Archaeologists offered new insights in July into the incredible survival techniques used by our ancient ancestors during the last major global climate shift.
Around the year 6,200 B.C., Earth’s climate shifted dramatically (without the influence of cow farts and cars). Flooding and drought was widespread, leading to mass abandonment of coastal settlements, according to an update from Cambridge University Press. Known as the 8.2ka event, the plight was immense and sudden. But one community, Habonim North, survived and thrived within the chaos.
Not to be mistaken with the Younger Dryas — which some of you may know from Graham Hancock’s “Ancient Apocalypse” — the 8.2ka event only lasted around 150 years, Science notes. Scans and radiocarbon dating of Habonim North, an underwater village off Israel’s Carmel Coast, show masses of artifacts dating back to that period. Pottery shards, tools, ceremonial weapons, fishing equipment, animal and plant remains, as well as ancient architecture, suggest the villagers did not abandon their home like so many others.
RT @velitesgear | Full Text Article: https://t.co/STdtnQdJ82 | Author: @ancientorigins Underwater Excavations Reveal How Neolithic Village Adapted to Drought
Around 6,200 BC, the global climate experienced a dramatic shift. Temperatures dropped, sea levels rose, and the sout… pic.twitter.com/xWJoSBHELF
— Velit.es (@velitesgear) July 23, 2024
Researchers uncovered basalt tools and fishing-net weights not native to the area, suggesting people adapted to the crisis by diversifying both their economy, and presumably their diets and lifestyles. (RELATED: Ancient Carvings Of Egyptian Pharaohs Discovered Beneath Surface Of Nile River)
Instead of shrinking from the seas, they adopted maritime culture as the waves came up to meet them. It’s pretty wonderful to think how resilient our ancestors were in the face of such extreme change, considering how much less they had than us (apparently).
“To me, what’s important is to change how we look at things,” study co-author Roey Nickelsberg said in a statement. “Many archaeologists like to look at the collapse of civilizations. Maybe it’s time to start looking at the development of human culture, rather than its destruction and abandonment.”
It is not a bad thought.
