Climate Linked to Rise and Fall of Medieval Nomadic Empires

"Tree growth rings and ice cores illuminate the climatic conditions of times gone by. When combined with historical records and documents, climate data can also shed light on important events in human history — including the activities of nomadic groups such as the ancient Türks and Mongols.

'Climate data actually can tell us quite a lot about the history of nomadic empires,' said Nicola Di Cosmo, a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study and an expert on China and Inner Asian peoples and environmental history during a recent lecture in which he used a series of case studies to illustrate the links between climate history and nomadic empires. Such nomadic empires, Di Cosmo says, were 'important historical protagonists' in shaping world events.

At the virtual event, Di Cosmo joined MIT associate professors David McGee, an expert on paleoclimate records, and Manduhai Buyandelger, a specialist in Mongolian anthropology."

Read more at MIT News.