Stalagmite from Kurdistan Reveals the Climate that Spawned Agriculture.

According to ТСН: Scientists have obtained important data about the climate of the Middle East, covering the period from 18,000 to 7,500 years ago, when the planet was gradually emerging from the last ice age. These findings are based on the analysis of a stalagmite found in the Xsarak cave in Kurdistan.

Researchers note that the mineral layers of the stalagmite preserved valuable information about the local climate of the time when agriculture and settled communities began to develop in the region. Changes in the sample were found to be synchronous with data obtained from ice cores in Greenland, confirming the global nature of climate changes during those years.

Climate Changes and their Impact on Agriculture Development

Scientists emphasize that the reason why agriculture emerged simultaneously in different parts of the world at the end of the ice age remains a mystery in human history. Many researchers believe that climate played a key role in this process.

The caves of the Zagros Mountains are considered important regions for the emergence of civilization. Stalagmites and stalactites are speleothems that contain isotopes that allow reconstructing the climatic history of their formation. The studied stalagmite from Kurdistan formed at a time when agriculture, the first settlements, and early cities appeared.

According to the analysis results, about 14,560 years ago, the amount of precipitation in the region sharply increased, contributing to the faster deposition of limestone. However, around 12,700 years ago, the situation changed: droughts became more frequent, and the content of traces of barium, strontium, zinc, and sodium in the layers of the stalagmite increased, indicating heightened dustiness in the atmosphere.

The Xsarak cave is located in the central part of the Fertile Crescent, where there is still enough rainfall for agriculture, and tributaries of the Tigris River flow nearby — the river on the banks of which the first civilizations emerged.

Archaeological Data and Ecosystems

Archaeological findings from the neighboring Palegavra cave, located 140 km away, indicate active settlement of this region during the summer periods following the warming after the retreat of the glaciers. However, during prolonged climate drying, the cave was almost empty. With the return of warmer and wetter weather, it began to be actively used by humans again.

Researchers believe that by the beginning of the Holocene, specific ecosystems were forming at the foothills of the Zagros, which included meadows, river valleys, and scrub forests. These areas did not support large permanent settlements but stimulated seasonal mobility and adaptive life strategies. This flexibility allowed people to quickly transition to new modes of subsistence, such as agriculture, when the climate became more stable.

Data from carbon and oxygen isotopes in the stalagmite also confirm this picture: an increase in vegetation coincided with warmer and wetter periods. These observations correlate precisely with data from Greenland ice cores: the wet phase corresponds to the Bølling–Allerød interstadial, while the sharp drying is associated with the Younger Dryas, the causes of which remain unexplained.

Thus, the study of the climatic conditions of the Middle East based on stalagmites provides important information about the processes that influenced the formation of early civilizations. This data not only highlights the link between climate changes and the development of agriculture but also opens new horizons for the study of human history as a whole.