{"id":467293,"date":"2026-08-31T08:51:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T15:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=467293"},"modified":"2026-08-31T08:51:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T15:51:11","slug":"worlds-oldest-fortresses-discovered-in-siberia-built-by-hunter-gatherers-8000-years-ago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=467293","title":{"rendered":"World\u2019s Oldest Fortresses Discovered in Siberia \u2014 Built by Hunter-Gatherers 8,000 Years Ago"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"723\" height=\"485\" data-attachment-id=\"467294\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?attachment_id=467294\" 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data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0-Worlds-Oldest-Fortresses-Discovered-in-Siberia-%E2%80%94-Built-by-Hunter-Gatherers-8000-Years-Ago.jpg?fit=723%2C485&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0-Worlds-Oldest-Fortresses-Discovered-in-Siberia-%E2%80%94-Built-by-Hunter-Gatherers-8000-Years-Ago.jpg?resize=723%2C485&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-467294\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0-Worlds-Oldest-Fortresses-Discovered-in-Siberia-%E2%80%94-Built-by-Hunter-Gatherers-8000-Years-Ago.jpg?resize=1024%2C687&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0-Worlds-Oldest-Fortresses-Discovered-in-Siberia-%E2%80%94-Built-by-Hunter-Gatherers-8000-Years-Ago.jpg?resize=300%2C201&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0-Worlds-Oldest-Fortresses-Discovered-in-Siberia-%E2%80%94-Built-by-Hunter-Gatherers-8000-Years-Ago.jpg?resize=768%2C516&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0-Worlds-Oldest-Fortresses-Discovered-in-Siberia-%E2%80%94-Built-by-Hunter-Gatherers-8000-Years-Ago.jpg?resize=640%2C430&amp;ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0-Worlds-Oldest-Fortresses-Discovered-in-Siberia-%E2%80%94-Built-by-Hunter-Gatherers-8000-Years-Ago.jpg?w=1168&amp;ssl=1 1168w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 723px) 100vw, 723px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">AI generated by Grok<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cOldest fortresses in the world just discovered are 8,000 years old\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"723\" height=\"407\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0UVh_AlGUn4?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Tthis refers to the Amnya (or Amnya I) fortified settlement in western Siberia\u2019s Lower Ob\u2019 region (Taiga), dated to around 8,000 years ago and widely reported as among the world\u2019s oldest known forts or fortified habitation sites.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An international team (led by researchers including those from <strong>Freie Universit\u00e4t Berlin<\/strong>, with Russian collaborators) conducted fieldwork in 2019 and published new radiocarbon dating and analysis in the journal Antiquity in December 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The earliest fortifications (ditches, banks\/walls, and evidence of wooden palisades) and associated pit houses date to the final century of the 7th millennium BCE (roughly 6100- 6000 BCE), with a main occupation phase into the early 6th millennium BCE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The earliest fortifications (ditches, banks\/walls, and evidence of wooden palisades) and associated pit houses date to the final century of the <strong>7th millennium BCE (roughly 6100- 6000 BCE)<\/strong>, with a main occupation phase into the early 6th millennium BCE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This makes it the northernmost known <strong>Stone Age fortification in Eurasia<\/strong> and one of the earliest fortified settlements worldwide on current evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It sits on a promontory\/spit overlooking the<strong> Amnya River<\/strong>, a resource- rich location. Structures include roughly <strong>10 sunken pit houses<\/strong> (some nearly 2 meters deep, with central fireplaces, suited to cold winters) enclosed by earthen banks, ditches, and palisades. <strong>There is also a nearby related area (Amnya II).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Built and used by hunter- gatherer- fishers (not farmers). They exploited the taiga environment by fishing the river, hunting elk and reindeer with bone- and stone-tipped spears and making elaborately decorated pottery to store surplus fish oil and meat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Evidence of repeated burning of houses and structures suggests possible inter- group conflict or violence. <strong>About eight to ten similar Stone Age fortified sites are known in the broader region.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The site had been known and partially investigated earlier (with some prior radiocarbon dates), but the age and interpretation as early fortifications by foragers were confirmed and refined by the new work, overturning earlier skepticism that such complex defenses seemed too advanced for that context and period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This challenges traditional views that permanent settlements with monumental or defensive architecture, social complexity, and territoriality primarily emerged only with <strong>agriculture and the Neolithic Revolution. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Comparable enclosures appear later in Europe (often post- agriculture), and while some hunter- gatherer groups elsewhere built defenses (usually later and often coastal), the early inland Siberian examples are described as unparalleled in timing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It supports a more diverse picture of prehistoric social development, possibly linked to rich local resources, population increases, or climatic shifts around that time (such as the 8.2- kiloyear event).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The core claim holds researchers confirmed prehistoric fortifications in Siberia dating to ~8,000 years ago that rank as the oldest or among the oldest known of their kind. The findings come from peer- reviewed work rather than a brand- new 2026 discovery, but they remain a significant recent revision to understandings of early human societies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">_____________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>This was built 2000 years before the mighty walls of Uruk and Babylon in the Middle East and thousands of years before agriculture reached some parts of Europe and Asia.