Catastrophic fires and soil degradation: possible link with Neolithic revolution

The compiled evidence (Fig. 3) indicates a major environmental collapse in the southern Levant during the early Holocene, culminating ~ 8.2 ka. This event included loss of vegetation cover, stripping of soils at hillslopes and associated deposition in valleys, and high concentration of charcoal particles, suggesting a pulse of extreme fires. Considering the dating uncertainty of the various records, it is not easy to distinguish between causes and effects. However, the loss of vegetation seems to be coeval or closely follow the fire pulse, apparently demonstrating cause and effect, respectively. A tipping point threshold was apparently crossed by the intensive fire regime, causing dramatic stripping of vegetation during the late Neolithic period (Pottery Neolithic). The Sr isotopes record indicates, however, that the loss of soil cover and deposition in valleys were a more prolonged process, occurring since the desiccation of Lake Lisan (during the Natufian Period) and into the end of ... Read full article.