Climate, environment and history in Anatolia ca 200-1000 CE

A two-day workshop to be held at Princeton University on Friday May 24th – Saturday May 25th, 2013. The meeting will look at the evidence and interpretations for climate change and its environmental impact in Anatolia in an innovative way, with the emphasis on how we advance palaeo/environmental/climate studies in Turkey in conjunction with historical and archaeological research. The historical focus will be on the late Roman and early Byzantine period (ca 450-850 CE) in Anatolia, although a far broader chronological and geographical context will be borne in mind. Discussion will revolve around key issues of palaeoclimate research and its integration with historical and archaeological data, and the aim is to bring scholars from different disciplines together who may not have worked with those outside their immediate specialism.

Friday 24th May

Tea/coffee is available throughout the day from 09.00

09.30 John Haldon (Princeton): Introduction – The AAP, Anatolia, and issues of climate and

environment in the Byzantine world 500-1000 CE

09.45 Warren Eastwood (Birmingham): Climate, climate change and north central Anatolia:

questions and answers

10.45 Discussion

11.15 Elena Xoplaki (Giessen): Climate variations in the eastern Mediterranean during the

period 200-1000; new evidence from proxy reconstructions and high resolution climate models

12.00 Ioannis Telelis (Athens): Environmental history and Byzantine studies: a survey of topics

and results

12.45 Discussion

13.15 Lunch

14.30 Dominik Fleitmann (Reading): Speleothems, climate and climate history

15.15 Sturt Manning (Cornell): Climate change and Roman-Byzantine history: issues and

problems

16.00 Discussion

17.00 Neil Roberts (Plymouth): Climate change and the Plague of Justinian in central

Anatolia: causes and consequences

Saturday 25th May

Tea/coffee available from 09.00

9.30 Hugh Elton (Trent) and Jim Newhard (Charleston): Avoiding the next 'Great Divide':

problematizing the archaeological and paleoenvironmental gap

10.15 Owen Doonan (California SU, Northridge): The Sinop regional project and the regional

environment

11.00 Discussion

12.00 Adam Izdebski (Kraków): Agriculture, economy, warfare and climate: exploring the

connections in late antique and medieval Byzantium

12.45 Discussion

13.15 Lunch

14.30 Marica Cassis (Newfoundland): Climate, environment and the Byzantine/medieval rural

site at Çadır Höyük

15.15 Sabine Ladstätter (Vienna): Climate, vegetation and environmental studies in Byzantine

Ephesos

16.00 Discussion

16.30 Kathleen Nicoll (Utah): Geoarchaeological insights on the climate of eastern Turkey

during antiquity

17.15 General discussion and summing up: led by Michael McCormick (Cambridge, Ma)

Afterword: John Haldon

 

Friday 24th May

Tea/coffee is available throughout the day from 09.00

09.30 John Haldon (Princeton): Introduction – The AAP, Anatolia, and issues of climate and

environment in the Byzantine world 500-1000 CE

09.45 Warren Eastwood (Birmingham): Climate, climate change and north central Anatolia:

questions and answers

10.45 Discussion

11.15 Elena Xoplaki (Giessen): Climate variations in the eastern Mediterranean during the

period 200-1000; new evidence from proxy reconstructions and high resolution climate models

12.00 Ioannis Telelis (Athens): Environmental history and Byzantine studies: a survey of topics

and results

12.45 Discussion

13.15 Lunch

14.30 Dominik Fleitmann (Reading): Speleothems, climate and climate history

15.15 Sturt Manning (Cornell): Climate change and Roman-Byzantine history: issues and

problems

16.00 Discussion

17.00 Neil Roberts (Plymouth): Climate change and the Plague of Justinian in central

Anatolia: causes and consequences

Saturday 25th May

Tea/coffee available from 09.00

9.30 Hugh Elton (Trent) and Jim Newhard (Charleston): Avoiding the next 'Great Divide':

problematizing the archaeological and paleoenvironmental gap

10.15 Owen Doonan (California SU, Northridge): The Sinop regional project and the regional

environment

11.00 Discussion

12.00 Adam Izdebski (Kraków): Agriculture, economy, warfare and climate: exploring the

connections in late antique and medieval Byzantium

12.45 Discussion

13.15 Lunch

14.30 Marica Cassis (Newfoundland): Climate, environment and the Byzantine/medieval rural

site at Çadır Höyük

15.15 Sabine Ladstätter (Vienna): Climate, vegetation and environmental studies in Byzantine

Ephesos

16.00 Discussion

16.30 Kathleen Nicoll (Utah): Geoarchaeological insights on the climate of eastern Turkey

during antiquity

17.15 General discussion and summing up: led by Michael McCormick (Cambridge, Ma)

Afterword: John Haldon