Central Europe

Climate Changes in Prehistory and History
By Ken Hsu <ken@erdw.ethz.ch>

... In central Europe, the 4,000 BP Event brought not aridity, but increased precipitation. The cold and wet climate caused the advance of the Alpine glaciers. In the region of the Prealpine lakes, the Lake Dwellers had enjoyed warm and dry climate, and they had built villages on the shores of lowland lakes. When the cold and wet climate came, the settlements were flooded, the Lake Dwellers had to leave their homes, when the lake-level rose. The Zurich archaeologists discovered, for example, that the villages on the shores of the lake were abandoned about 2,400 BC, and they remained uninhabited for about 800 years.

In northern Europe, cattle farming had brought prosperity to the megalithic kingdoms. The 4,000 BP Event brought forth late springs and cold and wet summers. Crops were not harvested because of late planting, and cattle were famished when it became impossible to make hays. The Indo-Europeans of northern Europe had to move. Carrying battle axes and corded-ware pottery, they went to southern Russia, from there to southeastern Europe, to Anatolia, to Persia and India, and to northwest China.