How humans braved climate change

Humans were forced to adapt to sudden climate change 8,200 years ago, after a sudden shift to a colder climates, a new research has revealed, according to a Daily Mail report.

Early farmers helped stave off food scarcity by altering the animals they reared, a study of animal fats preserved in pottery vessels has revealed.

Changes in dwelling structures also showed a shift from communal households to small, independent families, eventually leading to the settlement’s abandonment.

Scientists made the discovery at a Unesco World Heritage site in Turkey, that was inhabited from approximately 7,500 BC to 5,700 BC.

A team of researchers, led by the University of Bristol, focused on the stone and copper age city settlement of Çatalhöyük in southern Anatolia.

During the height of the city's occupation, a welldocumented climate change event occurred.

This resulted in a sudden decrease in global temperatures, caused by the release of a huge amount of glacial meltwater from a massive freshwater lake in northern Canada.

Examining animal bones excavated at the site, scientists concluded that the herders of the city turned towards sheep and goats at this time, as these animals were more droughtresistant than cattle.

Study of cut marks on the animal bones also revealed butchery practices. The high number of such marks at the time of the climate event showed that the population worked on exploiting any available meat due to food scarcity.

The authors examined animal fats surviving in ancient cooking pots, where they detected the presence of ruminant carcass fats, consistent with the animal bones discovered at Çatalhöyük.

For the first time, compounds from animal fats detected in pottery were shown to carry evidence for the climate event in their isotopic composition. Scientists concluded that the herders turned towards sheep and goats as they were more resilient.