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>That comparison is drawn directly from reporting on the Amnya site (and similar early Siberian fortified settlements). <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>It appears in coverage such as the Science article summarizing the 2023 Antiquity study: <\/strong>the Siberian structures date to roughly 8,000 years ago (earliest phase around 6100- 6000 BCE), which places them about 2,000 years earlier than the major city walls of Uruk and well before the famous fortifications associated with Babylon, as well as thousands of years before farming reached certain parts of Europe and Asia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Amnya fortifications:<\/strong> Initial construction in the final century of the 7th millennium BCE (~6100- 6000 BCE), with main occupation into the early 6th millennium BCE. These are modest promontory forts with earthen banks, ditches, wooden palisades, and pit houses built by hunter- gatherers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Uruk\u2019s city walls:<\/strong> The large, famous circuit (roughly 9 km long in later phases, enclosing several square kilometers) is archaeologically tied to the <strong>Early Dynastic period in southern Mesopotamia<\/strong>, primarily the first half of the 3rd millennium BCE (often linked to Early Dynastic I or around the late 4th\/early 3rd millennium transition into the era associated with the <strong>Gilgamesh legends<\/strong>). This is broadly ~2,000+ years after Amnya\u2019s earliest phase. Earlier monumental architecture and settlement at Uruk itself go back further into the Uruk period (4th millennium BCE), but the major defensive walls postdate the Siberian forts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Babylon\u2019s walls:<\/strong> The most renowned ones (Imgur-Enlil and related fortifications) are primarily <strong>Neo-Babylonian<\/strong> (6th century BCE under rulers like <strong>Nebuchadnezzar II<\/strong>), though earlier city walls existed from the Old Babylonian period onward (2nd millennium BCE). These are far later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <strong>\u201cmighty walls\u201d <\/strong>phrasing refers to these iconic <strong>Mesopotamian urban defenses<\/strong> that symbolize early complex, <strong>state- level societies<\/strong>, not the absolute earliest enclosures anywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Agriculture<\/strong> (plant and animal domestication) began in the Fertile Crescent\/Southwest Asia around 12,000- 10,000 years ago (roughly 10,000- 8,000 BCE).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It spread outward gradually:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Into <strong>southeastern Europe\/the Aegean and Balkans<\/strong> by ~7000- 6500 BCE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Across <strong>central and western Europe<\/strong> over subsequent centuries\/millennia (reaching Britain and northern areas later, around 4000 BCE or after in some regions).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>In parts of Asia<\/strong>, independent or related developments occurred (e.g., rice and millet in East Asia by ~8000- 6500 BCE in some areas), but full agricultural systems reached many regions, including northern\/western Siberia and remote areas, much later, often millennia after the Amnya forts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the western Siberian taiga where Amnya sits, the local economy at the time of the forts remained based on hunting, fishing, and gathering (with pottery for storage), and agriculture arrived substantially later. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is why the site is significant: it shows complex defensive architecture and semi- sedentary settlement among foragers, independent of (and predating in this region) the agricultural package often linked to such developments elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The comparison underscores how the Amnya evidence complicates linear models of social complexity emerging only after farming. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ~8,000- year- old Siberian forts predate both the classic Mesopotamian urban walls by roughly two millennia and the arrival of agriculture in various parts of Europe and Asia by thousands of years in some cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">_____________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Around 6100- 6000 BCE, the climate in the Northern Hemisphere (including western Siberia) was shaped by the aftermath of the prominent 8.2- kiloyear event, an abrupt global cooling episode.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The 8.2-kiloyear event<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>This was the largest abrupt climate shift of the Holocene<\/strong> (the current interglacial epoch). It began roughly 8,200 years before present (around 6250- 6200 BCE, with precise ice- core dates near 8175 BP or ~6225 BCE) and lasted about 150- 400 years overall, with the coldest phase concentrated in the first ~60-160 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Cause:<\/strong> A massive outburst of freshwater from the residual <strong>Laurentide Ice Sheet (drainage of glacial Lakes Agassiz and Ojibway into the North Atlantic via Hudson Bay). <\/strong>This freshened surface waters, weakened the <strong>Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)<\/strong>, reduced northward heat transport, and triggered widespread cooling and other changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Magnitude and effects:<\/strong> <strong>Greenland temperatures dropped by roughly 3- 6\u00b0C<\/strong> (decadal averages ~3.3\u00b0C cooler) within decades. <strong>Northern Hemisphere cooling of 1- 3\u00b0C <\/strong>was common in many records. It involved <strong>drier conditions<\/strong> in parts of the tropics and mid- latitudes, shifts in monsoon systems, reduced atmospheric methane, and hydroclimate variability (e.g., wetter\/drier swings in some regions). Recovery was stepwise over decades to a century or more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The