The Stock Solution

Tree rings are one clue to understanding the many upheavals throughout the Near East at the end of the 13th century B.C.E. A log unearthed at Gordion, in Asia Minor, bears a series of very narrow rings from about 1200 B.C.E.—an indication of extremely dry weather during that time. In addition to the tree rings, levels of lakes and rivers, movements of glaciers and other kinds of environmental evidence all combine to point to climate as a major contributor to the fall of Late Bronze Age civilization.