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Science 26 January 2001:
Vol. 291. no. 5504, pp. 609 - 610
DOI: 10.1126/science.1058775
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Perspectives

ARCHAEOLOGY:
What Drives Societal Collapse?

Harvey Weiss and Raymond S. Bradley

The archaeological and historical record shows many instances of societal collapse. These events have traditionally been explained by a combination of social, political, and economic factors. In their Perspective, Weiss and Bradley argue that there is increasing evidence for climate as the primary agent in the collapse of prehistoric and early historic societies. They also consider the possible effects of future anthropogenic climate change.

H. Weiss is at the Departments of Anthropology and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA. E-mail: harvey.weiss{at}yale.edu. R. S. Bradley is at the Department of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA. E-mail: rbradley{at}geo.umass.edu

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