event is clearly recorded in Greenland ice cores, speleothems, lake sediments, and other proxies across Europe, North America, Asia, Africa, and beyond. It marks the start of the Northgrippian stage of the Holocene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Relation to the Amnya forts and western Siberia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The earliest fortifications at Amnya I (and the broader appearance of similar sites in the western Siberian taiga) date to the final century of the 7th millennium BCE (~6100- 6000 BCE). This places them shortly after the main phase of the <strong>8.2 ka cooling<\/strong> (often framed as ~6200- 6050 cal BC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Researchers studying Amnya note that this timing coincides with signs of increased territoriality among hunter-gatherers in parts of northern Eurasia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Possible links include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Resource stress or shifts (e.g., changes in aquatic ecosystems, fish populations, or vegetation affecting hunting, fishing yields).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Population movements or aggregation as groups adapted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Or, conversely, post- event amelioration and resource abundance enabling more sedentary, defensive strategies in the rich taiga environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Local western Siberian Taiga records from the broader early- to- mid Holocene show a general trend toward warmer conditions after the early Holocene, with the Holocene Thermal Maximum developing (warmer and sometimes wetter than present in some reconstructions for the region around or after this time).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Peatland expansion in the western Siberian basin became more pronounced later (~6000- 5000 years ago in some areas). Vegetation was dominated by boreal forests (taiga elements like pine, spruce, birch, larch), supporting the hunting- fishing- gathering economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Specific high- resolution local proxies for the exact decade of the 8.2 event can be sparse or muted by the onset of warmer conditions, but the global cooling is the key reference point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">6100- 6000 BCE falls in the recovery phase or immediate aftermath of a significant Northern Hemisphere cooling pulse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the Amnya hunter- gatherers, this climatic context is hypothesized as one possible factor contributing to social and settlement changes (alongside local resource richness and other social dynamics), though direct causation remains under discussion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Oldest fortresses in the world just discovered are 8,000 years old- Archaeologists have discovered the oldest fortresses in the world. <\/p>\n<p>Around 6100- 6000 BCE, the climate in the Northern Hemisphere (including western Siberia) was shaped by the aftermath of the prominent 8.2- kiloyear event, an abrupt global cooling episode.<\/p>\n<p>This was the largest abrupt climate shift of the Holocene (the current interglacial epoch).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":467294,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691845063,691821384,691845067,691845070,691818192,691845064,691845066,691845069,691845065,691834607,691845059,691845062,691845068],"class_list":["post-467293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-amnya-river","tag-atlantic-meridional-overturning-circulation-amoc","tag-climatic-shifts","tag-greenland-temperatures-dropped","tag-holocene","tag-hunter-gatherer-fishers","tag-neolithic-revolution","tag-northern-hemisphere-cooling-of-1-3c","tag-not-farmers","tag-science-article","tag-siberian-taiga","tag-stone-age-fortification","tag-the-8-2-kiloyear-event","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1XyZ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":474345,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=474345","url_meta":{"origin":467293,"position":0},"title":"The 8.2 ka Cold Snap: How a Catastrophic Lake Drainage Weakened the AMOC and Cooled the Planet","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"09\/27\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The 8.2- kiloyear (ka) event (also called the 8.2 ka BP event or 8k event) was an abrupt global cooling episode around 8,200 years before present (BP; present \u2248 1950 CE), lasting roughly 150- 400 years (most precisely ~160 years in Greenland ice cores, with a ~60-70- year coldest central\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"8.2-kiloyear (ka) event\"","block_context":{"text":"8.2-kiloyear (ka) event","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=8-2-kiloyear-ka-event"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0-The-8.2-ka-Cold-Snap-How-a-Catastrophic-Lake-Drainage-Weakened-the-AMOC-and-Cooled-the-Planet.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0-The-8.2-ka-Cold-Snap-How-a-Catastrophic-Lake-Drainage-Weakened-the-AMOC-and-Cooled-the-Planet.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0-The-8.2-ka-Cold-Snap-How-a-Catastrophic-Lake-Drainage-Weakened-the-AMOC-and-Cooled-the-Planet.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0-The-8.2-ka-Cold-Snap-How-a-Catastrophic-Lake-Drainage-Weakened-the-AMOC-and-Cooled-the-Planet.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0-The-8.2-ka-Cold-Snap-How-a-Catastrophic-Lake-Drainage-Weakened-the-AMOC-and-Cooled-the-Planet.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":473151,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=473151","url_meta":{"origin":467293,"position":1},"title":"The Climate Catastrophe That Toppled the World\u2019s First Empire","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"09\/22\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The Akkadian Empire (c. 2334- 2154 BCE, Middle Chronology) was the world\u2019s first known multi-ethnic empire. The 4.2- kiloyear event (also called the 4.2 ka BP event or 4.2 ka megadrought) was a major aridification episode that began around 2200 BCE and lasted roughly 100- 300 years. Before the empire,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"100\u2013 300 years megadrought\"","block_context":{"text":"100\u2013 300 years megadrought","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=100-300-years-megadrought"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0-The-Climate-Catastrophe-That-Toppled-the-Worlds-First-Empire.