Climate Change in Early Urban Centers

During the third millennium B.C.E., the first urban centers in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Iran, Central Asia, and South Asia flourished and grew in complexity and wealth in a wet and cool climate. This smooth development was sharply, if not universally, interrupted beginning around 2200 B.C.E. Both archaeological and written records agree that across Afro-Eurasia, most of the urban, rural, and pastoral societies underwent radical change. Those watered by major rivers were destabilized, while the settled communities on the highland plateaus virtually disappeared.

After a brief hiatus, some recovered, completely reorganized, and used new technologies to manage agriculture and water. The causes of this radical change have been the focus of much interest. After four decades of research by climate specialists working together with archaeologists, a consensus has emerged that climate change toward a warmer and drier environment contributed to this disruption. Whether this was caused solely by human activity, in particular agriculture on a large scale, or was also related to cosmic causes such as the rotation of Earth’s axis away from the Sun, is still a hotly debated topic. It was likely a combination of factors.

The urban centers dependent on the three major river systems in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Indus Valley all experienced disruption. In Egypt, the hieroglyphic inscriptions tell us that the Nile no longer flooded over its banks to replenish the fields with fresh soil and with water for crops. Social and political chaos followed for more than a century. In southern Mesopotamia, rivers changed course, disrupting settlement patterns and taking fields out of cultivation. Other fields were poisoned by salts brought on through overcultivation and irrigation without fallow periods (periods when nothing is planted). Fierce competition for water and land put pressure on the central authority. To the east and west, pastoralists faced with shrinking pasture for their flocks, pressed in on the river valleys, disrupting the already challenged social and political structure of the densely urban centers.

In northern Mesopotamia, the responses to the challenges of dryness were more varied. Some centers were able to weather the crisis by changing strategies of food production and distribution. Some fell victim to internal warfare, while others, on the rainfall margin, were abandoned. When the region was settled again, society was differently organized. The population did not drastically decrease, but rather it distributed across the landscape more evenly in smaller settlements that required less water and food. It appears that a similar solution was found by communities to the east on the Iranian plateau, where the inhabitants of the huge urban center of Shahr i Sokhta abruptly left the city and settled in small communities across the oasis landscape.

The solutions found by people living in the cities of the Indus Valley also varied. Some cities, like Harappa, saw their population decrease rapidly. It seems that the bed of the river shifted, threatening the settlement and its hinterland. Another city, Mohenjo Daro, on the other hand, continued to be occupied for another several centuries, although the large civic structures fell out of use, replaced by more modest structures. And to the south, on the Gujarat Peninsula, the population and the number of settlements increased. They abandoned wheat as a crop, instead cultivating a kind of drought-enduring millet that originated in West Africa. Apparently conditions there became even more hospitable, allowing farming and fishing communities to flourish well into the second millennium B.C.E.

The evidence for this widespread phenomenon of climate change at the end of the third millennium B.C.E. is complex and contradictory. This is not surprising because every culture and each community naturally had an individual response to environmental and other challenges. Those with perennial sources of freshwater were less threatened than those in marginal zones, where only a slight decrease in rainfall can mean failed crops and herds. Likewise, certain types of social and political institutions were resilient and introduced innovations that allowed them to adapt, while others were too rigid or shortsighted to find local solutions. A feature of human culture is its remarkable ability to adapt rapidly. When faced with challenges, resilience, creativity, and ingenuity lead to cultural innovation and change.

 

 

1

During the third millennium B.C.E., the first urban centers in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Iran, Central Asia, and South Asia flourished and grew in complexity and wealth in a wet and cool climate. This smooth development was sharply, if not universally, interrupted beginning around 2200 B.C.E. Both archaeological and written records agree that across Afro-Eurasia, most of the urban, rural, and pastoral societies underwent radical change. Those watered by major rivers were destabilized, while the settled communities on the highland plateaus virtually disappeared.

According to paragraph 1, the claim that Afro-Eurasian societies underwent radical change during the third millennium B.C.E.

