Agricultural Adaptation to Climate Change in Central Turkey, 1500 BCE – 500 CE

How do people adapt agricultural systems to changing climates? Drier periods and periods of increased rainfall variability affect the availability of fodder for animals and the yields of agricultural staples, threatening human subsistence.

Archaeological data offer a unique perspective on how people responded to environmental change and whether those responses were successful over the long term. Prior archaeological research in central Turkey shows that agricultural systems changed in response to social factors, but the role of climate in these decisions has not been well studied.

This paper integrates 2000 years of paleoclimatic and archaeological data from central Turkey to ask how climate change affected rainfall and plant growth within this region and to ask how subsistence practices adapted to climate change. I also include an assessment of the environmental impacts of these practices and suggest that these data may prove useful in crafting future agricultural policies.