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0-The-Climate-Catastrophe-That-Toppled-the-Worlds-First-Empire.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0-The-Climate-Catastrophe-That-Toppled-the-Worlds-First-Empire.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0-The-Climate-Catastrophe-That-Toppled-the-Worlds-First-Empire.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0-The-Climate-Catastrophe-That-Toppled-the-Worlds-First-Empire.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":474218,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=474218","url_meta":{"origin":467293,"position":2},"title":"Jericho: 11,000 Years of Survival Against Climate Extremes","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"09\/26\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Jericho (specifically the archaeological site of Tell es- Sultan, Ancient Jericho, near the modern city in the West Bank) is widely recognized as one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in the world, with archaeological evidence of human presence dating back more than 11,000 years. Ancient Jericho (Tell es- Sultan)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"4.2- kiloyear event\"","block_context":{"text":"4.2- kiloyear event","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=4-2-kiloyear-event-2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0-Jericho-11000-Years-of-Survival-Against-Climate-Extremes.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0-Jericho-11000-Years-of-Survival-Against-Climate-Extremes.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0-Jericho-11000-Years-of-Survival-Against-Climate-Extremes.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0-Jericho-11000-Years-of-Survival-Against-Climate-Extremes.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/0-Jericho-11000-Years-of-Survival-Against-Climate-Extremes.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":466346,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=466346","url_meta":{"origin":467293,"position":3},"title":"When the Rains Failed: How Climate Crisis Shaped the Fate of the World\u2019s Earliest Cities","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"08\/28\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Both the Caral (Norte Chico) civilization in Peru and Mesopotamian societies (especially the Akkadian Empire) experienced major stresses linked to the global 4.2- kiloyear (4.2 ka) aridification event around 2200- 1800 BC. This period involved widespread drying that reduced rainfall, river flows, and agricultural reliability in multiple regions. While the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Akkadian Empire\"","block_context":{"text":"Akkadian Empire","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=akkadian-empire"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0-When-the-Rains-Failed-How-Climate-Crisis-Shaped-the-Fate-of-the-Worlds-Earliest-Cities.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0-When-the-Rains-Failed-How-Climate-Crisis-Shaped-the-Fate-of-the-Worlds-Earliest-Cities.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0-When-the-Rains-Failed-How-Climate-Crisis-Shaped-the-Fate-of-the-Worlds-Earliest-Cities.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0-When-the-Rains-Failed-How-Climate-Crisis-Shaped-the-Fate-of-the-Worlds-Earliest-Cities.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0-When-the-Rains-Failed-How-Climate-Crisis-Shaped-the-Fate-of-the-Worlds-Earliest-Cities.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":292396,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=292396","url_meta":{"origin":467293,"position":4},"title":"Whatever happened to the Siberian permafrost \u201ctipping point\u201d from 2005?","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"12\/23\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"It seems like yet another climate doomsday prediction has failed to materialize.","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/image-540.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/image-540.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/image-540.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/image-540.png?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":479124,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=479124","url_meta":{"origin":467293,"position":5},"title":"Surviving the Ice Age: How Climate Shaped Japan\u2019s First Humans","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"10\/15\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to the Paleolithic, around 38- 39,000 years ago. The J\u014dmon period followed, lasting roughly from c. 14,000- 13,000 BC to about 1000- 300 BC. Over 10,000- 14,500 Paleolithic sites are now known across the archipelago, one of the densest\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"4.2 ka event\"","block_context":{"text":"4.2 ka event","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=4-2-ka-event"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/0-Surviving-the-Ice-Age-How-Climate-Shaped-Japans-First-Humans.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/0-Surviving-the-Ice-Age-How-Climate-Shaped-Japans-First-Humans.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/0-Surviving-the-Ice-Age-How-Climate-Shaped-Japans-First-Humans.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/0-Surviving-the-Ice-Age-How-Climate-Shaped-Japans-First-Humans.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/0-Surviving-the-Ice-Age-How-Climate-Shaped-Japans-First-Humans.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0-Worlds-Oldest-Fortresses-Discovered-in-Siberia-%E2%80%94-Built-by-Hunter-Gatherers-8000-Years-Ago.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=467293"}],"version-history":[{"count":42,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":467336,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467293\/revisions\/467336"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/467294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=467293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=467293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=467293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}