Altamira Press Civilizing Climate: Social Responses to Climate Change in the Ancient Near East: The Social Impact of Climate Change in the Ancient Near East

In this fascinating in-depth study, Arlene Rosen highlights the unique and varied ways that different societies respond to their changing environments, going against the commonly held notion of simple climatic determinism. Social responses to climate change are the result of human perceptions of nature and their environment. From the Terminal Pleistocene through to the Late Holocene, Rosen describes various communities' responses to climate change, further exploring the intriguing connections between climate and society. A must-read for archaeologists, geographers, students, and historians! Review This is an excellent book, extremely clearly written, comprehensive and potentially of wide significance. At it heart is an examination of the relationship between culture and environment at different historic (and prehistoric) times in the southern Levant (Israel, Jordan). She uses this to address "big questions" concerning the relationship between climate change and past societies, including cross-cultural comparisons. At a time when the potential impact of future global warming is high on everyone's agenda, many researchers have looked to the past to provide insights into the consequences of climate change. Much of this literature falls into the trap of crude environmental determinism. By contrast, Dr Rosen uses much more subtle - and relevant - arguments to relate climatic uncertainty to societal change. In Civilizing Climate she avoids the excesses of climatic determinism, but also firmly reminds us that changes in natural resource availability are fundamental to the sustainability of agricultural systems and to population support. This is a delicate balancing act, and Dr Rosen has achieved it with great success.--Professor of Geography, University of Plymouth, UK, Neil Roberts, Professor of Geography, University of Plymouth, UK Rosen succeeds in making this very detailed research accessible for those who are not experts in the exact fields of research she reviews...This book can serve well many different publics. Those interested in the history of the Levant will find here an excellent survey of its prewritten and classical history.--H-Net: Humanities and Social Science Reviews Online This groundbreaking book interprets how climate change has played a role in shaping the trajectory of cultures in the eastern Mediterranean, and provides a model for conducting similar studies in other regions of the world. Summing Up: Highly Recommended.--CHOICE, November 2007 About the Author Arlene Miller Rosen is a professor at the Institute for Archaeology at the University College London.