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The 4.2 Ka Event and the End of the Maltese 'Temple Period'

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The 4.2 Ka Event and the End of the Maltese 'Temple Period' 1 The 4.2 ka event and the end of the Maltese ‘Temple Period’ 2 3 Huw S. Groucutt1,2,3*, W. Christopher Carleton1, Katrin Fenech4, Ritienne Gauci5, Reuben Grima6, 4 Eleanor M.L. Scerri7,4,3, Mathew Stewart1, Nicholas Vella4 51Extreme Events Research Group, Max Planck Institutes for Chemical Ecology, the Science of 6Human History, and Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany 72Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, 8Germany. 93Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany. 104Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta, Msida, Malta. 115Department of Geography, University of Malta, Msida, Malta. 126Department of Conservation and Built Heritage, University of Malta, Msida, Malta. 137Pan-African Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, 14Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany 15 16* Correspondence: 17Huw Groucutt [email protected] 19 20Keywords: Malta, collapse, climate, abrupt, aridity, extreme events, plague, radiocarbon. 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29Abstract 30The small size and relatively challenging environmental conditions of the semi-isolated Maltese 31archipelago mean that the area offers an important case study of societal change and human- 32environment interactions. Following an initial phase of Neolithic settlement, the ‘Temple Period’ in 33Malta began ~5.8 thousand years ago (ka), and came to a seemingly abrupt end ~4.3 ka, and was 34followed by Bronze Age societies with radically different material culture. Various ideas concerning 35the reasons for the end of the Temple Period have been expressed. These range from climate change, 36to invasion, to social conflict resulting from the development of a powerful ‘priesthood’. Here, we 37explore the idea that the end of the Temple Period relates to the 4.2 ka event. The 4.2 ka event has 38been linked with several examples of significant societal change around the Mediterranean, such as 39the end of the Old Kingdom in Egypt, yet its character and relevance have been debated. We explore 40archaeological and environmental data from the Maltese islands to elucidate the end of the Temple 41Period. The Maltese example offers a fascinating case study for understanding issues such as 42chronological uncertainty, disentangling cause and effect when several different processes are 43involved, and the role of abrupt environmental change in impacting human societies. Ultimately, it is 44suggested that the 4.2 ka event may have played a role in the end of the Temple Period, but that other 45factors seemingly played a large, and possibly predominant, role. As well as our chronological 46modelling indicating the decline of Temple Period society in the centuries before the 4.2 ka event, we 47highlight the possible significance of other factors such as a plague epidemic. 48 49 1. Introduction 50 51The Maltese archipelago, covering 316 km2 in the central Mediterranean (Fig. 1), has a rich 52archaeological record. The Temple Period is, as its name suggests, most famous for its thirty or so 53megalithic ‘temples’ (Figs. 1, 2), as well as other sites such as the Ħal Saflieni hypogeum (Fig. 3), 54and has been widely discussed in the literature (e.g. Trump, 1966, 2002; Evans, 1971; Bonanno, 551986; 2017; Bonanno et al., 1990; Cilia, 2004; Malone et al., 2009a; 2020b; Sagona, 2015; French et 56al., 2020). Renfrew (1973, p. 161) for instance suggested that temples “lay claim to be the world’s 57most impressive prehistoric monuments”. 58 59Various possible reasons for the end of the Temple Period have been suggested, including famine, 60drought, disease, the arrival of new groups of humans, and societal unrest (e.g. Trump, 1966, 1976, 612002; Evans, 1971; Bonanno, 1986, 1993, 2017; Stoddart et al., 1993; Malone and Stoddart, 2013; 62Broodbank, 2015; Cazzella and Recchia, 2015; Sagona, 2015). While traditionally seen as a 63‘collapse’ of “catastrophic suddenness” (Trump, 1976, p. 605), in recent years some have suggested 64that the end of the Temple Period is better seen as a more gradual process (e.g. Cazzella and Recchia, 652015; Sagona, 2015; Pirone, 2017; McLaughlin et al., 2018). Sagona (2015, p.115) for instance 66suggests that people “turned their back on the old way of life because they had an economic 67alternative”. Conversely, the similar timing of the end of the Temple Period and the 4.2 ka climatic 68event has been suggested to indicate a possible correlation (e.g. Broodbank, 2015; McLaughlin et al., 692018; Grima et al., 2020). 