Aconflicts with the claim that they grew in complexity and wealth

Bhas been challenged by discoveries in the archaeological record

Cis supported by more than one kind of evidence

Dhas not been widely accepted but remains the focus of much interest

 

2

After a brief hiatus, some recovered, completely reorganized, and used new technologies to manage agriculture and water. The causes of this radical change have been the focus of much interest. After four decades of research by climate specialists working together with archaeologists, a consensus has emerged that climate change toward a warmer and drier environment contributed to this disruption. Whether this was caused solely by human activity, in particular agriculture on a large scale, or was also related to cosmic causes such as the rotation of Earth’s axis away from the Sun, is still a hotly debated topic. It was likely a combination of factors.

According to paragraph 2, experts have not yet agreed on whether the disruption in early urban centers was affected by

AClimate change

Ba warmer and drier environment

Chuman activity

Dcosmic causes

 

3

The urban centers dependent on the three major river systems in Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Indus Valley all experienced disruption. In Egypt, the hieroglyphic inscriptions tell us that the Nile no longer flooded over its banks to replenish the fields with fresh soil and with water for crops. Social and political chaos followed for more than a century. In southern Mesopotamia, rivers changed course, disrupting settlement patterns and taking fields out of cultivation. Other fields were poisoned by salts brought on through overcultivation and irrigation without fallow periods (periods when nothing is planted). Fierce competition for water and land put pressure on the central authority. To the east and west, pastoralists faced with shrinking pasture for their flocks, pressed in on the river valleys, disrupting the already challenged social and political structure of the densely urban centers.

Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

APastoralists moved their flocks into the river valleys in search of pasture, putting additional pressure on urban centers.

BTo the east and west of the river valleys, pastoralists faced shrinking pasture land due to disruption from urban centers.

CThe urban centers in river valleys were disrupted by challenges to their shrinking pasture land by newly arrived pastoral groups.

DAfter they moved into the river valleys, pastoralists reorganized the social and political structure of urban areas there.

 

4

In northern Mesopotamia, the responses to the challenges of dryness were more varied. Some centers were able to weather the crisis by changing strategies of food production and distribution. Some fell victim to internal warfare, while others, on the rainfall margin, were abandoned. When the region was settled again, society was differently organized. The population did not drastically decrease, but rather it distributed across the landscape more evenly in smaller settlements that required less water and food. It appears that a similar solution was found by communities to the east on the Iranian plateau, where the inhabitants of the huge urban center of Shahr i Sokhta abruptly left the city and settled in small communities across the oasis landscape.

According to paragraph 4, people both in northern Mesopotamia and on the Iranian plateau responded to the challenges of dryness by

Amoving from the rainfall margins to the cities

Btaking resources from smaller communities

Creorganizing their communities into smaller settlements

Dcreating urban centers of food production and distribution

 

5

The solutions found by people living in the cities of the Indus Valley also varied. Some cities, like Harappa, saw their population decrease rapidly. It seems that the bed of the river shifted, threatening the settlement and its hinterland. Another city, Mohenjo Daro, on the other hand, continued to be occupied for another several centuries, although the large civic structures fell out of use, replaced by more modest structures. And to the south, on the Gujarat Peninsula, the population and the number of settlements increased. They abandoned wheat as a crop, instead cultivating a kind of drought-enduring millet that originated in West Africa. Apparently conditions there became even more hospitable, allowing farming and fishing communities to flourish well into the second millennium B.C.E.

Paragraph 5 suggests which of the following about the city of Mohenjo Daro during the period in which the climate changed?

AIt did not experience a rapid decrease in population.

BIt was unable to receive many of the people who had left other cities.

CIts crop production benefited from the shift in the riverbed.

DSome of its inhabitants moved to the Gujarat Peninsula.

