Around 4000 years ago the advanced urban civilizations in Egypt, Mesopotamia and India suddenly collapsed. What happened? Did a prolonged drought cause the breakdown of social order? Recent discoveries from all over the world strongly support the suspected link of the collapse with climate. The volume presents the findings of more than 40 researchers and provides a review on the relevant information. It appears that a major shift of the precipitation pattern affected many parts of the world at approximately the same time, with disastrous effects on the nomadic populations of Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe. Can a similar climate shift with a serious adverse impact on society happen again? In a world facing global warming, there could be many lessons to be learned from the experiences of ancient societies.

Inhalt
Nile Floods and Political Disorder in Early Egypt.- Environmental Change and Human Adaptational Failure at the End of the Early Bronze Age in the Southern Levant.- Evidence for Mid-Holocene Environmental Change in the Western Khabur Drainage, Northeastern Syria.- Environmental Fluctuations, Agricultural Production and Collapse: A View from Bronze Age Upper Mesopotamia.- The Scenario of Environmental Degradation in the Tell Leilan Region, NE Syria, During the Late Third Millennium Abrupt Climate Change.- Cultural Change in the Aegean c.2200BC.- The Third Millennium BC in Iberia: Chronometric Evidence for Settlement Histories and Socio-cultural Change.- Climate and the Eclipse of the Ancient Cities of the Indus.- Sociopolitical Discontinuity in the Near East C. 2200 B.C.E.: Scenarios from Palestine and Egypt.- Holocene Climate Change and Man in the Present Day Sahara Desert.- Mid-Holocene Dry Spells in Bohemia, Central Europe.- Geomorphologic Arguments for Mid- to Late Holocene Environmental Change in Central Anatolian (Pluvial) Lake Basins.- The Late Holocene Environmental and Climate Shift in Russia and Surrounding Lands.- Environmental and Climatic Changes Between 3 and 5ka BP in Southeastern Ukraine.- Mid- to Late Holocene Changes in Central Europe Climate and Man.- The Age and Causes of Mid-Late Holocene Environmental Change in Southwest Turkey.- Bronze Age Regression and Change of Sedimentation on The Aegean Coastal Plains of Anatolia (Turkey).- Environmental Changes in Holocene Lacustrine Sequences from Karapinar in the Konya Plain (Turkey).- Proxy Indications of Holocene Winter Rains in Southwest Asia Compared with Simulated Rainfall.- Monsoon Regime Variations During the Late Holocene in the Southwestern India.- Third Millennium Climate in the Near East Based upon Pollen Evidence.- Middle and Late Holocene Vegetation and Climate Changes in Peninsular Italy.- Environmental Changes in Central Europe 50003000 BP.- Development of Sediments, Soils, Erosional Events, Molluscan and Vertebrate Assemblages in Connection with Human Impact in Central Europe During the Time Span 3,000 5,000 BP.- High Resolution Simulations of Regional Holocene Climate: North Africa and the Near East.- Background to Mid-Holocene Climatic Change in Anatolia and Adjacent Regions.- Middle to Late Holocene Changes in Tropical Africa and Other Continents: Paleomonsoon and Sea Surface Temperature Variations.- Late Holocene Vegetational Changes in South-West Cameroon.- ?18o and Trace Element Measurements as Proxy for the Reconstruction of Climate Changes at Lake Van (Turkey): Preliminary Results.- Climate Change at the End of the Third Millennium BC Evidence from Varved Lacustrine Sediments.- Environmental Vulnerability of Early Societies: Some Reflections on Modeling Issues.- Was the Holocene Climate Uniquely Benign or Is the Eemian Catching Cold from the Reinforcement Syndrome Virus?.- Late Third Millennium Abrupt Climate Change and Social Collapse in West Asia and Egypt.