Climate change caused empire's fall, tree rings reveal

Cornell Chronicle ^ | May 14, 2014 | Linda B. Glaser

[SunkenCiv]

A handful of tree ring samples stored in an old cigar box have shed unexpected light on the ancient world, thanks to research by archaeologist Sturt Manning and collaborators at Cornell, Arizona, Chicago, Oxford and Vienna, forthcoming in the June issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science.

The samples were taken from an Egyptian coffin; Manning also examined wood from funeral boats buried near the pyramid of Sesostris III. He used a technique called “dendro radiocarbon wiggle matching,” which calibrates radiocarbon isotopes found in the sample tree rings with patterns known from other places in the world that have already identified chronologies, such as the long European oak chronology or the bristle cone pine trees of North America.

Because the dating was so precise – plus or minus about 10 years – it helps confirm that the “higher” Egyptian chronology for the time period is correct, a question scholars have hotly debated.

But the samples also showed a small, unusual anomaly following the year 2200 B.C. Paleoclimate research has suggested a major short-term arid event about this time.

“This radiocarbon anomaly would be explained by a change in growing season, i.e., climate, dating to exactly this arid period of time,” says Manning. “We’re showing that radiocarbon and these archaeological objects can confirm and in some ways better date a key climate episode.”

That climate episode, says Manning, had major political implications. There was just enough change in the climate to upset food resources and other infrastructure, which is likely what led to the collapse of the Akkadian Empire and affected the Old Kingdom of Egypt and a number of other civilizations, he says.

“The tree rings show the kind of rapid climate change that we and policymakers fear,” says Manning...

[SunkenCiv]

A view of Ipi-ha-ishutef’s coffin when originally sampled in 1938.

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[S. Cristanetti, A. Whyte/University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute] The coffin of Ipi-ha-ishutef showing details of the decorations on the walls. This is the coffin tree ring samples were taken from

[SunkenCiv]

One of *those* topics, bigtime. Basically, as in much of his work, he's claiming that, unlike today, ancient carpenters cut down trees immediately before use, and used only the outside rings. Perhaps they were in hopes that someone would figure out how to date these finds sometime in the millions and millions of future years. Here's the buried lead:

But the samples also showed a small, unusual anomaly following the year 2200 B.C. Paleoclimate research has suggested a major short-term arid event about this time.

IOW, the "dendro radiocarbon wiggle matching" didn't really match after all. Hitch your wagon to the global warming hoax star, Sturt, nothing else has worked.

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[SunkenCiv]

Here's the buried lead:

But the samples also showed a small, unusual anomaly following the year 2200 B.C. Paleoclimate research has suggested a major short-term arid event about this time.

IOW, the "dendro radiocarbon wiggle matching" didn't really match after all. Hitch your wagon to the global warming hoax star, Sturt, nothing else has worked.

[trebb]

Time machines - someone from the future went back and loaded them up with CO2.

[MeshugeMikey]

dendro radiocarbon wiggle matching

sounds like an event for the 2050 WInter Olympics!!

[SunkenCiv]

Disaster That Struck The Ancients
BBC | 7-26-2001 | Fekri Hassan
Posted on 12/8/2001 5:51:43 PM by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/586511/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/586511/posts?page=162#162

200-year-long drought may have killed Sumerian language
MSNBC | 12-4-2012 | Tia Ghose
Posted on Wed Dec 5 09:09:59 2012 by Renfield
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2965817/posts

[Raycpa]

Joseph in Genesis time?

[SunkenCiv]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/2764217/posts?page=5#5

[Ditter]

read later

[SunkenCiv]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1764249/posts?page=35#35

[smokingfrog]

They found the Egyptian hockey stick!

[Wiser now]

That was my first thought too.

[Maine Mariner]

This is news: climate change that was not the fault of white male capitalists living in the US!

[alexander_busek]

So, "climate change" caused one empire to fall - while shortly thereafter, another civilization rose (rarely does one superpower fall without another almost immediately taking its place).

So what?

Regards,

[impactplayer]

This is closer to the time of Babel and near when Abram was born

[umgud]

Geez, I thought climate had been consistent and static until modern man came along to screw it up with automobiles and factories.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

It was the four barrel carbs on their chariots...

[left that other site]

damm ancient Egyptians and their internal combustion engines and over-consumption of fossil fuels!

[Gaffer]

dendro radiocarbon wiggle matching

Yeah. That must be the archaeological equivalent of Prof. Michael Mann's "Hockey Stick" data manipulation. Fit the data to where you want your conclusions to go.

[Night Hides Not]

Obviously the fault of ancestors of Dubya!