A Study Of Catastrophes circa-3200bce and circa-2200bce (cont.)
By Andy Blackard
Approximately 10,800-9,600bce - End of The Pleistocene/Start of the Holocene Era
This period marks the end of the Younger Dryas cold event described by Weiss and Adams which resulted in the well-known Pleistocene kill off. Afterwards there was a sudden warming event concentrated into a single period of under 15 years which is thought to have caused widespread coastal flooding. In "Underworld" and other his works, Graham Hancock has comprehensively described archeological finds and catastrophic events around 10,500bce that indicate a human response to these. Therefore, I will not repeat that information here, but refer you to his book, instead.
Approximately 6,200bce - Climate Change Promotes Rise of Agriculture
It appears that a second abrupt Holocene climate change occurred around 6,200bce (at least in Africa) that may have been caused by the development of agriculture. However, this climate change may not have been catastrophic in human terms in contrast with the others. In fact, this marked a transition to an extremely wet period in Africa which may have further encouraged the rise of agriculture . Recent finds such as the Sahara Stonehenge, dating to 4000-4500bce, indicate that there may have been a highly-developed civilization in what is now the Saharan Desert . However, it is thought that the Saharan culture became unsustainable when, after this agricultural boom, the desertification of the Sahara began around 5000bce and completed around 3000bce . Archeological evidence indicates that some of the people of the once-tropical Saharan region migrated east and merged with the riverine culture of the Nile River resulting in a cultural/technological enrichment of the ancient Egyptian culture that we are all familiar with.