 

6

The solutions found by people living in the cities of the Indus Valley also varied. Some cities, like Harappa, saw their population decrease rapidly. It seems that the bed of the river shifted, threatening the settlement and its hinterland. Another city, Mohenjo Daro, on the other hand, continued to be occupied for another several centuries, although the large civic structures fell out of use, replaced by more modest structures. And to the south, on the Gujarat Peninsula, the population and the number of settlements increased. They abandoned wheat as a crop, instead cultivating a kind of drought-enduring millet that originated in West Africa. Apparently conditions there became even more hospitable, allowing farming and fishing communities to flourish well into the second millennium B.C.E.

The evidence for this widespread phenomenon of climate change at the end of the third millennium B.C.E. is complex and contradictory. This is not surprising because every culture and each community naturally had an individual response to environmental and other challenges. Those with perennial sources of freshwater were less threatened than those in marginal zones, where only a slight decrease in rainfall can mean failed crops and herds. Likewise, certain types of social and political institutions were resilient and introduced innovations that allowed them to adapt, while others were too rigid or shortsighted to find local solutions. A feature of human culture is its remarkable ability to adapt rapidly. When faced with challenges, resilience, creativity, and ingenuity lead to cultural innovation and change.

Which of the following best describes the relationship of paragraph 6 to paragraph 5?

AParagraph 6 provides evidence for the claim that people of the Indus Valley found varying solutions to the crisis, as described in paragraph 5.

BParagraph 6 challenges the claim made in paragraph 5 that conditions in parts of the Indus Valley were more hospitable than in other parts.

CParagraph 6 explains why regions responded differently to the crisis, while paragraph 5 offers specific examples of such differences.

DParagraph 6 identifies reasons why the communities listed in paragraph 5 could have responded more effectively to the crisis.

 

7

The evidence for this widespread phenomenon of climate change at the end of the third millennium B.C.E. is complex and contradictory. This is not surprising because every culture and each community naturally had an individual response to environmental and other challenges. Those with perennial sources of freshwater were less threatened than those in marginal zones, where only a slight decrease in rainfall can mean failed crops and herds. Likewise, certain types of social and political institutions were resilient and introduced innovations that allowed them to adapt, while others were too rigid or shortsighted to find local solutions. A feature of human culture is its remarkable ability to adapt rapidly. When faced with challenges, resilience, creativity, and ingenuity lead to cultural innovation and change.

The word “contradictory” in the passage is closest in meaning to

Adifficult to interpret

Bdebatable

Cconflicting

Dincomplete

 

8

The evidence for this widespread phenomenon of climate change at the end of the third millennium B.C.E. is complex and contradictory. This is not surprising because every culture and each community naturally had an individual response to environmental and other challenges. Those with perennial sources of freshwater were less threatened than those in marginal zones, where only a slight decrease in rainfall can mean failed crops and herds. Likewise, certain types of social and political institutions were resilient and introduced innovations that allowed them to adapt, while others were too rigid or shortsighted to find local solutions. A feature of human culture is its remarkable ability to adapt rapidly. When faced with challenges, resilience, creativity, and ingenuity lead to cultural innovation and change.

The word “ingenuity” in the passage is closest in meaning to

Adetermination

Befficiency

Cpatience

Dcleverness

 

9

Look at the four squaresthat indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage

 

Changes in the rivers’ behavior had significant effects on agriculture.

Where would the sentence best fit？Click on a square  sentence to the passage.

 

10

Beginning around 2200 B.c.E., early urban centers across Afro-Eurasia underwent radical change.

AAccording to archaeological and written records, complex and wealthy urban centers experienced more significant change than rural and pastoral societies.

BChanges in major river systems created disruption in food production and availability of land for pasture and crop cultivation, resulting in fierce competition for water and land.

CAreas that experienced internal warfare were slower to reorganize and resettle than areas that experienced only a disruption in food production and distribution.

DArchaeologists and climate specialists agree that environmental disruptions led to radical changes in agricultural methods, which in turn destabilized the affected communities.

ECommunities responded differently to changes in climate, some abandoning settlements, others changing settlement patterns, and others producing and distributing food in new ways.

FSettlements faced a range of challenges due to climate change and each found solutions according to its own circumstances, but the results demonstrated the ability of human culture to adapt.

 

 

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