Stephan Matthiesen

10000 years climate and human history

Title of the Magazine Kijk 12/2012

The effect of climatic changes on human history is the topic of the article “10.000 years of powerful climate” by Marysa van den Berg in the current issue of the Dutch science magazine Kijk. The author had interviewed me about the topic and quotes me several times with comments about climate history. This carefully researched article, beautifully illustrated by Marco Lap, gives an overview over many interesting phases of human history which I have also discussed in my course Climate and human history, starting about 10,000 years ago, when the warmer and, more importantly, more stable climate of the post-glacial period made the transition to a sedentary farming livestyle (“neolithic revolution”) possible.