bond cooling events. Reductions in complexity are evident in regions north of the tropics adjacent to the Atlantic or Arctic, particularly in North Africa, Europe, and Central Eurasia.