12,800 years ago, a comet hit Earth in the region of modern-day Syria and is believed to have cooled the climate, prompting hunter-gatherers to try something new to survive – farming.
At least that’s what scientists highlighted in a press release published last October by the University of California at Santa Barbara.
“In this region [appelée Abu Hureyra]“We went from wet conditions, which provided forests with diverse food sources for hunters and gatherers, to drier, colder conditions, which meant people could no longer survive by hunting and gathering alone,” demonstrated James Kennett, one of the study’s authors and professor at this university.
The explosions, fires and climatic consequences that followed the passage of the disintegrating comet in the atmosphere led to the extinction of most large animals, such as mammoths, toothed tigers, saber tigers and American horses and camels, according to scientists.
The lack of a crater does not contradict this theory, said Kennett, who explained that the explosion occurred in the air and that other evidence is consistent with the already known elements, many of which come from the Abu Hureyra region.