70 2 71The 4.2 ka event is widely discussed as a short-term, decadal to centennial, climate change event (see 72also Stewart et al., this volume). Others, however, have also seen it as a longer-term episode from 73~4.3 to 3.8 ka. To some, the 4.2 ka event can be seen as a ‘global megadrought’ (e.g. Weiss, 2015, 742016, 2017; Ran and Chan, 2019). In the case of the Mediterranean region and surroundings, it has 75been argued that from the Atlantic to Mesopotamia it was a coherent and synchronous climate event 76which saw an abrupt decline in precipitation (e.g. Weiss, 2015, 2016, 2017; Adams, 2017). However, 77others have pointed to considerable climatic variability at this time (e.g. Bradley and Bakke, 2019; 78Kaniewski et al., 2019). In several parts of the world there were actually wetter rather than drier 79conditions at 4.2 ka (e.g. Railsback et al., 2018). Even in and around the Mediterranean which is 80often regarded as a key area where the 4.2 ka event caused drought, there were areas where 81precipitation seemingly increased, such as parts of the Maghreb, Iberia, and the Balkans (e.g. Bini et 82al., 2019; Zielhofer et al., 2019). There are various possible reasons for this apparent discord. 83Precipitation in the Mediterranean primarily reflects winter rainfall as a result of the North Atlantic 84Oscillation. The weakening of this is seen as the reason for drought induced by the 4.2 ka event, yet 85how this interacts with other climate systems may be complex (e.g. Bini et al., 2019; Di Rita et al., 862018; Perşoiu et al., 2019). While driven by North Atlantic circulation, much of the precipitation in 87the Mediterranean reflects local cyclogenesis that is influenced by the climatic conditions of the 88surrounding areas, such as the position of the ITCZ and the North African high-pressure cell to the 89south of the Mediterranean (e.g. Rohling et al., 2015). 90 91 92Figure 1. Map of key archaeological sites and palaeoenvironmental coring sites (reproduced from 93Malone et al., 2020b; CC-BY-ND licence). 94 3 95While some of the apparent complexity of Mediterranean palaeoclimate may reflect poor 96chronological resolution of palaeoenvironmental archives, it does seem that climate varied 97considerably around the Mediterranean around 4.2 ka (e.g. Di Rita et al., 2018, Bini et al., 2019; 98Finné et al., 2019; Kaniewski et al., 2019; Perşoiu et al., 2019; Peyron et al., 2019). As discussed in 99SI 1, records from Sicily and Italy frequently indicate arid conditions in the later third millennium 100BC, but the details of this vary considerably. In some records, peak aridity is ~4.4 ka, while in others 101it is ~4 ka. Unpacking the extent to which such variation reflects chronological uncertainty, 102microtopographic and geographic variability, and genuine regional scale climate differences is a 103challenging exercise. 104 105 106Figure 2. Examples of Maltese megalithic ‘temples’. Top: Ħaġar Qim, Bottom: Mnajdra. Human 107scale: 107 cm high. 108 4 109The Mediterranean and surroundings saw significant societal changes around 4.2 ka. In areas such as 110southern France (Carozza et al., 2015) and Italy (Pacciarelli et al., 2015; Leonardi et al., 2015; 111Stoddart et al., 2019) the transition from the Chalcolithic to the Bronze Age occurred around this 112time. The more generally discussed changes putatively relating to the 4.2 ka event occurred within 113the Bronze Age societies of the eastern Mediterranean (e.g. Jung and Wenninger, 2015; Adams, 1142017; Lawrence et al., 2021; Palmisano et al., 2021), as the transition to the Bronze Age occurred 115earlier here. The end of the Old Kingdom in Egypt has long been suggested to relate to aridity at 4.2 116ka (e.g. Bell, 1971; Williams, 2019), as has the collapse of the Akkadian Empire (e.g. deMenocal, 1172001; Weiss, 2015, 2016, 2017). In the case of the Akkadians for instance, it has been claimed that an 118estimated reduction in rainfall of 30-50% in Mesopotamia in less than 5 years caused the “sudden, 119abrupt, unforeseen” collapse of the Akkadian Empire (Weiss, 2015, p. 39). 120 121Other researchers have, however, raised concerns regarding correlation between these societal 122changes and aridification at 4.2 ka. Moreno García (2015), for instance, suggests that the end of the 123Old Kingdom was actually driven by political conflict between central and regional powers in Egypt 124(see also Kanawti, 2003). Likewise, the Akkadian Empire was under both external pressure, such as 125the regular incursions of the Gutians from the Zagros Mountains, and internal pressure, as shown by 126the ‘Great Rebellion’ a few years before 4.2 ka, which was only put down by killing thousands of 127people (Tinney, 1995). 128 129While critics of ‘environmental determinism’ may highlight such political and historically contingent 130aspects, it remains true that significant and seemingly synchronous changes did occur in several 131societies around 4.2 ka (e.g. Broodbank, 2015). It is also the case that for both Egypt (e.g. Stanley, 1322019) and Mesopotamia (e.g. Carolin et al., 2019) there is environmental evidence for significant 133climate change around 4.2 ka. Clearly though, the way that environmental change impacts human 134societies depends on a variety of aspects of resilience and vulnerability. Palmisano and colleagues 135(2021, p. 23), for instance, highlight evidence for population decline around 4.2 ka in many parts of 136Southwest Asia, yet suggest that this should be “viewed in the context of the preceding demographic 137boom”.
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